So, I'm working on a piece right now in 3rd person, with absolutely no interiority or slipping into a character's POV (or so I think). It's supposed to be objective, relying mostly on dialogue to get story, characterization and background across. I was just wondering if anyone has played around in this POV? I find it absolutely delightful so far and am having a blast. It's quite an exercise to get it all across through dialogue and action (similar to writing a place in a sense, I guess).
I've done it as an exercise, a piece entitled Bitter Fruit. It's instructive to try it as an experiment, but I think it's too limiting to try to write a full piece with the intent of submitting it.
Really? I think I just produced some of my best work. And as soon as I get it workshopped, I'll try to "pretty it up" for submission. =) It did push me to really get out of the claustrophobic tales I usually tell.
It's an exercise that pushes you to show without telling. However, you're best off striking a good working balance. It's rare to have to tell a writer to show less and tell more, but it is a legitimate criticism. This was my experimental piece: Bitter Fruit.
Not really. If that's the way she works best, then I don't see what's legitimate about saying she should be doing something else. I've spent the past two years discovering how much I love writing in first person. If anyone told me that I should return to third person, I would kindly ask them to submit any complaints in writing to the nearest recycle bin for due consideration. That said, I can't say that I would enjoy this particular exercise. I'm all about getting personal with my characters, so becoming completely focused on the story and environment would be out of my comfort zone. A good thing to try, though. Maybe I will, just to see what it's like.
I think it's how you work (or even exploit) a form, regardless of POV or perspective. I'm taking an advanced playwriting class, so we've been working on subtext and emotion through purely objective writing. It's not an easy process, but once you open those floodgates, it's great to see what happens. I'm usually so "close" in my pieces--not throughout, but there's always a nice balance. This really pushed me. I think the playwriting helped immensely as you can't really use "thoughts" and "feelings." You can have dramatic monologues where the character may speak to him/herself/the audience, but you have to be able to convey a lot of emotion w/o telling the reader, "here are so_and_so's thoughts." I highly recommend it!
That's how I normally like to write, when I write prose. Describing human action the same way you'd describe other natural phenomena like leaves swirling in the wind. It's even more fun when you're very sparing with dialogue.
