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The purpose of this newsletter is to help the Writing.com short story author hone their craft and improve their skills. Along with that I would like to inform, advocate, and create new, fresh ideas for the short story author. Write me if you have an idea you would like presented.
This week's Short Story Editor
Leger~
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| ASIN: B01FST8A90 |
Product Type: Toys & Games
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Amazon's Price: $ 24.95
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 Point of View
POV, how important is it to your story? In doing some research for this newsletter, I looked for a good description of the different points of view. I found what I thought was an excellent description. (Gotta love search engines!) Take a look, if you will.
Objective Point of View
With the objective point of view, the writer tells what happens without stating more than can be inferred from the story's action and dialogue. The narrator never discloses anything about what the characters think or feel, remaining a detached observer.
Third Person Point of View
Here the narrator does not participate in the action of the story as one of the characters, but lets us know exactly how the characters feel. We learn about the characters through this outside voice.
First Person Point of View
In the first person point of view, the narrator does participate in the action of the story. When reading stories in the first person, we need to realize that what the narrator is recounting might not be the objective truth. We should question the trustworthiness of the accounting.
Omniscient and Limited Omniscient Points of View
A narrator who knows everything about all the characters is all knowing, or omniscient.
A narrator whose knowledge is limited to one character, either major or minor, has a limited omniscient point of view.
I like to think of POV in terms of whose shoes I'm in as I'm writing. Writing in first person can be difficult, most writers prefer to write in third person. I like to describe! But, if I were writing in first person, it would be incorrect to write: "I stepped into the Camaro, my long slinky legs swinging into the drivers seat."  Sounds pretty silly, doesn't it?
Also, as I've learned from working with an editor to get published, it's important to stay in your POV shoes for some time. Readers find it disconcerting to have to jump from one character's shoes to another too quickly. It gives them bunions! (The readers, not the editors. ) Try to be consistent and logical with your changes. Keep in mind what limitations your character has in the point of view you're using, what they can actually see or hear.
As you run about with the holiday hustle and bustle, consider starting your next project with a different point of view. Think about beginning a challenging project in the New Year. Keep writing down your ideas even if you don't have time to write. And most of all, smile! Happy Holidays!
** Image ID #925656 Unavailable **
References:
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/literature/read/pov2.html
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Some selections to consider:
| |  | Heart Chimes (E)
Listen to it, Helen. When two hearts touch each other, they make beautiful music
#856302 by Rasputin  |
Excerpt: “Bill, I can’t understand why you bought that thing.”
“I really don’t know, Honey. I was just wandering around, looking at all the stuff at the yard sale, and I picked it up. Mrs. Birnum asked me if I wanted it. Before I knew what I was doing I was handing her two dollars. There’s something about it, something different. Besides, it’s a wind chime and you like wind chimes. And the chimes are a bunch of pretty porcelain hearts. You always said you wanted a heart wind chime. What do you think, should we hang it on the patio?”
| |  | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1022376 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: As I headed up to bed, the old wooden stairs creaked with every footstep I took. I sometimes wondered if I wouldn’t find myself lying on the cold, cement floor of the basement one day. I really needed to find a more modern house for Jenny and I. I just couldn’t keep up with the repairs an older house required. As I walked down the hall, I came to a halt in front of Jenny's room.
Excerpt: There, in the dark, I could barely see her as she pretended to sleep. By the dim light coming in through the window, I watched her body rise and fall with each tortured breath. I always tried to synchronize my breathing with hers. I always failed.
“Are you awake, love?”
She opened her eyes, those indescribable circles of light, and said, “Maybe. What’s it to you?”
I smiled as she stretched and groaned. She could be so cute sometimes. “I love you, you know,” I said.
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#989401 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: I remember so many times when I was a child, watching the rainbows that fell from the crystal paned windows to dance on my walls. I used to laugh as they flurried about, as hazy as sun born insects and as bright as pixie wings. I always wondered why starlight didn't shatter that way. Why only the sunlight? Was it more fragile? Did the moon somehow shed a denser web than her sister, the sun?
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#663493 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Once upon a chilly Friday the 13th, sometime around 7:30 in the morning, I fell from a patio cover I was building and broke a bone in my left foot. Needless to say, I wasn’t feeling too hot. By 11:45, my foot was in a cast - blue, mid-calf, open-toed. I was issued a pair of crutches and sent on my merry way. As I made my way to my truck, I phoned my wife, Ronie, to let her know how my Friday the 13th was going.
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1040557 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: As I drove my minivan down the ramp out of the parking garage, I saw a woman on the roof. She was pacing, and I knew instinctively what she planned to do. She was going to jump, and she was going to kill herself. She probably thought that would fix things. Actually, it just makes a big mess, no pun intended. The car behind me beeped. I’d been idling at the stop sign for a few seconds more than a “full and complete stop.”
Excerpt: It's Jeffrey's graduation day. I guess I should call him "Jeff" not "Jeffrey". While I like the latter, he favors the former, so in honor of his graduation, I guess I'll go with that.
Emotions have been running high these past two days, ever since Walter and I arrived yesterday afternoon to see our only son, our only child graduate. Let me back up once again. He is our only offspring--he is just hours away from graduating from college. He is definitely NOT a child anymore.
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This month's question: Do you challenge yourself to use different Points of View?
Last month's question: Do you feel onomatopoeia is overused or underused?
The Ragpicker - 8 yo relic  replies: Overused? Definately not. Unless it's used in comedy and is used as the actual comic tool. That's so passe.
Underused? In some situations, yeah.
More than that though, it's mostly misused. When a bomb simply bangs, it's no longer vivid. And don't get me started on the number of times things simply thud down. And so on.
I agree, it's important to pick the right word.
Strange Wulf submits: Probably the best words to use are those that appeal to the senses. These are a prime example, as words like "bam" and "thump" appeal to the ears, while "slimy" and "slippery" appeal to the skin. Well, maybe "appeal" is too strong a word in the latter case. =P Disgust, perhaps.
Bring the room to life. Use the words that appeal to your senses, and a few that outright disgust you too. You'll be better off and so will your readers.
My favorite disgusting one is "squelch."
Holly Jahangiri observes: I think onomatopoeia is about the only excuse we writers get, in English, to make up words. (Unlike German writers, who can just throw two or three words together to create new meaning.) Like any other gimmick, onomatopoeia should be used effectively - I don't know if it's overused or underused, but I've seen it badly used. You have to ask yourself, "Will the reader say this word the way I hear it??"
Excellent advice Jessie!
writerguy13 answers: I think that it is overused in the sense that some authors try to describe everything instead of letting the reader imagine and sometimes that can be more powerful than anything you can put on paper. Great subject and newsletter; I really enjoyed it!
Thanks, keep reading!
Melissa is fashionably late! asks: Hello Leger!  Thanks for the lesson in onomatopoeia. Now... how is that pronounced? lol
billwilcox sends the answer: I always wondered what that was called--onomatopoeia. You know, it sounds a lot like the name for Yoko Ono's toe-art. 
*laughing*
Lou-Here By His Grace  writes: This is easy onomatopoeia.
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1025348 by Not Available. |
Great item!
victoria Andre'a comments: I love the newsletter and how I feel like every week I have a new term to focus on. Thank you!
I'm sure all the Newsletter Editors thank you!
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Short Stories: December 14, 2005 Issue [#761]
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