How Writers Write Fiction Week 4: Using Character to Produce Frame and Arc

                    

This week we talked about how different points of view affect a narrative. There's lots to consider when choosing your POV character. To illustrate this, we wrote the same scene from two points of view, a useful exercise. Some of the peer reviews were actually pretty difficult, because we were asked to pick the scene we thought worked better. For many of the critiques, both viewpoints worked well, and it was a matter of where the story was going rather than which scene was better. That's the fun part: you get to pick whose truth will be told in the story. Unreliable narrators are quite fun to do.

Another thing I liked was how the different characters focused on different things. Some objects became significant (or charged), but they weren't the same objects for both of the characters. They didn't notice the same details, or interpret the same situation in the same way.

We also discussed the point of telling, or where to start your story. That can be a tricky thing, but I can see how the story can act as a frame for an idea, or how the story arc can feel incomplete if you pick the wrong point in time to start your tale.

Definitely something to think about.

So much to learn, so little time...