Kate Kinsey's Blog - Posts Tagged "writers"
A short lesson about POV
I'm not trying to be snarky, but for the second time someone has written that they did not like the use of "first person" in my novel, "Red."
The problem is, there is no first person in "Red."
According to Wikipedia:
"First-person narrative is a mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the writing.
The narrators explicitly refer to themselves using words and phrases involving "I" (referred to as the first-person singular) and/or "we" (the first-person plural). This allows the reader or audience to see the point of view (including opinions, thoughts, and feelings) only of the narrator, and no other characters..."
What I did use in "Red" is a third-person limited point of view:
"Third-person point of view is that of an outsider looking at the action. The writer may choose third-person omniscient, in which the thoughts of every character are open to the reader, or third-person limited, in which the reader enters only one character's mind, either throughout the entire work or in a specific section. Third-person limited differs from first-person because the author's voice, not the character's voice, is what you hear in the descriptive passages."
I believe what certain readers were actually objecting to was my third person limited POV which does shift from chapter to chapter.
I'm terribly sorry if you found it confusing. But let's be clear about what you didn't like.
The problem is, there is no first person in "Red."
According to Wikipedia:
"First-person narrative is a mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the writing.
The narrators explicitly refer to themselves using words and phrases involving "I" (referred to as the first-person singular) and/or "we" (the first-person plural). This allows the reader or audience to see the point of view (including opinions, thoughts, and feelings) only of the narrator, and no other characters..."
What I did use in "Red" is a third-person limited point of view:
"Third-person point of view is that of an outsider looking at the action. The writer may choose third-person omniscient, in which the thoughts of every character are open to the reader, or third-person limited, in which the reader enters only one character's mind, either throughout the entire work or in a specific section. Third-person limited differs from first-person because the author's voice, not the character's voice, is what you hear in the descriptive passages."
I believe what certain readers were actually objecting to was my third person limited POV which does shift from chapter to chapter.
I'm terribly sorry if you found it confusing. But let's be clear about what you didn't like.
