30 Days of Writing, Day 3

Explain your Point of View and Writing Style Used


Two things:

1. That list that I copied and pasted is really badly phrased. Must go and fix that.
2. Yeah, I felt guilty, and this one was an easy one.

So I'm a huge fan of first person POV. I think in stories like this, it's much easier and it allows you to see more of the character. As this story charts Carmen's self-discovery and journey (wow, that sounds so douchey, but I hope there isn't too much judgement being passed), it only makes sense for her to personally narrate. It also allows me to show her to any readers in a more subtle way - so, for instance, I don't have to blurt it out that she does xyz, I can just sort of show it through the way she tells things, through what she says and doesn't say, whatnot.

It's also fun, because I'm toying with the idea of Carmen being a slightly unreliable narrator. She's a book-child. She gets swept away in fantasy and in what the best way of telling this story would be. So first person unreliable narration would very simple.

Writing style.

I get told that most of my stories are stream-of-consciousness style. Apparently this is just a nice way of saying I blather on and should edit. 

I can't quite explain how it is in one word, but basically I try and write things that are colourful and that are realistic. If I'm writing scenery, which I hate doing (Romanticism ruined me), I don't want it to be full of cliche and metaphor. I want it to be vibrant and realistic, so you shut your eyes and can see the balcony I refer to. You can see Carmen's hair, you can see Lorena's skin, you can see the party. I personally never described things with huge amounts of metaphor consciously when I spoke as a teenager, and I write as though the words are being spoken. (I am a huge fan of onomatopoeia as a result.) Dialogue is something I love doing, because I come from a family where I am the quiet one (anyone who knows me is choking on their spit right now) and words were something we always had. It's also extremely fun working out someone from the way they speak, and why it frustrates me no end trying to work out people who say very little. 

Summary:

• First person POV.
• Little consciously-used metaphor.
• Onomatopoeia is fun.
• Writing as realistically as possible.
• Writing as though it's being spoken.
• I'm wearing a hat.