Description
Masterclass 4 – Point of view
A story told in the first person brings intimacy with the reader but it can also feel suffocating or one-sided. Multiple perspectives are technically challenging but when a writer carries it off, the result can be exhilarating in its insight and complexity.
Editing plays a vital role in finessing point of view. Subtle shifts can have profound implications — a small adjustment from narrative to internal monologue, or from description to dialogue, can give depth and insight by enabling readers to enter someone else’s consciousness.
In this Masterclass, Pamela showcases Daisy & Woolf, an exciting novel by Michelle Cahill: a complex achievement of multiple perspectives, including class, race, sex, sexuality, historical context and more.
At the conclusion of this Masterclass you should be able to:
- Distinguish different aspects of point of view, including the perspective from which the story is told and the points of view that emerge through the narrative, internal monologue and dialogue.
- Identify first, second and third person perspectives, close (tight) or omniscient, direct or indirect,and combinations of different approaches to point of view.
- Analyse the effectiveness of the choices in points of view and pinpoint problem areas and technically difficult passages in order to come up with options for improvement.
- Investigate changing attitudes to perspective in contemporary fiction and apply those insights to texts.
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