• Welcome to the Fantasy Writing Forums. Register Now to join us!

Advice

Rkcapps

Sage
I feel I've hit a point in my story where I need to tell another character's perspective but I wanted to avoid speaking different character's voices, I just don't think I'm ready for that but I may have no choice. That seems to be what the story needs. Help! Advice?
 

Rkcapps

Sage
Good advice, it's not like I need to keep it. If anything it's practice and helps me delve into the story more.
 

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
You might ask yourself why you believe you need to tell another POV. I have felt that many times, but as often as not I find with some work I can stay in the one perspective. I ask, what specific information do I need to tell the reader? Why does my MC not know this? Can some other character know it and relate the information?

The place where it happens most strongly is with a villain. Here is my MC tootling along, but the villain is weaving dark designs in the background. He even has a lair. I really, really want to tell the reader what the villain is up to, in order to create a foreboding. And the lair is cool. I was able to stay with my MC by bringing the villain *out* of his lair, closer to the MC. I let people around the MC see warning signs but she ignores them or disbelieves them because she thinks he's actually a good guy. That created a whole new set of tensions I'd never considered as long as he was no more than a Looming Presence.

Anyway, I'm all for trying out voices and such. But sometimes locking oneself onto a particular approach can force unexpected creativity.
 
Does that second character interact with the first? Dialogue, body language, and actions can tell a lot about a non-POV character.

Even second-hand information can reveal some things about a non-POV character. If your MC interacts with Alice and Bob, she might learn something about Jonas from those two: Alice says Jonas wouldn't share his fries even though he was done eating and his plate was still full, but Bob later tells your MC that Jonas asked for a doggy bag and gave his uneaten meal to some homeless kid they passed. (Alice had already left in a huff and didn't see that.)

So...Yeah.
 
I feel I've hit a point in my story where I need to tell another character's perspective but I wanted to avoid speaking different character's voices, I just don't think I'm ready for that but I may have no choice. That seems to be what the story needs. Help! Advice?

I find that when I don't have a good feeling about taking a certain approach to writing my WIP, that approach seldom works out. But, yeah, like Ireth said, I often try it anyway and see what happens.

Just remember, you always have a choice. Sometimes you have more choices than you realize. Trying something that doesn't work out may help you realize what other choices you have.
 

Rkcapps

Sage
I think I'll write from this other character's perspective then see what I can hint at and how best to do that from my mc's perspective. Thanks for helping guys!
 
Top