Through Their Eyes
From the first sentence, it is clear to the reader that The Testing Point is told in the third person. It begins, "Ben Grasso turned his cruiser into the parking lot of the Downtown Villa Motel." Had I decided to write the book in the first person, it would have begun, "I turned my cruiser into the parking lot of the Downtown Villa Motel." Writing in the third person puts me, the author, in the role of observer. I'm looking down on the scene and describing it for the reader. In a typical third person tale, the author is not just an observer, but is an omniscient observer - the all-knowing and all-seeing observer.
In The Testing Point, the story is told by an observer but not by an omniscient, all-knowing and all-seeing observer. The observer throughout the book knows only what Ben knows when the story is being told from his perspective, or what Dina knows when the story is being told from her perspective. Some paragraphs alternate back and forth between their perspectives. For instance on page 2 of the book I wrote, "In Ben's mind, Taylor was the kind of person who recognized only two kinds of people; useful and useless." This is clearly written in third person. But an omniscient observer could have written, "Taylor was the kind of person who recognized only two kinds of people; useful and useless." The former allows for some uncertainty. Since this is Ben's perception, it could be faulty. Maybe Ben is a poor judge of character. The latter would indicate definitive truth given to the reader by the all-knowing observer and teller of the tale. We are told authoritatively that Taylor recognizes only two kinds of people.
Writing the way I did proved to be a challenge. I had to constantly ask myself, "Would Ben or Dina know this?" or "Would Ben or Dina be able to see this?" I think writing in the third person gave me more freedom in telling the story, but I think writing from the perspectives of Ben and Dina made the story more personal and allows the reader to become better acquainted with the main characters. It also keeps the reader guessing about all the other characters.
In The Testing Point, the story is told by an observer but not by an omniscient, all-knowing and all-seeing observer. The observer throughout the book knows only what Ben knows when the story is being told from his perspective, or what Dina knows when the story is being told from her perspective. Some paragraphs alternate back and forth between their perspectives. For instance on page 2 of the book I wrote, "In Ben's mind, Taylor was the kind of person who recognized only two kinds of people; useful and useless." This is clearly written in third person. But an omniscient observer could have written, "Taylor was the kind of person who recognized only two kinds of people; useful and useless." The former allows for some uncertainty. Since this is Ben's perception, it could be faulty. Maybe Ben is a poor judge of character. The latter would indicate definitive truth given to the reader by the all-knowing observer and teller of the tale. We are told authoritatively that Taylor recognizes only two kinds of people.
Writing the way I did proved to be a challenge. I had to constantly ask myself, "Would Ben or Dina know this?" or "Would Ben or Dina be able to see this?" I think writing in the third person gave me more freedom in telling the story, but I think writing from the perspectives of Ben and Dina made the story more personal and allows the reader to become better acquainted with the main characters. It also keeps the reader guessing about all the other characters.
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