By M. Graae

We recently discussed the elements of fiction writing. These are the basic concepts, such as characterization, plot and setting, which allow a writer to form and create the “big picture” of a novel. If you master nothing else about fiction writing but the elements, you could be able to write a novel, but you will probably run into difficulties in terms of execution. The conventions of fiction writing provide techniques for handling the elements and crafting them into a novel.

It is a simple fact that certain writing techniques are very helpful in the development of specific elements of the novel, and many writers have put these techniques to good use. The skillful use of these techniques—the conventions – allows writers to eliminate trite or derivative approaches to fiction and make their writing more accessible and engaging to their readers.

If you are hopelessly lost, consider this: The conventions of fiction are to elements as training is to a beautiful young horse. The horse has a great deal of potential for becoming a wonderful source of pleasure and pride, but without training, you cannot ride it, drive it, show it, jump it, or even transport it. Just as training allows you to get the maximum from a horse, conventions allow you to make the most of the elements.

Again, the conventions of fiction writing are:
Point of View (POV)
Plotting techniques (pressure, suspense, drama, parallel structure)
Scenes and transitions
Dialogue and narrative
Gingerbread (frames, flashbacks, prologues, epilogues and similar techniques)
Imagery

By far and away the most perplexing, confusing, and bewildering convention of the lot is point of view. (If learning to write is a journey, then POV is the necessary but frustrating roadmap.) Some students of writing catch on to POV immediately after it is explained; these writers don’t get what the big hue and cry about POV is all about. Others never quite understand what POV entails or how it is used in crafting a novel. Handling POV well does not ensure a successful novel; however, if point of view is not consistent in your writing, or even worse, if it is ignored entirely, chances are that nothing else in your novel will function well, and at best it will be hard to read.

So…what is this magic, elusive Pretty Odd Varmint? POV means what its name says: a viewpoint, or a specific perspective or angle of observation. Since a novel is basically a story, then it stands to reason that someone must be observing and reacting to the characters and action in the story. This observing character is the POV character, and is often the main character.

Events – in life or fiction – take on different meanings to the different people
involved in them. Each person will have different feelings and reactions to the event, and therefore a different perspective on it. This is the basic idea behind the concept of POV. Imagine a scene in which an attractive female employee and her male boss are in his office, discussing some facet of their work. In rushes the boss’s jealous wife, accusing them -- erroneously, it turns out -- of having an affair. All three people will have vastly different perspectives on this event. The employee is likely to be embarrassed, but perhaps also shocked and even angry. The wife is exhibiting one or more of various stages of fury. She may be out of control, or she may be sarcastic and accusatory. She may even, after a few moments, realize that she is mistaken, but is too proud to give in to the obvious. The boss may be calmer; he’s probably fielded this situation before and may be intent on reassuring or placating his wife so he can get on with his job…which indeed may be more important to him than her dramatics.

Every day we see things from different people’s perspectives. We feel sorry for the child being scolded in public by his mother…but we can certainly appreciate a parent’s frustration. We can view events from many different angles, and each view produces a different interpretation, a new “side of the story.”

A fiction writer takes advantage of this common experience by writing a story or novel from the point of view of a specific character, or several characters, or even an omniscient narrator who often isn’t even part of the story. Point of view is often used to develop a character, but can also be used to enhance setting and develop the plot. It is also a magic mirror that reveals the point of view character’s thoughts, emotions, hopes, dreams, fears, and much, much more. An effective point of view allows the writer to examine the innermost workings of a character’s mind. If you wish to reveal a character’s thoughts, and you are not using a consistent, constructive POV, then you’ll find yourself intruding in your own novel, telling the reader what your character thinks. This is a flaw called “authorial intrusion” or “author intrusion.”

Here are some questions to ask yourself as you think about point of view and how it can be used to investigate the inner workings of the mind:

•What motivates your characters? Sex? Love? Revenge? Survival? Are your characters’ actions rising naturally from their motivations?

•How do your characters react to events? Are they impetuous…or deliberate? What is the level of their self-esteem?

•Are your characters’ feelings and reactions appropriate to events? How would they react if they were under maximum stress from, say, the news that their best friend had just died?

•Are your characters reflective? Do they frequently remember people and events from their childhood? Do certain topics or people rouse certain feelings in them?

•How do they express strong emotions? Do they punch a hole in a wall…or do they keep their feelings at bay?

(Whew! See? There’s a lot to this whole “POV” thing!)
The Writer’s Journey will continue next time with more explorations into point of view and an examination of the three basic narrative formats.

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