Questions tagged [perspective]
This tag should be used for questions about the usage of perspective in different kinds of writing, such as when you are having problems with showing the emotional perspective of your protagonist to your reader or how you could switch between perspectives.
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Choosing perspective and tense
Have encountered the dilemma on what perspective (first person, second person, or third person) and tense (past, present, or future) to use for writing. A very challenging decision.
Switching between ...
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To rewrite or not to rewrite?
so basically, i am writing a story where there are two main characters. every chapter, the perspective swaps between the two main characters. the thing is, i'm writing the story in third person past ...
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How to make a scene from the point of view of a drunk person dramatic?
This is sort of related to my previous question because I'm preparing to write the same scene, but this is different enough that it warrants its own question.
So I'm working on a scene where a ...
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How to write a drunk person's train of logic?
I've read some of the other questions on this site about how to write a drunk person (this link, this link, and this link) but what I'm not clear on is writing a drunk person's train of logic and how ...
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Is writing from the perspective of a 'severely' autistic character too hard?
I am fixing to write a story about a semiverbal level 2/3 autistic 12-year-old because this is a very underrepresented group, especially in the autistic community. I don't want it to be an overly ...
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Third person narrator turns out to be a character
Background:
I'm writing a fan fiction story to a Harry Poter-like novel about a group of 3 close friends. The novel has the simple third person limited narrator, with POV generally following the ...
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How to handle narrative perspective in a musical text
I am writing the text of a significant musical work that will be sung by a chorus. I will also be composing the music, but this question is specific to the lyrics that the chorus will sing. Note that ...
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How to describe the appearance of POV characters in limited 3rd person POV
A limited 3rd person story is 3rd person, sure, but it is also supposed to paint the description with the perspective of the POV character. Now, I don't typically picture how I look whenever I do ...
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On the edge of omniscient and limited third person narrative
I am writing a book that's supposed to be third person omniscient, but I find myself sometimes writing third person limited a lot of the time. That is, I'll often frame scenes in a way that's affected ...
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Writing fantasy novel and reintroducing a character
When writing a book, when I introduce a character to the audience do I have to reintroduce them again if it's in a different character's point of view?
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Characters inner thoughts made others mad?
I have this overall "good" and polite character. He helps everyone in need and is very much raised to be like a posh-like Victorian gentleman.
The thing is, he keeps his "negative" ...
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On a tough decision, how would a character choose?
Pardon the incorrect grammar. English is not my first language. Long post.
The context is this:
A man is delivering his dead friend's baby to its grandfather.
The old man hasn't seen his son in 10 ...
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Protecting a POV in visual adaptation of a novel
I’m considering allowing a film adaptation of my novel but want the “frame story” message maintained. What would this device technically be called in the agreement?
Example:
The original Planet of the ...
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How do I know if my character is a self insert and how do I avoid it or overcome it?
When I was making my characters, I was a little picky and had trouble, for I am not the best at decision making. However, when I do come up with characters, I usually get some of their concepts from ...
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Multiple plots, multiple characters and multiple point of views in a single novel
I am wondering if this is at all possible. Usually, you have one plot and the plot is centered around one main character, but what if there are multiple main characters associated with a unique plot ...
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MC has selective mutism; what to do with dialogue?
In a book I’m writing, the main character (a 15-year-old girl) has/struggles with selective mutism. I’ve quickly run into the problem where she is in a “mute situation” where she doesn’t talk. I’ve ...
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How to make human characters turned into monsters devolve and abandon their humanity?
TL;DR: How can I psychologically justify why relatively normal (i.e., non-sociopathic) human beings that have turned into monsters (like vampires or werewolves) devolve into feral beasts or vicious ...
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Does the title of a work have to be in the same person as the work?
In a recent work I wrote, the body of it is, as in most of what I write, in the third person. However, my title is in first person, using the word “we.”
Is this is an acceptable thing to do? Does the ...
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How do I write a story that is purposely meta?
I want to write a story where the author is constantly addressed and made fun of. The author, is a separate person. The author is trying to write a meta story, however she makes it so meta, that it ...
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My story is a mythological fantasy set in England in the 1700's. I have two characters, and my main one, dies. I don't know how to continue writing it
As I mentioned in the title, my main character dies. I don't want to write it from my secondary character, because I feel as if that would feel weird for the readers, as they are used to my main ...
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What is the best way to blend perspectives?
I am writing a story from the perspective of a man telling his audience what happened to him. During his monologue, somebody walks into the room in real-time and tells him something. What is the ...
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How do you write about the human condition when you don't understand humanity?
I was talking with some writers, and they were mentioning how writing is fundamentally about "the human condition, our take on it, what we see in our world and experience. All stories, no matter ...
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Can I switch perspective in the middle of a book? [duplicate]
My book is mainly focused on one character, and is written in first-person, until about half-way through. In the middle of the novel, the perspective will shift into third-person and focus on a ...
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Third Person Limited: use of 'I' in internal dialogue
My current piece in 3rd person involves lots of internal dialogue because the character is somewhere they can't speak in the local language. I've been advised not ever to use 'I' in this perspective, ...
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A good way to transition different character perspectives
In my novel, there are three character perspectives that switch off every chapter. What are the ways to lead from one character perspective to the next and what are variables I should consider when ...
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Should I add in POV's for characters if the plot wasn't designed around them?
I am writing a YA fantasy. There are three main characters, but the plot was entirely designed around Character #1 and his journey. Character #2 and Character #3 are with him for most of said plot. ...
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How to write in third person present tense without making it sound awkward?
Generally it is preferred that one use present tense with POV, or at least it sounds organic.
Are there any ground rules I can make use of to exploit third person present tense to the fullest without ...
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Can I have a non-living thing with its own perspective?
We typically have third person or first person narratives in literature. I have a requirement - to unveil the suspense, I want a non-living thing to share its perspective in the final chapter. Is this ...
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How to write the thoughts of a character in a drunken POV scene?
One of my POV characters is an overthinker. Partly because she wishes to stop thinking so much, and partly because of peer pressure, she gets super drunk... and ends up doing something that she would ...
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Are There Any Books That Blend First-Person Narration with Third-Person?
I was wondering if there are any books that blend first-person narration with third-person. What I mean by this is that the story is simply narrated by one character in first-person, and that ...
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Tense change when referring to how protagonist currently is while he is describing events
I have written a novel that I want to send out to agents, but I'm now having doubts as to whether it is polished enough to do so yet. A big problem for me right now is tense.
My novel is written in ...
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How to write mishearing/mispronouncing without lying to the reader?
Sometimes the plot requires communication to partially break down between characters. A misheard or mispronounced word can have great consequences, after all. Often people aren't even aware it ...
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Changing POV style mid-story
I'm writing a story that is told by the main character. The idea is that at some point, he decides that what has happened merits documenting, so he's telling part of it in the past tense. The problem ...
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Introducing a new POV near the end of a story
This question is strongly related to this one: Balance between character's point of views
However, that question is asking about balancing POVs in general, whereas this one is about potentially ...
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Is it bad style if the personal first person narrator of a story dies during said story?
Right now I'm writing a novel in which I use the changing perspectives of two main characters with limited information each to slowly unveil the whole plot to the reader. Both use the past tense and ...
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How can I showcase the dynamic relationship between two personalities? [duplicate]
The protagonist, as a child, was born into an eldritch cult which worships the being known as shub-niggurath. His parents chose him to be an unwilling participant in a sacrificial ritual, using his ...
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How to find different meanings behind metaphors used in speech writing?
I'm looking for ways to discover what others might think when they hear or see a metaphor used in a speech. I tend to think a certain way. I have certain prejudices. I think we all do. If I use a ...
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Referring to a character in 3rd person when they have amnesia
A section of a story I am writing is being told in third person from the perspective of a character who does not know anything about herself due to amnesia. The reader is also unaware of anything ...
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Will a change in perspective "intimacy" confuse the reader?
[Not a native english speaker]
I am currently writing a novel, told from the 3rd-person POV, with several characters being followed in different scenes.
Will the following confuse the readers?
...
user13402
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Switching perspective in battle scenes?
I have written a book with an ensemble cast. Prior to them meeting, I simply gave each character his/her own chapter. Once they met, I narrowed the perspective to only a couple. The battle at the ...
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What are the best techniques to show a character panicking as it is seen by the POV character?
So the problem I am having is that the protagonist of the novel I am writing is having a confrontation with another character, who starts panicking. Instead of saying "panic dripped from his face", I ...
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How to limit 3rd Person Omniscient without losing depth to your other characters?
My writing group lately has been harrowing me to stop using 3rd Person Omniscient perspective and use 3rd Person Limited instead. Brandon Sanderson (I'm part of his writing class and will be again ...
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How to write internally emotional characters?
Over the past couple of days, I've asked questions about writing female characters with agency, and writing female characters as a male writer. Both have sparked some interesting, and for me ...
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If a main character is writing the story, can I change who writes the story in the next chapter?
I’m trying to write my first novel and I have come across an issue which I feel like it could change the whole story/flow. Originally it wouldn’t have mattered if I wrote in the third person but I ...
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How to write female characters as a male writer?
Yesterday I asked a question about writing a female character who has agency. Much to my surprise, it was well-received and generated a lot of great discussion. In reading that discussion, however, ...
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How to write female characters with agency?
I'm attempting to write a novel, an historical fiction with a small fantasy component (time travel through a portal). The travelers (main characters) are a young couple from the late 23rd Century who ...
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Colours of ultraviolet
I need to write something from the perspective of a character who sees colours differently from humans, and in particular can see multiple shades of ultraviolet. This isn't unique, their entire ...
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To what extent can a first person narrative tell someone else's story?
I've recently been working on some stories written in the first person from the point of view of what, in the grand scheme of things, would be called minor characters. Examples include a junior bridge ...
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How to make a cat's perspective exciting?
I'm writing an article about a cat saving a three-year-old girl's life. What tools or techniques can I use to keep the reader interested?
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Dead as a point-of-view, how can you write first person narrative if that person is dead?
In short I'd like to write a story from the point-of-view of a character who ultimately dies within the narrative without the story being either A. a ghost story or B. a life/after-life retrospective ...
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