Monday, June 30, 2008

Whose Viewpoint IS this, Anyway?

A reader I'm writing Peach fanfic for and I are jes' talkin':

D: Yes, the "Whose viewpoint IS this?" question will cause much fun.

E: Yep, I think that works well with this one. Definitely should be fun. :>


D: It seems to be a hard rule in American fiction that ONE VIEWPOINT MUST BE ESTABLISHED and NEVER CHANGED (what's up with that?).

E: Well, for most writers and stories, it works better that way. I mean, most folks are hard pressed to get one decent viewpoint established. *grin*

D: Movies and prose books do that. Comics and TV swap all over the place!

E: Yeah, but most folks just don't pull it off well. It works for you, though.

D Well, since characters/ narrators could be misinformed, lying, gossiping, unconcerned, angry, frightened, amused, horny or just dingbats -- how does a reader know which to trust? Maybe most writers can't separate their characters in their own heads. One character's head isn't like the next one's.

The same writers totally freak out when I point out that ALL characters are just pieces of the author. Jeeze, who did they THINK was shoving the pen or tapping the keys? We only have our own viewpoint. It's fun to recognize that's true of the characters, too.

If the characters are ALIVE, why is it a problem? Don't they all have unions? Don't they all wake us up in the middle of the night all excited with crap like, "Ooh! Ooh! Guess how I'm gonna die!"?* I wouldn't trust these guys to keep my bar tab. Especially my bar tab.

*See the Desert Peach's Field Bishop in Bread And Swans.

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