A part in chapter 4 that I really liked was the idea that the point of view does not always have to come from the protagonist. The example used was the Great Gatsby, and I love the idea of a story told by a secondary character who’s bearing witness to the actions of a short sided ‘protagonist’. I loved the tip at the end of checking yourself to make sure you’re following the POV rules. Just because it feels right writing in the moment doesn’t mean that it won’t inevitably disrupt the story because you cut to the POV of a character we had up till now never heard from.
In chapter four, I found the idea of third person multiple vision versus third person omniscient very interesting, as I often find that when I try to write in an omniscient manner, it quickly morphs into third person multiple vision due to wanting to build suspense between characters, and I find that very intriguing, though I would like to explore trying to write in third person omniscient. I also found the idea of emotional distance in writing, especially third person, really interesting, as that can shape a lot of how we view characters and their relationships with one another. I personally wonder if there is a way to balance emotional distance and emotional closeness in third person pov, especially as I often write characters who are cold to those they don’t know, and act very differently with those they are invested in.
After reading chapter four I realized that I really haven’t played around with the POVs of my writing. I found the second person perspective to be really interesting. I think that the second person perspective and the third person objective perspective would be the two most challenging ones to successfully utilize. The author highlights why the third person objective would be difficult, saying that everything must be revealed through things like the background, characterization, and conflict since the writer is denied access to even a single character’s mind. For those obvious reasons it would be challenging to use this perspective. I believe I would also find second person perspective really challenging because I have little to no experience with reading it or writing it. I think it can create a really interesting effect on a story and can have a lasting effect on the reader, as seen in the examples given in that section of the chapter. I have also really never put too much thought in the time distance or emotional distance of my POV either. I have been the person to just write what I know or what I have practiced, and therefore am somewhat good at, instead of widening my variety of techniques so I think that putting these craft elements into place could really help out with having a more lasting effect on my audience/ reader. I honestly found most of the chapter to be interesting since I have really never put too much thought into the perspective of my story. I would just go with what I knew which I now know is first person, and write mostly from the point of view of the protagonist of the story. Even just within the first person point of view, there is room to explore and attempt new things!
Chapter four is all about point of view. What I found most interesting in this chapter is first person POV with multiple narrators. I have read some books that are set up like this and I have always found them very interesting but I have never tried to write like this myself. I find it a rather daunting idea. It is really easy for me to get into the mindset of a single narrator and describe their feelings in a way I deem accurate but having to embody multiple people seems a task I fear I am not up for. I think if I were to be writing about a single event from different POVs that may be more doable than say a longer story with a plot that spans more than a short period of time.
What I found most striking was the section on First Person: Multiple Version. I have never written a story with multiple narrators because I wasn’t sure how to properly without mixing characters accidentally. I have read books that have used multiple narrators and I found those books more interesting because I get to hear a similar story through different perspectives so it makes me more invested into the story. I like how the chapter brings out examples of different POVs and explains the epistolary techniques of presenting a series of letters exchanged between characters. I also like how it brings up the different perspectives between characters which allows the reader to piece things together and become more drawn into the story.
– Intimacy is the main attraction towards a 1st person perspective.
– In choosing a perspective, one has to consider if the narrator is even capable of telling the story between vocabulary, comprehension, and a host of other facets.
– Omniscience as the perspective of a god looking down on all the mortals never really occurred to me. In my mind, I always pictured it as the writer understanding everyone, as though the writer was literally inside their heads.
– “When you think about it, omniscience represents freedom” (pp. 92). There is freedom in knowing everything, in being free from uncertainty, but that doesn’t stop the readers questioning.
– Distance has more importance than I thought, being the level of intimacy and empathy they share with the character and reader.
Reading through chapter four, the author describes the POV selection as overwhelming without proper guidance. They drew attention to the main types: First, second, and third person. Within these types they explain are various subtypes that further expands on each. Within first person, an author can go with peripheral where you are telling the story through another character’s perspective that is not the protagonist. There is also single and multi-vision first-person options where an author can write from on or multiple perspectives. Third person writing has with it a similar single and multiple-vision perspectives where the story is being told from an outside observer or multiple. The other styles are detailed in the rest of the chapter. While I had not thought about or known some of these writing styles, learning about them did not necessarily put me in a tricky spot on which to choose. I found that there is more varied media in which to tell a story in written form, which merely adds tools. In all, I found the chapter a tad enlightening in providing me with new styles with which to write.
Chapter 4 focuses on point of view. I think the most interesting point of view that they covered in this chapter was the unreliable first person. I think having an unreliable narrator makes a story have a level of depth that is hard to accomplish through description alone. I really like how it helps us see how someone with mental illness may think or how their thoughts may be organized in different ways. I like the challenge an unreliable narrator introduces when I’m a reader of a story, as it forces us to think about how the narrator’s perception of the world may be warping the reality of the situation. The point about no narrator being reliable was really interesting to me; They may be honest and tell the truth as they understand it based on the context that they have, but they’ll never have a true understanding of a situation that a third person narrator might have.
Chapter four is a discussion of voice and POV. I found that the unreliable first person was intriguing to me. As first person is quite common in many of the books I have read and is often the choice I make for my own writing, I am quite familiar with being in the main character’s head throughout a story. However, I find that while the goal with this type of POV is to have your reader slip into the skin of the main character, the unreliable first person explores the idea of possibly making that skin hard to slip into. I think there is something entirely interesting about a main character whose head you are fully immersed in, but that head is flawed, unreliable, and doesn’t necessarily reflect what may be in your own head. This creates tension between the reader and the character, and I think that is more enticing than a character who is easy to get to know and easy to agree with. I often find myself victim to making my main characters fit a mold, a similar voice. They all have their own stories and personalities, but their skin is usually one I could easily slip into. It’s so much easier to write a voice similar to your own, because you know how you would react to certain situations and it creates a sense of authenticity. However, there is a way to bypass what I refer to as my “default character” or “default voice,” by instead detaching your character from yourself. It is more of a challenge, because it involves really getting to know your character inside and out which in my opinion, is what a good piece of fiction relies heavily on. By trying methods such as making it an “unreliable first person” POV, that is one way to explore a character that may be a bit more of a challenge to get to know, but I think it also makes them even more layered and more fun to read about.
Chapter 4 of our book talked all about point of view and perspective of a story. What I really liked about this chapter was how intentional point of view has to be. And how each story has the specific point of view, or narrator, that fits that idea of the story. Being able to hear the story from a specific character creates an emotional response from the readers, while also leaving them wanting more. Wanting to know what each other character was going through or how they were feeling when these events happened. For me specifically, I realized subconsciously I pick the point of view of the character or characters that I will get the most reaction out of the audience. And being able to use this as a craft element in a story going forward is really important. Having that expression by a character be intentionally, whether it be a multiple view or unreliable or objective, is what creates he best stories.
Throughout my reading of chapter four, I found it helpful to delve in the the many different points of view that a writer can conform to per text. I loved the introduction of points of view in this chapter, it made it feel a bit like a story which always helps me when reading0 it gets me interested enough to read the whole chapter without feeling bored by so many paragraphs. I liked the list under the first paragraph, I found it useful and will probably end up using that for stories I write in the future; the mini exercise about the mailbox was interesting and helpful, too. I ‘m fond of the unreliable first-person narration choice, that style of writing always makes stories feel realer and more complex; more fleshed out. I used to write in first-person multiple growing up, when I had the time on my hands to write more in elementary school. So, it’s interesting to see that I’m not the only one whose used that point of view. I’m not fond of the third-person omniscient point of view narration style, it always seemed complicated to write without using “I’ or “you”.
11 thoughts on “JOURNAL #5”
A part in chapter 4 that I really liked was the idea that the point of view does not always have to come from the protagonist. The example used was the Great Gatsby, and I love the idea of a story told by a secondary character who’s bearing witness to the actions of a short sided ‘protagonist’. I loved the tip at the end of checking yourself to make sure you’re following the POV rules. Just because it feels right writing in the moment doesn’t mean that it won’t inevitably disrupt the story because you cut to the POV of a character we had up till now never heard from.
In chapter four, I found the idea of third person multiple vision versus third person omniscient very interesting, as I often find that when I try to write in an omniscient manner, it quickly morphs into third person multiple vision due to wanting to build suspense between characters, and I find that very intriguing, though I would like to explore trying to write in third person omniscient. I also found the idea of emotional distance in writing, especially third person, really interesting, as that can shape a lot of how we view characters and their relationships with one another. I personally wonder if there is a way to balance emotional distance and emotional closeness in third person pov, especially as I often write characters who are cold to those they don’t know, and act very differently with those they are invested in.
After reading chapter four I realized that I really haven’t played around with the POVs of my writing. I found the second person perspective to be really interesting. I think that the second person perspective and the third person objective perspective would be the two most challenging ones to successfully utilize. The author highlights why the third person objective would be difficult, saying that everything must be revealed through things like the background, characterization, and conflict since the writer is denied access to even a single character’s mind. For those obvious reasons it would be challenging to use this perspective. I believe I would also find second person perspective really challenging because I have little to no experience with reading it or writing it. I think it can create a really interesting effect on a story and can have a lasting effect on the reader, as seen in the examples given in that section of the chapter. I have also really never put too much thought in the time distance or emotional distance of my POV either. I have been the person to just write what I know or what I have practiced, and therefore am somewhat good at, instead of widening my variety of techniques so I think that putting these craft elements into place could really help out with having a more lasting effect on my audience/ reader. I honestly found most of the chapter to be interesting since I have really never put too much thought into the perspective of my story. I would just go with what I knew which I now know is first person, and write mostly from the point of view of the protagonist of the story. Even just within the first person point of view, there is room to explore and attempt new things!
Chapter four is all about point of view. What I found most interesting in this chapter is first person POV with multiple narrators. I have read some books that are set up like this and I have always found them very interesting but I have never tried to write like this myself. I find it a rather daunting idea. It is really easy for me to get into the mindset of a single narrator and describe their feelings in a way I deem accurate but having to embody multiple people seems a task I fear I am not up for. I think if I were to be writing about a single event from different POVs that may be more doable than say a longer story with a plot that spans more than a short period of time.
What I found most striking was the section on First Person: Multiple Version. I have never written a story with multiple narrators because I wasn’t sure how to properly without mixing characters accidentally. I have read books that have used multiple narrators and I found those books more interesting because I get to hear a similar story through different perspectives so it makes me more invested into the story. I like how the chapter brings out examples of different POVs and explains the epistolary techniques of presenting a series of letters exchanged between characters. I also like how it brings up the different perspectives between characters which allows the reader to piece things together and become more drawn into the story.
– Intimacy is the main attraction towards a 1st person perspective.
– In choosing a perspective, one has to consider if the narrator is even capable of telling the story between vocabulary, comprehension, and a host of other facets.
– Omniscience as the perspective of a god looking down on all the mortals never really occurred to me. In my mind, I always pictured it as the writer understanding everyone, as though the writer was literally inside their heads.
– “When you think about it, omniscience represents freedom” (pp. 92). There is freedom in knowing everything, in being free from uncertainty, but that doesn’t stop the readers questioning.
– Distance has more importance than I thought, being the level of intimacy and empathy they share with the character and reader.
Reading through chapter four, the author describes the POV selection as overwhelming without proper guidance. They drew attention to the main types: First, second, and third person. Within these types they explain are various subtypes that further expands on each. Within first person, an author can go with peripheral where you are telling the story through another character’s perspective that is not the protagonist. There is also single and multi-vision first-person options where an author can write from on or multiple perspectives. Third person writing has with it a similar single and multiple-vision perspectives where the story is being told from an outside observer or multiple. The other styles are detailed in the rest of the chapter. While I had not thought about or known some of these writing styles, learning about them did not necessarily put me in a tricky spot on which to choose. I found that there is more varied media in which to tell a story in written form, which merely adds tools. In all, I found the chapter a tad enlightening in providing me with new styles with which to write.
Chapter 4 focuses on point of view. I think the most interesting point of view that they covered in this chapter was the unreliable first person. I think having an unreliable narrator makes a story have a level of depth that is hard to accomplish through description alone. I really like how it helps us see how someone with mental illness may think or how their thoughts may be organized in different ways. I like the challenge an unreliable narrator introduces when I’m a reader of a story, as it forces us to think about how the narrator’s perception of the world may be warping the reality of the situation. The point about no narrator being reliable was really interesting to me; They may be honest and tell the truth as they understand it based on the context that they have, but they’ll never have a true understanding of a situation that a third person narrator might have.
Chapter four is a discussion of voice and POV. I found that the unreliable first person was intriguing to me. As first person is quite common in many of the books I have read and is often the choice I make for my own writing, I am quite familiar with being in the main character’s head throughout a story. However, I find that while the goal with this type of POV is to have your reader slip into the skin of the main character, the unreliable first person explores the idea of possibly making that skin hard to slip into. I think there is something entirely interesting about a main character whose head you are fully immersed in, but that head is flawed, unreliable, and doesn’t necessarily reflect what may be in your own head. This creates tension between the reader and the character, and I think that is more enticing than a character who is easy to get to know and easy to agree with. I often find myself victim to making my main characters fit a mold, a similar voice. They all have their own stories and personalities, but their skin is usually one I could easily slip into. It’s so much easier to write a voice similar to your own, because you know how you would react to certain situations and it creates a sense of authenticity. However, there is a way to bypass what I refer to as my “default character” or “default voice,” by instead detaching your character from yourself. It is more of a challenge, because it involves really getting to know your character inside and out which in my opinion, is what a good piece of fiction relies heavily on. By trying methods such as making it an “unreliable first person” POV, that is one way to explore a character that may be a bit more of a challenge to get to know, but I think it also makes them even more layered and more fun to read about.
Chapter 4 of our book talked all about point of view and perspective of a story. What I really liked about this chapter was how intentional point of view has to be. And how each story has the specific point of view, or narrator, that fits that idea of the story. Being able to hear the story from a specific character creates an emotional response from the readers, while also leaving them wanting more. Wanting to know what each other character was going through or how they were feeling when these events happened. For me specifically, I realized subconsciously I pick the point of view of the character or characters that I will get the most reaction out of the audience. And being able to use this as a craft element in a story going forward is really important. Having that expression by a character be intentionally, whether it be a multiple view or unreliable or objective, is what creates he best stories.
Throughout my reading of chapter four, I found it helpful to delve in the the many different points of view that a writer can conform to per text. I loved the introduction of points of view in this chapter, it made it feel a bit like a story which always helps me when reading0 it gets me interested enough to read the whole chapter without feeling bored by so many paragraphs. I liked the list under the first paragraph, I found it useful and will probably end up using that for stories I write in the future; the mini exercise about the mailbox was interesting and helpful, too. I ‘m fond of the unreliable first-person narration choice, that style of writing always makes stories feel realer and more complex; more fleshed out. I used to write in first-person multiple growing up, when I had the time on my hands to write more in elementary school. So, it’s interesting to see that I’m not the only one whose used that point of view. I’m not fond of the third-person omniscient point of view narration style, it always seemed complicated to write without using “I’ or “you”.