I rewrote the home page of this blog today. Does that count for National Blog Posting Month? No? drat.

~~~

Okay, interesting blog post. I’m going to tell you something about today’s editing experience, but you must forget it once you reach the bottom of the page. Like, wipe it from your brain. ‘K? Here we go:

This evening I’m writing a tender love scene—but I can’t do it from third person limited. That’s like…oxymoronic.

Third person limited gives me the phenomenal cosmic power of being inside a person’s head, thinking their thoughts, feeling their feelings. And, through my experience, the reader feels emotional closeness to the character. TPL is like pulling the camera in for an extreme close-up.

However. I made the decision to only use TPL on a select few characters, specifically to create just enough emotional distance from the rest that the reader never quite knows who they can trust. They may like a character, but don’t really know them. I know, that sounds counterproductive, right?

“I want to push my reader away so they feel emotionally distant from my characters! Woohoo!”

(I also wrote the early chapters with the intent of lulling the reader into a soporific state, but that’s a tale for another day.)

But emotional distance in a love scene?

Yet, when you think about it, movies do that all the time. With the exception of Lady In the Lake, I know of absolutely no movie that takes a third person limited perspective. It’s us, watching them, in every movie. Yet movie love scenes carry emotional impact.

True, movies have a soundtrack. But for me, my pacing is my soundtrack. Movies have visuals (hubba hubba). Well, I have adjectives. And verbs. (Hubba hubba, indeed.) I can do this.

It’s just harder.

But, y’know. Nobody told me that.

So, back I go to the chapter. And now you can forget everything I just told you about writing style and chapter goals, so that you’re able to read the story from a completely unfettered perspective. Right? Done? Good.

~~~

…as I was saying, I think I’ll take the rewritten home page for my NaBLoPoMo post of the day. Close enough.

Bye.

~~~

 

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6 Responses to “When I Snap My Fingers…”

  1. 1:25 am, 18 November, 2008 р.
    Carlin Comm says:

    Hey Chris,
    I’ll never think of Verbs the same way again :)
    I think I’ll go get some hot chocolate now, care to join me?

    Carlin in Seattle
    http://twitter.com/carlincomm

  2. 1:34 am, 18 November, 2008 р.
    mousewords says:

    Yes, verbs are nice. :-) And cocoa is always appreciated!

  3. 1:35 am, 18 November, 2008 р.
    Carlin Comm says:

    Hey, so does this make me your biggest fan at this moment? I even Digg’d this one :) good cocoa…. hmmmmmm Nite!

  4. 1:43 am, 18 November, 2008 р.
    mousewords says:

    How cool! Thank you!

  5. 5:02 pm, 19 November, 2008 р.
    CJ says:

    I have found that trying to stay third person view (limited) is very difficult. I really have to pay attention to those details when I am writing and not bounce back and forth…it’s almost like work! LOL

  6. 5:08 pm, 19 November, 2008 р.
    mousewords says:

    Oh, I know–my natural state is in omniscient narrative (phenomenal cosmic power), describing everything from the point of an observer, and peppering people’s thoughts here and there. Need to constantly work on that…

Your comments are welcome