Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Point of View - Why Do I Care?
In the course of editing several Green Hornet books for Moonstone Books (as well as churning out a series of action-adventure tales for Moonstone, Black Coat Press, etc.), I've found that one of the hardest concepts to identify, adhere to, and explain to others is Point of View.
I should start by noting that many different types of POV are acceptable, depending on what the writer is trying to achieve, and the scope of the story being told. However, for short, driving, action-oriented stories with a modern pulp sensibility, I feel strongly that a third-person subjective/third-person limited POV works best, and from an editorial perspective this is the feedback and direction I provide. I've also noticed that other writer/editors whom I greatly respect, such as Christopher Paul Carey, Matthew Baugh, and Howard Hopkins, seem to be in alignment with this perspective (although I am not presuming to speak for them here).
(As an aside, there are some writers incorrectly think that proofreading is the same thing as editorial feedback, and since their spouse/mother/brother/best friend is an excellent proofreader, they really don't need to hear anything more from me or any other editor regarding their golden prose. But I digress; that's a diatribe for another time and place.)
Matthew has provided a great link to Wordplayer.com which discusses POV from a screenwriting perspective, but is also instructive for prose.
I can't believe I'm going to quote Wikipedia, but the Narrative Mode section which discusses third-person subjective/third-person limited POV is helpful.
In our storytelling, through the use of third-person subjective, the reader is "limited" to the thoughts of some particular character. Perspective can shift from one viewpoint character to another, but when that happens, a scene break should be inserted. POV can alter scene-by-scene (one scene from The Green Hornet's POV, the next from Mike Axford's, the next from the criminal's POV, then back to The Green Hornet, or Kato, etc.), but mixing POV within a scene should be avoided. This is a matter of style, but one I consider to be very important and to which I hold writers during the editing/revision process.
My novel The Evil in Pemberley House (written with Philip Jose Farmer) is truly a third-person limited novel. There are no scenes, absolutely none, that are not told from Patricia Wildman's POV. In strict third-person limited, a novel or story could actually be (re)written in first person and it would work.
Expanding on that thought, regarding third-person subjective (i.e. multiple character POVs, each of them in third-person limited, with scene breaks, as I've described above), each scene could hypothetically be rewritten as a first person scene for that character. The result would be an odd story and I don't suggest anyone actually do this, but as a self-editing experiment (and everyone does extensive self-editing before sending a first draft to your editor... right?), you can see that if a scene is rewritten in first person, that first person narrator would never narrate events about which he or she is not, or cannot be, aware. The same thing therefore applies to writing that same character in a third-person subjective (and/or third-person limited) POV.
A simple way to conduct self-editing for POV violations before blissfully attaching your first draft to your editor and clicking "send" is to read a scene aloud to yourself, substituting first person "I" for for your third-person subjective "s/he" POV character. If the character narrates something they do not, or cannot, know about, then you've got a POV violation.
Once you get a handle on this (and I certainly can't claim to have "mastered" it; writers, experienced and inexperienced, violate POV on a regular basis), POV violations will jump out at you all over the place in your reading, and will drive you nuts. I am loathe to go back and read any of my early Tales of the Shadowmen stories, before I began to grasp POV, for fear of tossing them aside in disgust.
Or being compelled, in a very OCD way, to immediately rewrite and revise them!
I should start by noting that many different types of POV are acceptable, depending on what the writer is trying to achieve, and the scope of the story being told. However, for short, driving, action-oriented stories with a modern pulp sensibility, I feel strongly that a third-person subjective/third-person limited POV works best, and from an editorial perspective this is the feedback and direction I provide. I've also noticed that other writer/editors whom I greatly respect, such as Christopher Paul Carey, Matthew Baugh, and Howard Hopkins, seem to be in alignment with this perspective (although I am not presuming to speak for them here).
(As an aside, there are some writers incorrectly think that proofreading is the same thing as editorial feedback, and since their spouse/mother/brother/best friend is an excellent proofreader, they really don't need to hear anything more from me or any other editor regarding their golden prose. But I digress; that's a diatribe for another time and place.)Matthew has provided a great link to Wordplayer.com which discusses POV from a screenwriting perspective, but is also instructive for prose.
I can't believe I'm going to quote Wikipedia, but the Narrative Mode section which discusses third-person subjective/third-person limited POV is helpful.
Third-person, subjective
The third-person subjective is when the narrator conveys the
thoughts, feelings, opinions, etc. of one or more characters. If it is
just one character, it can be termed third-person limited, in which the reader is "limited" to the thoughts of some particular character (often the protagonist)
as in the first-person mode (though still giving personal descriptions
using "he", "she", "it", and "they", but not "I"). This is almost always
the main character—e.g., Gabriel in Joyce's The Dead, Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown, or the elderly fisherman in Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. Certain third-person omniscient
modes are also classifiable as "third person, subjective" modes that
switch between the thoughts, feelings, etc. of all the characters.
This style, in both its limited and omniscient variants, became the
most popular narrative perspective during the twentieth century. In
contrast to the broad, sweeping perspectives seen in many
nineteenth-century novels, third-person subjective is sometimes called
the "over the shoulder" perspective; the narrator only describes events
perceived and information known by a character. At its narrowest and
most subjective scope, the story reads as though the viewpoint character
were narrating it; dramatically this is very similar to the first
person, in that it allows in-depth revelation of the protagonist's
personality, but it uses third-person grammar. Some writers will shift
perspective from one viewpoint character to another.
The focal character, protagonist, antagonist,
or some other character's thoughts are revealed through the narrator.
The reader learns the events of the narrative through the perceptions of
the chosen character.
In our storytelling, through the use of third-person subjective, the reader is "limited" to the thoughts of some particular character. Perspective can shift from one viewpoint character to another, but when that happens, a scene break should be inserted. POV can alter scene-by-scene (one scene from The Green Hornet's POV, the next from Mike Axford's, the next from the criminal's POV, then back to The Green Hornet, or Kato, etc.), but mixing POV within a scene should be avoided. This is a matter of style, but one I consider to be very important and to which I hold writers during the editing/revision process.
My novel The Evil in Pemberley House (written with Philip Jose Farmer) is truly a third-person limited novel. There are no scenes, absolutely none, that are not told from Patricia Wildman's POV. In strict third-person limited, a novel or story could actually be (re)written in first person and it would work.
Expanding on that thought, regarding third-person subjective (i.e. multiple character POVs, each of them in third-person limited, with scene breaks, as I've described above), each scene could hypothetically be rewritten as a first person scene for that character. The result would be an odd story and I don't suggest anyone actually do this, but as a self-editing experiment (and everyone does extensive self-editing before sending a first draft to your editor... right?), you can see that if a scene is rewritten in first person, that first person narrator would never narrate events about which he or she is not, or cannot be, aware. The same thing therefore applies to writing that same character in a third-person subjective (and/or third-person limited) POV.
A simple way to conduct self-editing for POV violations before blissfully attaching your first draft to your editor and clicking "send" is to read a scene aloud to yourself, substituting first person "I" for for your third-person subjective "s/he" POV character. If the character narrates something they do not, or cannot, know about, then you've got a POV violation.Once you get a handle on this (and I certainly can't claim to have "mastered" it; writers, experienced and inexperienced, violate POV on a regular basis), POV violations will jump out at you all over the place in your reading, and will drive you nuts. I am loathe to go back and read any of my early Tales of the Shadowmen stories, before I began to grasp POV, for fear of tossing them aside in disgust.
Or being compelled, in a very OCD way, to immediately rewrite and revise them!
Labels:
writing
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Philip Jose Farmer: Lord Tyger
U.K publisher Titan Books has entered into an agreement with the Estate of Philip Jose Farmer to bring a large selection of Mr. Farmer's backlist titles back into print.
Third in Titan's lineup is Mr. Farmer's Lord Tyger, considered by many to be Mr. Farmer's finest standalone novel. First published in 1970, the novel tells the tale of Ras Tyger, who is kidnapped by an insane millionare bent on recreating the famous Lord of the Jungle. Tyger is raised in a remote African valley by people he believes to be apes; heroic, and beautiful, he is master of his world. And he rules his kingdom with sex, savagery, and sublime innocence. But the laws of nature and those of man are set to collide....
Lord Tyger is currently scheduled for release in July 2012, and will be available at major outlets such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Editions will include trade paperback and digital (Kindle & Nook).
Stay tuned to this space, Mr. Farmer's official website, and Facebook (Philip Jose Farmer | Win Scott Eckert) for information on other forthcoming titles.
Labels:
Philip José Farmer
Wold Newton series: Time's Last Gift
U.K publisher Titan Books has entered into an agreement with the Estate of Philip Jose Farmer to bring a large selection of Mr. Farmer's backlist titles back into print.
Significantly, many of the books which are a part of the arrangement initially were published as standalone novels, but came to be considered part of Mr. Farmer's ongoing Wold Newton Family cycle.
Now, for the very first time, these novels will be published and packaged as a formal part of a Wold Newton series.
Second in Titan's lineup is Mr. Farmer's Time's Last Gift, a time travel novel featuring a well known Lord of the Jungle, whose initials, TLG, happen to match the abbreviation of the book's title. First published in 1972, and revised in 1977, Time's Last Gift is one of Mr. Farmer's finest novels, and serves as a prequel to his series of books featuring the land of Khokarsa in Ancient Africa (Hadon of Ancient Opar, Flight to Opar, and the forthcoming The Song of Kwasin.)
Time's Last Gift is currently scheduled for release in June 2012, and will be available at major outlets such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Editions will include trade paperback and digital (Kindle & Nook).
Stay tuned to this space, Mr. Farmer's official website, and Facebook (Philip Jose Farmer | Win Scott Eckert) for information on other forthcoming titles.
Wold Newton series: The Other Log of Phileas Fogg
U.K publisher Titan Books has entered into an agreement with the Estate of Philip Jose Farmer to bring a large selection of Mr. Farmer's backlist titles back into print.
Significantly, many of the books which are a part of the arrangement initially were published as standalone novels, but came to be considered part of Mr. Farmer's ongoing Wold Newton Family cycle.
Now, for the very first time, these novels will be published and packaged as a formal part of a Wold Newton series.
First up is Mr. Farmer's The Other Log of Phileas Fogg, a "secret history" novel revealing the hidden events behind Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. First published in 1973, the book is considered to be one of the first examples of elder steampunk.
The Other Log of Phileas Fogg is currently scheduled for release in May 2012, and will be available at major outlets such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Editions will include trade paperback and digital (Kindle & Nook).
Stay tuned to this space, Mr. Farmer's official website, and Facebook (Philip Jose Farmer | Win Scott Eckert) for information on other forthcoming titles.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Wednesday, November 09, 2011
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Monday, November 07, 2011
Sunday, November 06, 2011
Saturday, November 05, 2011
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