Hi! I've recently started attempting to write in close third person. One thing I'm wondering, though, is oif description of other characters and surroundings have to be from their POV.
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Hi! I've recently started attempting to write in close third person. One thing I'm wondering, though, is oif description of other characters and surroundings have to be from their POV. If by 'their POV' you mean the POV of the chosen POV character - DEFINITE YES. If by 'their POV' you mean the POV of the other characters being described- NO NO NO.
Not sure what you mean here, Questioner.
If you are writing from the POV of character A, you can mention anything which character A is either already aware of, or becomes aware of through his senses.
If you are in the POV of character A, and A sees character B and notices anything special about them, these things can be mentioned because they can be seen through the imaginary POV camera on character A's shoulder. You can only mention what the camera sees - and remember, nobody has eyes in the back of their head unless they're an alien!
If character A is not already aware of something it CANNOT be mentioned until he becomes aware of it through his senses. There could be a giant spider walking behind A but you cannot mention it until he becomes aware of it, maybe by his hearing a twig crack and turning round, or because one of his pals points behind him and yells, "A spider! Run, run!"
It's best to remain in a chosen POV for as long as possible, and NOT to rapidly switch from one POV to another. If you want to change to another POV and have good reason to do so, simplest way is to start a new Chapter.
Any help?
Close third is all about being deep in a character's POV, but in 3rd person instead of 1st. What is it you're trying to avoid, Questioner?
"Perhaps" definitely keeps it in her POV. A very picky reader might consider the sentence before that one a little out of her POV, but you could also argue that it's the sort of thing another person could infer.
Still...this is toeing the line. I'll have to focus on this during editing and make a decision about the way I wrote this. Close 3rd is tricky, but it can be really effective. Hope this helps.
2. When you are quoting a character's thought in third you italicize it. But that's only for "quoted" thoughts which would be written with I anyway.
The more I get used to the POV concept, the more certain sentences and phrases start to catch my eye as suspicious. As an example, something like this (from Sarah's POV):
Sarah smiled adoringly at her friend.
Is "adoringly" a little too much outside of Sarah's awareness? (FYI I generally try to use adverbs very sparingly, but I think this one works in the context of this particular scene)
The more I get used to the POV concept, the more certain sentences and phrases start to catch my eye as suspicious. As an example, something like this (from Sarah's POV):
Sarah smiled adoringly at her friend.
Is "adoringly" a little too much outside of Sarah's awareness?
Maybe something like this is better:
Sarah couldn't help but smile. The look of pure delight on Melissa's face filled her own heart with joy.
"Perhaps" definitely keeps it in her POV. A very picky reader might consider the sentence before that one a little out of her POV, but you could also argue that it's the sort of thing another person could infer.