I read a great deal, good and bad, and there is one thing that will turn me off to a story faster than anything: a writer’s inability to stay in character.
In writing, we call it “point of view.” And we all have problems staying consistent with it, no doubt.
When you write a scene, you are telling the story from one person’s point of view. Other characters don’t come into play until they speak or act and your character sees or hears those things and interprets them according to his or her point of view. While that limits what you can say, it also humanizes the character you’re writing, makes it universal. Don’t we all have these limitations? It makes your character more engaging and the story more believable, even if it is weird sci-fi, fantasy, or horror.
So here’s my suggestion to you if you want to really work on improving your consistency with point of view:
Take an acting class.
Or get involved in community theater. Or get some copies of great plays and have friends over, drink some wine, and perform the plays in your living room. Mix it up. Have the old play the young, men play women, whatever. It will make you a better writer.
When you write a scene, you are telling the story from one person’s perspective. We’ve all heard actors say, “What is my motivation?” Why do they need to know? Because the more they understand the character, the more natural and convincing their reactions will be in the moment, despite the fact that they’ve read the script and know what everyone is already going to say and what is going to happen in the story. Doesn’t matter. They can still immerse themselves in that character and react as if experiencing it for the first time, night after night, and take after take. We give those people awards.
We’re just like that as writers. If you can write the scene as if you were that character, no matter gender or sexual orientation or role or hero or villan or secondary character, your readers will find that character believable. And that is a great step to finding your story believable.
And the more believable your story, as fantastical as it may be, the more they will enjoy your story. And that is what we all want, right?
Taking on a character and acting as that character in a play, even if it is just for fun in your living room with friends, can help you immerse yourself in your character when you write and not get lost in “omniscient” land that usually confuses people and puts a distance between the reader and the person they are supposed to care about.
More on scene and character and point of view to come.
Peace.