Choosing a Viewpoint

[Joy Beeson]

Patricia Wrede's blog for today
< https://pcwrede.com/pcw-wp/picking-a-viewpoint-character >
is on the selection of a viewpoint character.

Which reminded me that way back when, when I hadn't yet realized that
I'm a how-to writer, I took "Two Broken Toys" through at least six
revisions with my workshop group, and at every revisions I said to
myself "This is Kossel's story, and it ought to be told from his point
of view, but Kossel doesn't *have* a point of view.

At length, I gave in, and found that a disminded man does have a lot
to think about; it's just erased on input.

And when "Private Kossel" was complete, it was unanimously declared a
tour de force.

Pity that nobody but the members of the original critique group can
understand it.

http://wlweather.net/joybackup/ZFICTION/ANJELA/BROKETOY.FIC

http://wlweather.net/joybackup/ZFICTION/ANJELA/KOSSEL.FIC

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at centurylink dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

[Joy Beeson]

And upon reading my post, I realized that if I told the story from
S'rajo's point of view, it would be Idiminda's story -- S'rajo knows
that Idiminda is a good-for-nothing ne'er-do-well who has been exiled
to the frontier, he knows that Idiminda's father bought the smartest
slave he could find to be Idiminda's overseer in the hope of keeping
Ididminda from disgracing the family, . . .

I wish I had an alter-ego interested in writing the story, because I'd
like to read it.

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <knrhegdg36m2s06v0...@4ax.com>,

Joy Beeson <jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
>
>
>And upon reading my post, I realized that if I told the story from
>S'rajo's point of view, it would be Idiminda's story -- S'rajo knows
>that Idiminda is a good-for-nothing ne'er-do-well who has been exiled
>to the frontier, he knows that Idiminda's father bought the smartest
>slave he could find to be Idiminda's overseer in the hope of keeping
>Ididminda from disgracing the family, . . .
>
>I wish I had an alter-ego interested in writing the story, because I'd
>like to read it.
>

Unreliable narrator, in spades!

>--
>Joy Beeson
>joy beeson at centurylink dot net
>http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/
>
>

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/