Writing thoughts

[wesleysgirl]

So last night I was thinking and I realized why I have such a hard time writing scenes with more than two or three characters in them.

It's POV's fault.

Because I write in a fairly tight POV, I 'see' the scene from that character's POV. I'm so busy concentrating on how the POV character is interacting with each other character in the scene that that's all I can see. It's like each line of dialogue is playing off the one before it without acknowledging that there's this whole bigger picture.

I don't think I can stop writing from the tight POV I write in. Okay, I could, but I don't think I want to. I might consider experimenting, but I can't picture making a major switch in my style of writing other than temporarily.

But I think what I do need to do, when writing group scenes, is pull back a little bit. I can still be in the POV character's head, but sort of... hovering over him, like a camera shooting the scene from up above. I need to be able to imagine the bigger picture and watch it unfold without forcing it, letting all the characters interact as part of the entire conversation instead of in little pockets of individual space.

Anyway. It made sense last night.

Comments

[byrne.livejournal.com]

Me too.

Um. That's all. HI!

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

It's somehow a relief to figure out WHY something's not quite right, isn't it?

*Smooooch*

[suki-blue.livejournal.com]

Have the same problem. It takes a lot of effort to aknowlege other characters than the two I'm centering on.

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

We'll figure out a solution eventually! We hope. ;-)

[ely-jan.livejournal.com]

Makes perfect sense to me as well - I have the same problem, but I had never written anything really before I started tagging. There was no other frame of reference for me really.

Now that I am starting to write outside of TSP? Third person? Multiple pov's? ::ears bleed::

I decided to try the same approach you suggest and it worked well for me.

And I love your style of writing by the way, can't imagine you not writing with such a personalized depth of character.

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

Thanks. *Smooooooch*

[(Anonymous)]

You might try, as an exercise, to write the scene again from a different character's POV. It could be revealing.

[scribll.livejournal.com]

Sorry, forgot to login.

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

That's a good idea -- I'll be sure to try it. Thanks. :-)

[willowgreen.livejournal.com]

I *love* stories that are written in tight POV! I find them much more natural to read than stories that are written in a more omniscient-narrator style. Everything just seems to flow better when you're seeing it through a particular character's eyes. And in your writing, I always like the way the important details of the scene are filtered through the POV character's personality, so that it feels like I'm actually experiencing it as that person.

But I think what I do need to do, when writing group scenes, is pull back a little bit. I can still be in the POV character's head, but sort of... hovering over him, like a camera shooting the scene from up above

Yes, I can see that if you can hold a wider authorial POV in your own mind, but still write as though it's all being seen by the character, it could make your writing even stronger. But frankly, I think it's already pretty darn strong.

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :-)

[ladycat777.livejournal.com]

Actually, one of the things I discovered when I was writing/helping on No Limits scenes was that very problem. I'm used to writing from a head -- which doesn't matter so long as it's one head. It's a problem I think happens more to fanfic writers than pro, since we're so concerned with getting the 'voice' right. You might want to try short exercise scenes. No intro, no conclusion, just orchestrating the scenes until you're comfortable with them?

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

Yes, good idea. Thank you. *Gives you sexy hug*

[yasminke.livejournal.com]

It makes -- to me -- perfect sense.

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[http://users.livejournal.com/tesserae_/]

Well, in real life it *is* hard to pay attention to more than one or two people at once. A story written in a tight single POV isn't suddenly going to broaden that focus - but you could choreograph it so that what's happening comes to the main character sequentially, I should think.

Hmm. Interesting problem. I wonder if it's that in fic, too, so much writing is done not just from one character's perspective but from deep inside their head as well?

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I see what you're saying. Hm. *Thinks more*

[minim_calibre]

I have actually had the thought, while writing one of my longer stories, "Okay, now I'll zoom the camera in..."

So trying the reverse makes total sense to me.

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

I have to keep hoping that I'll sort out all the problems eventually! :-)

[djinanna.livejournal.com]

I think what you're saying makes all kinds of sense.

Even though, when I'm writing (which doesn't happen all that often), I have the exact opposite problem. I can't get *into* a character's head, instead I kinda hover over the action, all limited (or even full) omniscient. Which is great for crowd scenes, but hell when you're trying to do an intimate bit with just a couple characters. Or, worse, just one character.

It comes from years and years of role-playing (instead of writing) where we challenged ourselves to do multiple character scenes, and to (many years ago) being the primary dungeon master for my AD&D group.

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It's good to know that some people have the opposite problem, I think. Shows yet another way in which we're all different.