with Jill Elizabeth Nelson

December 4, 2007

Hosted by Anne McDonald

Dancing Word Publisher/Editor

*This chat has been edited for clarity

Anne McDonald: Let's get started. I'll open up with prayer, go over protocol and then introduce tonight's professor.

Lord, thank You so much for Your grace and mercy. Please minister to those dealing with the severe storms across our country. Protect them and meet their needs. Thank You for letting us come to learn more about writing, so we can be the best writers possible. Please bless our special guest and all of the participants. Guard and guide our time together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Protocol reminder: When the floor is open to questions, please raise your hand by typing ? for questions, ! for comments and ga when you are finished. ga= go ahead and keeps us from stepping on each others' toes.

Tonight, I'm thrilled to introduce the author of Reluctant Runaway and Reluctant Burglar. She's so graciously offered to teach us methods for improving our skills. Please welcome Jill Elizabeth Nelson. Jill, welcome.

* Annie leads the applause and turns the floor over to Jill

* Dragon Riding Mouse applauds wildly

Jill Elizabeth Nelson: Thanks so much for hosting me, Annie. And to everyone for attending. I'm excited about the material I'm about to present. Welcome again to all.

Is everyone ready for me to start with the material?

Anne McDonald: yes!

Leanna: absolutely

robert: si!

sdunn: ready

Noelle: por supuesto

Cyndy: ready

* Annie takes her seat and grabs a notebook

Jill Elizabeth Nelson: Okay, here goes. For the sake of this workshop I will use the abbreviation for point of view, which is POV.

I'm going to present some basic POV info and then ask a question. After you answer, we'll get into the meat of the Deep POV lesson.

Every story is told from someone's POV. The job of the novelist is to decide through whose eyes the story can best be told for maximum effect.

Sounds simple, huh? In practice, there are many nuances in choosing POV. There is First Person, where the "I" character tells the story. This POV limits the author to conveying only what "I" can know and experience. Very effective as far as staying in the mind of the POV character. Sort of Deep POV by default.

You can also foreshadow with first person in ways you can't in other POVs. For instance, you can say, "If only I had known" kind of sentences and get away with it. Because obviously the "I" character survives to the end of the story.

There is also the Omniscient Narrator POV. The story is told from the POV of an all-knowing outside party. Very difficult to pull off well, even for a master writer. The reader is distanced from the character and emotional resonance is lost. Unfortunately, many times writers accidentally slip into the omniscient narrator POV even while telling a story from first or third person.

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