| Welcome to Espada of Alexandria. We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| RP and Writing Discussion: Point of View and Perspective | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: April 29, 2013, 9:45 pm (279 Views) | |
| Dreaming Sun | April 29, 2013, 9:45 pm Post #1 |
|
MOO MOO MOO MOO MOO MOO MOO MOO MOO MOO MOO MOO MOO MOO MOO
|
This time, we talk about the use of point of view and perspective in writing, particularly in roleplays. There are three main categories of perspective. These are: First person is written as if the narrator talks to the reader. So, "I went to the beach one day," and "I saw a beautiful sunriset". First person is useful because it creates a sense of sympathy and closeness with the narrator. It creates a sense of trust, that you are close to the narrator and are brought to understand their point of view. An interesting use of this is also to show a point of view in a negative light, where the writer portrays the narrator almost sarcastically. "What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she spend time with me? What made her boyfriend so much more important than I was? She may be visiting, but I needed her." It is also quite limiting, however, as the narrative can only be told as the narrator sees it. If the narrator is on the beach, she can't talk about what happened at her home that day, since she wasn't there. This can be circumvented by writing several first person perspectives, but that can be jarring to the reader. For this reason, it is not commonly used in roleplays, and more frequently seen in novels or autobiographies. The second person talks about the reader. So, "You went to the beach one day, and you saw a beautiful sunrise". This, arguably, provides the reader the largest immersion possible, as the writer brings the reader in as a character. However, it is incredibly infrequent in fiction, as it allows no characterisation, and, if the reader disagrees with the character's actions (which, as humans, they likely are at some point), the immersion is decreased and second person becomes useless. It does however, find use in non fiction, like recipes. It also has a use in what is arguably an RP; a CYOA, where the second person's ability to immerse the reader truly shines. The second person here revolves the world around the reader and leaves them to make their own decisions, but, as the need for interactivity is essential, second person is hardly ever seen in contemporary fiction, or in traditional RPs. It is third person that is commonly used in RPs, where the events are described from an outside perspective. "Lily went to a beach one day and she saw a beautiful sunrise." There are effectively two "spectrums" that perspective exists on; the objective and subjective (close) spectrum, and the omniscient and limited spectrum (admittedly, the latter isn't a spectrum, but yeah). If a piece of writing is objective, it is merely descriptive. It tells and shows the reader exactly what is happening from the point of view of a narrator completely distant from what happens. Objective writing tends to focus upon events. Let's use the example of the sunset again. An objective narrator may write: "Lily ran towards the beach, only stopping when the she could see the glimmer of light across the horizon. The beach was aligned perfectly; facing the east, the sun rose in the centre of the beach, highlighting the already blue sky with streaks of gold. The clouds, illuminated by the sun beneath and flowing with the wind across the ocean, danced like shadows in the glow of a flame." Subjective writing, however, tells the story from an outside point of view, but at the same time, largely through the perspective of one or more characters. Subjective writing tends to focus upon emotions. Again, writing the same scene from the point of view of a subjective narrator, through the point of view of Lily: "It was today that she could see it. She'd always seen it from her second floor window but... today. She had been looking forward to it, and, before she even knew what she was doing, Lily found herself sprinting along the sands into the beach, her flip-flops being left uselessly behind her. And then she saw it; the sun's golden radiance, warming her face and her heart. It looked so small, from where she stood. So small... and yet so warm. Like her sister, holding her tight. The source of all warmth, ever, that lived on this planet. The wait it warmed her, and it nurtured her... Lily knew that she would never forget it for as long as she lived." Unlike in the objective text, you receive a lot more of Lily's thoughts. The narrator reveals how excited Lily is, and how much viewing the sunset actually meant towards her. It also presents the reader with a different image from the objective point of view, leaving the reader to their creativity. The narrator shows the reader what emotions they're expected to feel, and the reader is expected to fill in their gap with their own image, not one that the narrator provides in an objective view. As a result the subjective view gives the reader a far more personal description at the events, as a result of the loss of accuracy and reliability in the description. The other spectrum... isn't honestly a spectrum, and more a thin line. Writing can either be omniscient or limited. Omniscient authors know everything that happens in the world. It can be used either objectively or subjectively, but seems to have more potential in objective writing. So, again: "Lily stared at the sunrise, watching it in awe. To her, it looked just as big as the moon, or maybe a small bubble in her hand. She could not know. She could not know that it was a ball of plasma so hot that the word 'boiling' would never be accurate enough to describe it. She could not know that this small light, this light that she thought hardly bigger than the fingernail on her largest thumb, would radiate so far along the earth and the rest of the Universe. She could not know that this sun gave all of earth its life, giving rise to plants from the earth and to the animals that fed on them. Lily was too young to understand the great circle of life, but she didn't need to. Know matter what, the young girl knew she could never forget the image for the rest of her life. I'd actually call that more subjective, but it's still omniscient, discussing events that Lily would not know. Limited authors don't know anything, and tend to share their knowledge with a single character. Again: "Lily sat on the beach shore, the lower half of her body already immersed in the water. It wasn't as cold as she was expecting, but she could still feel the morning chill and wished she had brought a rash vest. The sun had not yet risen, but she got see the small glow across the sky... almost like a rainbow. Like... a reverse rainbow where the blue sky slowly faded into an orange then a red on the horizon. She couldn't see the sun, yet, but she knew she was coming... and coming, and coming. All of a sudden, she saw a small red dot on the horizon. A boat? Rising... minute by minute. Lily's awe was building, hoping it were the sun, but it were not. A small orb in the sky, bright red, but no bigger than the moon and hardly as bright. It was only when she waited did she notice... could she see it get brighter and brighter as it rose, and almost larger. She didn't know when, or how, but she knew it. In front of her was the bright sun, in all its radiant glory. She couldn't believe that the sun looked like just a tiny orb in the dawn... but she should have known. It was beautiful, and she felt that she would never forget it for the rest of her life." Limited authors tend to be subjective, as they can only tell through the point of view of the character they follow. This was an attempt to be written objectively, but you can see Lily's thoughts shining through, the way it changes, because the author doesn't know anything that Lily doesn't, and has to follow these thoughts, wherever they go. Note that perspectives can either be limited or omniscient; if it seems "in the middle", it's limited, since not everything is known as in omniscient. However, just because an author is omniscient, it does not necessarily mean they have to tell the reader everything. So, there you have it. Where do you write on the subjective/objective spectrum? Do you like to be omniscient of limited when you write? Have you ever tried to write, or been interested in a first person roleplay? Discuss here! |
![]() |
|
| Person A | July 18, 2015, 6:37 pm Post #2 |
![]()
Best to sleep on it.
|
I liked First Person PoV if only because I could do silly things with the writing and it was different and fun. |
![]() Mover, Shaker, Brute and Breaker. Master, Tinker, Blaster and Thinker, Striker, Changer, Trump and Stranger. Worm: Power Classifications
| |
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · RP ideas · Next Topic » |







5:53 PM Jul 10