(As opposed to the noun objective -- goal, target).
Two my favorite short story authors are Ernest Hemingway and Raymond Carver. Both used a sparse and minimalistic style. They shared only details that were relevant to the story. Neither painted a picture with his words; rather, they gave me, the reader, an outline and let me fill in the rest. I liked that they didn't tell me what to think about the characters and their situations. I had to construct my own meaning and understanding.
Early in college, when I started writing fiction, I tried to emulate their style. I pretended I was a fly on a wall capturing events as they unfolded. I could describe what people said, what motions people made, and what color the room was, but I couldn't describe what someone was thinking. I tried to be as objective as possible--besides, who was I to tell a reader what to think?
I hope that this tactic helped me develop as a writer--by limiting myself to what can be observed, objectively, I had to think about the actions that moved my characters and story along.
But it's so much more fun--both as a writer and as a reader--to go inside a character's head. As I've grown more confident, I've let the narrator carry more of the load. By using third-person point-of-view, I can stay somewhat detached; but by allowing that narrator to be limited omniscient, I can go into the main character's head. I want to understand what she is thinking about and how she is processing that information. I want to be right there with her as she faces and (hopefully) overcomes challenges. Subjectivity is much more colorful than objectivity.
* Click on "Ernest Hemingway" and "Raymond Carver" to read my favorite story by each author!
4 comments:
K!!!
Everything is fine, as long as we show and not tell right??
with warm regards
CatchyTips for Writers
I've seen some great work from the limited POV, but I usually prefer the stories that get inside a character's head.
Very thoughtful post. I feel more comfortable writing in omniscient mode. But I love reading stories where the narrator is initially detached and then unexpectedly gives you a peek inside the mind of the character or gets closer to the character just like you do as the story progresses. That might just be me.
Thanks for stopping by :)
@CatchyTips, I think you're generally right - show, don't tell. But sometimes it's nice to be told things, especially when that reveals something about the characters.
@Karen, I don't think I could stand a larger piece written in objective point of view. I like reading first-person, actually, but not writing it. Except when blogging...
@Tonja, me too - have you read Amy Bloom's "By-and-By"? It's a short story that uses first-person narration, but a very detached point of view. Really well done.
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