We perch on a platform for viewing the past, why not invite a multiplicity of spectators to join us there?" What this means is that by incorporating multiple points of view an author can flesh out the variant perspectives that exist between characters.
Excerpts on POV from Creative Writing Demystified
1st Person: I took Mama home that very day. I couldn't stand to think of her naked and wandering through the halls after shock treatment like the patient I'd seen wandering the halls before the doctors could close the door to their office,
2nd person: You look past the doctors' open office door and see a naked middle aged woman screaming in the hallway. You see she' only wearing her glasses and they're askew from the way she's flailing her arms... You bolt for the waiting room, grab your mother's coat and then her arm.
3rd person (limited): Sally sat in the doctors' office at a small conference table... She rehearsed her departing lines as they spoke about shock treatment having come a long way in the last five years. And then she heard a sudden scream from the hallway. A woman stood outside the office door, completely naked, arms flailing, glasses askew on her face.
3rd person (omniscient): ...Sally could see out into the hallway. The doctors didn't like this arrangement, they didn't feel in control. And for a good reason. Sally was already thinking of her departure. She would get up... and run to her mother, who sat a few yards away in a grey and pink upholstered waiting room chair.
Multiple POV: Sally: I am not staying in this place one more second... I'm afraid they'll do everything in their power to make us feel weak, to make us feel we have to stay here.
Mother: Depression hurts. That's what the ads say. It does... What do they give you in here anyway that makes everything hurt more?
(source: Bender, Sheila. "Point of View." Creative Writing Demystified. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill,
2011. 168-69. Print.)
You and I by Aralia Giron
1st Person: I crouch beside the weeping mess before me and wrap my arms around her being, in attempt to absorb every shiver that runs through her. She finally gazes up at me, stray strands of her red hair stuck in the gloss on her lips. The black liquid she paints over her lids streams down her pale face, highlighting every tear she sheds. "I promise, I won't go back." She says to me, the final person who hasn't given up on her. I want to believe her but I know better to place my trust in a compulsive liar.
2nd person: You have just returned from picking your half-sister up from a street corner in the middle of the night in a place she wasn't supposed to be. As soon as you're out of the car, she sits down on the sidewalk and begins to tell you of all she's endured. Wordlessly, you crouch beside her, offering her the only comfort she so desires, an embrace.
3rd person (limited): Aralia kneels beside her weeping half-sister, who has found a place to sit on the curb outside their aunt's house. Ashley beings to explain her reasons for being out in the street again. Aralia watches her closely as she twists her matted, dirty red hair around her index finger, a clear indicator that she is lying. Instead of walking away, Aralia crouches beside her and hugs her.
3rd person (omniscient): Ashley could sense her sister's reluctance as soon as they stepped out of the car, so she sat on the curb knowing very well Aralia would't have a choice but to linger. Aralia was right to feel every bit of reluctance considering her sister's history of disappearing when life became complicated. Ashley did not fare well with problem solving, she needed to distract herself from the problem at hand. Which is why Aralia gravitated toward Ashley in the presence of despair.
Multiple pov: Aralia: I shouldn't keep doing this to myself. I already know that she's leaning on me because no on else will comfort her. She always does this to me, disappears for a while without a word and expects me to pick up the pieces when she's the one who shattered them in the first place.
Ashley: I can't feel sorry for leaving. None of this was my fault. It's not like I had a choice anyways. My family is just so crazy. They're the problem. They're the reason I'm losing it. My sister looks like she's debating whether she should stay or leave. She won't leave, I can see it in her eyes, she's already forgiven me even if she is trying to convince herself that it's not in her best interests.
*As you can see, various points of view offer bits of intimate details. Through observations made by a variant perspectives the context becomes more apparent to the reader, feelings are revealed, and the reader is able to gain a better understanding of the thoughts and personality each character possesses.
No comments:
Post a Comment