tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6081517864246570508.post2470304256623879057..comments2024-01-24T18:27:59.476+01:00Comments on 100 Days in Kindle Publishing: Day 35Res I(p)sahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12905174429252287468noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6081517864246570508.post-16644494333574650392011-04-22T09:35:20.987+02:002011-04-22T09:35:20.987+02:00Thanks for the comment, Ms Reviewer. I didn't...Thanks for the comment, Ms Reviewer. I didn't mean to dismiss your point, and your constructive criticism is much appreciated, trust me. Your comment as well, which makes much more sense to me than your original email.<br /><br />Starting my second book now, and I will definitely be taking your points into account.<br /><br />That being said, I've never been terribly good at following rules! (I know, ironic for a lawyer)Res I(p)sahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12905174429252287468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6081517864246570508.post-71939772366660426092011-04-21T23:51:36.934+02:002011-04-21T23:51:36.934+02:00Ever since I read this post, it has been nagging a...Ever since I read this post, it has been nagging at me. I'm the person who wrote that email, and I'm afraid that I might have made a misstep. I wanted to explain exactly how important it is to stick to your POV character, that it's one of the most fundamental requirements for authors doing anything but extremely, extremely experimental fiction. Even people like Faulkner and Proust stuck to their POV character, in fact, ESPECIALLY people like Faulkner and Proust stuck to their POV character - I'm reading INFINITE JEST right now and it's close third person, too, this is one of those basic rules that everyone from Joe Blow mystery writer to Booker Prize winners needs to know.<br /><br />I *do* think people can be paranoid about it, but that wasn't the take-home point. The important thing to know is that you shouldn't, within a single scene, hop between - say - Alina's thoughts and Margot's, or Alina's thoughts and Will's. When you include these stray thoughts from other characters, you break POV. Of course you can have multiple POV characters in a single book, but you need to signal the transition between POVs (there are lots of techniques to do this), and you need to keep the POVs separate, not mixed.<br /><br />There are lots of great discussions about why it's so important to stick to your POV character, it's not an arbitrary requirement at all.<br /><br />It's been really bothering me that you used something I said to make a point that's exactly the opposite of what I meant. Yes, anything can be taken to extremes - but a lawyer should be the last person to use a straw man argument to dismiss something this important.<br /><br />So, I've said my piece now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6081517864246570508.post-20438508446341402552011-04-12T11:38:49.407+02:002011-04-12T11:38:49.407+02:00I reckon a book doesn't need to be perfect to ...I reckon a book doesn't need to be perfect to be thoroughly enjoyed! And if Ms Reviewer spends so much effort dissecting everything she reads she must not spontaneously appreciate very many things....<br />so...<br />bises, PatAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com