Read Online Bell, Book, and Scandal by Jill Churchill - Free Book Online
Authors: Jill Churchill
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‘The Grammar Demon,’ whatever that means.“
Shelley gave Jane a quick hug. “I’m so glad you came and let me come along. This is so good for you, and even I’m enjoying it a lot. See you at the luncheon.“
Nine
Jane discovered that the seminar called “Everything about Viewpoint“ was more interesting than she’d expected and was glad she’d picked it out to attend.
There were only two speakers, both successful writers.
The first speaker was a very pleasant woman in her mid-forties, who, like one of the speakers in the previous seminar, had started in romance before turning to mystery. Orla Witherspoon said, “I was used to third person, single viewpoint. If you’re not familiar with this term, it means the whole story is told from one person’s point of view. But in the third person, as in ‘Susan looked around in awe at the scenery and found it beautiful.’ “
People in the group either nodded or scribbled in their notebooks.
Jane smiled. The reactions told a lot about who were the “girls“ and who were the “women.“ Ms. Witherspoon went on, “When I started the first book of my first mystery series, I continued this just because I was in the habit of doing so. But it became onerous. I was ending up with all sorts of convoluted statements like ‘Susan looked at Joe and suspected that he wasn’t telling the truth.’ “
“Or,“ she went on, “ ‘Andrianna was apparently a very shy woman.’ Having a whole book full of `suspecteds’ and ‘apparentlys’ and ‘possiblys’ and ‘almost-certainlys’ and ‘it-seemed-asifs’ is tedious and boring to both the writer and the reader. And it puts too much emphasis, in my opinion, on one character. The richness of fiction, to my mind, is learning how characters feel in their own minds.
“I was fortunate to discover this,“ she continued, “before I turned in the manuscript. It’s always best to start as you mean to go on. I decided I, and the reader, would both like the book better if I did multiple viewpoints. I had to do a monster of a rewrite, but it was a much better book.
“However, I only go into two, or occasionally three, viewpoints in any given scene. If you have a crowd of people interacting, you don’t want to know what every single one of them is thinking.“
She went on, “Now, I warn you, this is only my opinion, strong as it is. Our other esteemed author, Daisy Ellis, does third-person single viewpoint and I love her books. She’s much better at it than I was,“ she added with a big smile as she introduced the other speaker and sat down.
Daisy Ellis, probably a good ten years older than Orla, stood at the microphone and was just as gracious. “Orla and I have been good friends and fans of each other’s work for about ten years, and we’ve learned to agree to disagree.“
“I’ll say!“ Ms. Witherspoon agreed heartily.
Ms. Ellis spoke just as confidently as Ms. Witherspoon had. “My purpose is to make the reader identify with the sleuth. Really be in his or her mind. Know what she or he knows, suspects, or concludes. I think it makes for a stronger story line as the sleuth investigates, finds dead ends, identifies and broods over what may or may not be genuine clues to the mystery.“
She went on, “A lot of this depends on what the writer is comfortable doing. Be sure to realize that neither approach is right or wrong. Orla’s books are, frankly, deeper than mine. But mine, I believe and hope, are enjoyed by just as many contented readers. And it’s what I’m comfortable writing. And I know from experimenting with one book, I don’t do multiple viewpoint half as well as she does. Now let’s hear what all of you think about this, or want to ask about.“
The group had lots of good questions for both speakers. Slightly more of them were directed at Ms. Witherspoon, about the technicalities of being in a number of characters’ minds. Who should dominate the story? How could you go into
Shelley gave Jane a quick hug. “I’m so glad you came and let me come along. This is so good for you, and even I’m enjoying it a lot. See you at the luncheon.“
Nine
Jane discovered that the seminar called “Everything about Viewpoint“ was more interesting than she’d expected and was glad she’d picked it out to attend.
There were only two speakers, both successful writers.
The first speaker was a very pleasant woman in her mid-forties, who, like one of the speakers in the previous seminar, had started in romance before turning to mystery. Orla Witherspoon said, “I was used to third person, single viewpoint. If you’re not familiar with this term, it means the whole story is told from one person’s point of view. But in the third person, as in ‘Susan looked around in awe at the scenery and found it beautiful.’ “
People in the group either nodded or scribbled in their notebooks.
Jane smiled. The reactions told a lot about who were the “girls“ and who were the “women.“ Ms. Witherspoon went on, “When I started the first book of my first mystery series, I continued this just because I was in the habit of doing so. But it became onerous. I was ending up with all sorts of convoluted statements like ‘Susan looked at Joe and suspected that he wasn’t telling the truth.’ “
“Or,“ she went on, “ ‘Andrianna was apparently a very shy woman.’ Having a whole book full of `suspecteds’ and ‘apparentlys’ and ‘possiblys’ and ‘almost-certainlys’ and ‘it-seemed-asifs’ is tedious and boring to both the writer and the reader. And it puts too much emphasis, in my opinion, on one character. The richness of fiction, to my mind, is learning how characters feel in their own minds.
“I was fortunate to discover this,“ she continued, “before I turned in the manuscript. It’s always best to start as you mean to go on. I decided I, and the reader, would both like the book better if I did multiple viewpoints. I had to do a monster of a rewrite, but it was a much better book.
“However, I only go into two, or occasionally three, viewpoints in any given scene. If you have a crowd of people interacting, you don’t want to know what every single one of them is thinking.“
She went on, “Now, I warn you, this is only my opinion, strong as it is. Our other esteemed author, Daisy Ellis, does third-person single viewpoint and I love her books. She’s much better at it than I was,“ she added with a big smile as she introduced the other speaker and sat down.
Daisy Ellis, probably a good ten years older than Orla, stood at the microphone and was just as gracious. “Orla and I have been good friends and fans of each other’s work for about ten years, and we’ve learned to agree to disagree.“
“I’ll say!“ Ms. Witherspoon agreed heartily.
Ms. Ellis spoke just as confidently as Ms. Witherspoon had. “My purpose is to make the reader identify with the sleuth. Really be in his or her mind. Know what she or he knows, suspects, or concludes. I think it makes for a stronger story line as the sleuth investigates, finds dead ends, identifies and broods over what may or may not be genuine clues to the mystery.“
She went on, “A lot of this depends on what the writer is comfortable doing. Be sure to realize that neither approach is right or wrong. Orla’s books are, frankly, deeper than mine. But mine, I believe and hope, are enjoyed by just as many contented readers. And it’s what I’m comfortable writing. And I know from experimenting with one book, I don’t do multiple viewpoint half as well as she does. Now let’s hear what all of you think about this, or want to ask about.“
The group had lots of good questions for both speakers. Slightly more of them were directed at Ms. Witherspoon, about the technicalities of being in a number of characters’ minds. Who should dominate the story? How could you go into
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