Choosing a Perspective

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I've been blogging about techniques to make any piece of writing more literary.  One critical strategy to begin with is choosing your perspectival character.  Once, there was no perspectival character.  Narratives stood aloof from their writing and displayed everyone equally, venturing into various minds.  This kind of third person omniscient was commonly accepted as the way to go.  Now, it really doesn't fly with readers and can get fairly confusing.  I watched the sequel to Fantastic Beasts and where to Find Them, and it didn't work for me.  I'm not the only one it didn't work for, and much of that could be that the narrative doesn't pick a perspectival character.  We follow several storylines with several characters, and none of them seem to be THE main character.  It gets confusing and frustrating.  Some movies and books can pull it off, but it's usually best to choose a protagonist or two main characters, someone(s) the reader can see as their avatar in the world of the story. 

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If you already have your main character, it's a matter of choosing how to tell the story, in first-person or third-person.  First-person gives an immediacy, an emergency, and a passion that can be a bit lacking with third-person limited.  You, the reader, ARE this person doing these amazing things.   For a popular example, read Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series.  We see the world through Percy's eyes, with all the intensity that entails. You're feeling the rush of the air, smelling the breath of the monster on your face.  On the other hand, writing in this perspective can feel somewhat limiting.  What if you want to show someone else's perspective?  What if you want to show this scene through the warrior's view and the next through the monster's?  There more flexibility in third person, and it can still feel urgent, immediate, and intense.  Just refer to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series for a very popular example.  It's really a matter of taste.  Try both.  Which works for you in this story? 

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However, if you don't know who your perspectival character is--or which one to use FOR THIS SCENE if you decide to use third-person and switch back and forth--look at what is happening or will happen in the scene or story.  For whom is there the most emotional impact?  Is it more intensely emotional to be a sick child being held by her mother, to be the mother holding her child knowing she can do nothing, or to be the woman's husband, watching them both suffer?  Possibly someone else?  Who has the most to lose?  Whether to use first- or third-person is a decision best made before you start because it can be really sticky and complicated switching later.  However, which character should tell which scenes is a decision to make as you go alone and that can be switched at any time.  Play with it.  Don't feel locked in until it's published. 

Building a Network

My blogging, of late, has been on literary writing, though this one is about writing, in general.  A couple of webinars I heard recently emphasized the importance of creating a writer's network.  One by The Write Practice talked about building a cohort of supports and writers with whom you can share your contacts and who can help you along the way.  It always seemed somewhat important to have a support network of fellow writers, but I never knew how important it was. 

A network, from what I understand now, is everything when it comes to the success of a writer.  A writer cannot succeed alone.   I have been building my writer's network for a while.  A good friend of mine has started self-publishing her books.  She helped me figure out the world of blogging.  I have friends in my writer's group and social network, who have been helping me polish my writing.  My sister sent me the contact of a publisher recently, one who could very well be the key to my future.   I have two children and a husband, all of whom are writers, all of whom help me create, polish, and refine. I have been building a network on Twitter and FaceBook for a while.  However, it seems that this is just the beginning if I am to succeed. 

If you haven't, start your writer's network now.  See other writers not as competition but as the keys to your success.  They can support you as you support them.  You can share with each other tricks, connections, and skills that will help both of you become more than you ever could alone.  Start your writer's network now. 

Referencing Disability in Literature

I've been blogging about literary writing.  One aspect of literary writing is tackling important and current issues.  One thing that sets literary works apart from their less literary counterparts is their ability to take a close and meaningful look at themes that are important to contemporary audiences, in particular, and to humanity, in general. 

Modern readers can open a window to various time periods by reading the literature of that time.  If one wants to know what issues concerned Shakespeare and his contemporaries, one need only to read his works.  He dealt with corruption, revenge, loyalty, royalty, ambition, love, madness, idealism, deceit, war, and so many more themes.  Many a reader has explored such themes to understand his world as well as human nature, in general.  Mark Twain explores themes of slavery vs. freedom, nature, and conscience.  If one wants to explore civil rights issues that concerned Harper Lee and others as she entered the sixties, one need only read works like To Kill a Mockingbird.  Orwell, in writings like 1984, Animal Farm, and others, helps readers explore contemporary fears of totalitarianism, technology, psychological manipulation, and other, similar themes.  These works continue in their meaning because they explore concerns with continued relevance. 

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In order to write in a literary fashion, a writer needs to explore meaningful themes within one's writing.  One modern theme to which some writers have turned is disability.  There was a time those with disabilities were mocked, derided, and destroyed within reality and in literature.  The mad woman in Rochester's attic within Jane Eyre was locked away then self-destructed.  A contemporary writer recreated her story in Wide Sargasso Sea, showing the same story through her eyes in a way that is eye-opening and much more subtle and complex.  Modern writers increasingly tackle disability as a reality for minor, major, and even main characters.  Disability is a major theme in law, in pop culture, and throughout society as more and more people step forward to share the challenges and joys faced by those with various disabilities in factual and fictional sources.  For instance, The Fault in our Stars tells the realistic love story of two youths dying of cancer. The novel was turned into a movie and gained a wider audience.  The Percy Jackson series is modern fantasy and shows youths dealing with ADHD and dyslexia.  Temple Grandin writes multiple factual books on her experience to help others understand.  Disability has becoming an increasingly common theme throughout modern literature and culture, in general. 

One caution is that anyone writing about a disability should do adequate research to do the disability justice.  Temple Grandin, herself, points out she originally assumed all people dealing with a similar kind of autism would experience things as she did, but she discovered hers was only one perspective on that disability.  Writers dealing in a shallow or unresearched way with disabilities will throw those who understand the disability out of the narrative.  It will be clear to experts in the field that they didn't do their homework. 

As with many other important themes, disability should be handled with respect and understanding.  When done right, it can increase value and meaning of your work for modern readers and beyond.