marycatelli (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
marycatelli) wrote2022-01-04 10:48 pm
marycatelli) wrote2022-01-04 10:48 pm
Entry tags:
style and point of view
When telling a story from a character's point of view, it's wise to indicate the limits of his knowledge and judgement by the vocabulary and grammar choices.
But not to the detriment of what he actually sees.
I once was reading a story where I was told that a cloud of smoke spread, and suddenly a monster appeared!
Now, the character in question might have actually described it like that, but it wasn't an epistolary novel. It matters whether the smoke was less thick letting the monster be seen, or it rose up out of the ground, or it entered from stage left, or it was teleported in.
This is one reason why writing from the point of view of characters who don't understand things or express themselves well can be so fun.
But not to the detriment of what he actually sees.
I once was reading a story where I was told that a cloud of smoke spread, and suddenly a monster appeared!
Now, the character in question might have actually described it like that, but it wasn't an epistolary novel. It matters whether the smoke was less thick letting the monster be seen, or it rose up out of the ground, or it entered from stage left, or it was teleported in.
This is one reason why writing from the point of view of characters who don't understand things or express themselves well can be so fun.
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I'm not much a fan of his work, but if he did something like that, it would have been a character telling it, which would be more reasonable.