#4 of 2022: Third Person POV Post

Posted on January 9, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

( This post originally went live on November 16th, 2022.)

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The one issue I have with writing this post is that omniscient is a pain to write.  I get it wrong half the time.  So, I might cut this short to stop getting frustrated.  That and I think it’s fairly straightforward.

Now, I write in a present tense 3rd person style with a limited POV.  I went with limited because it never felt right to have characters or the audience know things that weren’t shown in the book.  I push the boundaries whenever I can when describing new locations, but I really have to use dialogue and discovery to get the facts out.  This includes character thoughts because I always imagine others standing around waiting for inner monologues to end when I picture a scene.  Still, that’s just me and I probably work fast and loose with the rules here.  Might even have it wrong now that I think about it.  It’s another reason why I needed to look a bit more into this.

So, what are omniscient and limited POV?

  • Omniscient is when the narrator knows everything.  They are aware of all events, thoughts, and feelings in a story.  This also means that the audience is aware of all these things as well even if the characters are not.
  • Limited is when the narrator relates only what they are aware of.  They cannot share any thoughts, feelings, and knowledge that they do not have.

Right off the bat, I can see why my own style is going to require a third category later in the post.  Anyway, these POVs work off stable and established narrators even if that role changes by the chapter.  It’s why people don’t like things switching in mid-chapter and get confused on who they are viewing the world through.  After all, POV is the lens that you use to reveal the story.  So, you need it to be clear on who is talking and showing the world even if it’s a faceless/bodiless narrator.

I’m sure most people would agree that one is not better than the other.  With omniscient, you can share a lot and not be restrained by having to holding some things back.  The feelings and thoughts of characters are out there.  With limited, you can’t be as free, but you can easily establish more tension and mystery.  You’re hiding a lot until the right moment and people will understand why it wasn’t shown at the start.  There are different levels of this too, especially since you can be flexible.  Most audiences are only subconsciously aware of POV, so that gives you wiggle room.  Means beta readers are helpful to see if the ‘feel’ is right.

Now, I did find that there is a third category: Limited Omniscience.  This is probably what I use without realizing it.  Part of this is due to the present tense since past tense makes it easier to use the two main POVs.  Now, this one has the narrator experience actions through a character, but not the thoughts and feelings.  You can get that through actions and expressions, but the inner workings of a character are kept hidden until they reveal them.  That is the limited part while the omniscient part is knowing all of the experiences and actions that are going on.  For example, Luke Callindor’s actions in battle are omniscient POV while his feelings and thoughts are predominantly limited until he makes them known.

I really like the combo, but that’s because it’s what I’ve been using for years.  So, I’m rather biased on this.  What do other people think about this topic?  It’s both fairly simplistic and complicated, which makes it hard to write about.  I think it doesn’t help that we all use POV differently even slightly.

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Elements of Setting: Time

Posted on January 9, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Ciao, SEers! Today, we’re going to talk a little about the four elements of setting. More precisely, the first element: time. I could give you the …

Elements of Setting: Time
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The Largest Animal on Earth: The Blue Whale

Posted on January 8, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

I was trying to decide on the first animal post of 2023.  Took a while before I realized that I should start with the gentle giant: Blue Whale.

These whales can grow from 80 to 100 feet with the record being 108 feet.  They can weigh from 100,000 to 150,000 pounds.  Their tongue alone weighs about as much as a full-grown elephant.  A blue whale’s heart alone can be 400 pounds and it may only beat twice per minute when the animal is submerged.  They start off big too with newborn calves being 8,800 pounds and 26 feet long.  Blue whales have one of the fastest growth rates in the animal kingdom at 200 pounds per day.

One thing about the blue whale is that it feeds on one of the small animals.  Blue whales have baleen, which are filter-like ‘teeth’ in their mouths.  They move through the ocean and the water goes through the baleen.  The hairs catch the tiny food, which is then swallowed by a throat that is the size of a dinner plate.  In other words, a blue whale would choke on a human.  They eat nearly 9,000 pounds of krill a day.

Blue whales are the loudest animals on the planet too.  Their calls can be heard by others from up to 1,000 miles away.  They hit a decibel level of 188.  To compare, a jet engine comes in at 140 decibels.  Blue whales can call at a very low frequency as well.  Their range here is 8-25 hertz.  The songs vary by population groups too.  Studies have shown that there is a decline in tonal frequency, which may be due to an increase in populations . . . That brings us to everyone’s favorite part.

The blue whale is considered endangered, but it’s population is slowly increasing.  They gestate for 10-12 months, which means they don’t give birth very often.  This doesn’t easily offset the damage that was done by its top predator, which isn’t the orca.  Yes, orcas do hunt blue whales, but human whaling in the past decimated the blue whales.  They used to be untouchable until someone invented those huge harpoon guns.  This brought them from 350,000 to the current number of 25,000, which is slowly increasing.  People wanted their oil back in the day, but they’ve been protected since 1966.  Currently, they are still in danger from being struck by large shipping vessels and pollution.

Let’s go to the pictures and videos:

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Goal Post: Back to Work in 2023

Posted on January 7, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Well, it’s the first goal post of 2023 . . . It doesn’t feel any different than 2022.

The truth is that I didn’t do much once the break was over.  Tuesday was back to work for me and back to school for my son.  It was a flurry of events that ensued because the end of the second quarter isn’t far away.  That means my days were spent going to work and then helping him with homework.  I wanted to get some writing done, but it wasn’t in the cards, especially as the week progressed.

I had trouble sleeping almost every night and the weather kept setting off my sinuses, so I was pretty miserable.  As I write this post on Friday night, I’m barely staying awake and feel terrible.  I’ll feel better as soon as I go lie down, which is why I’m confused.  It seems stress and anxiety is triggering something.  Even trying to write a fight scene resulted in the same reaction.  I feel warm and start to sweat while my head spins and my breathing gets ragged.  There’s no fever and the cough is my usually anxiety one that goes away as soon as I relax.  I’m clearly tired though.

The sleeping part is probably key.  I’ve been using Zzzquil to help me fall asleep because nothing else was working.  I can’t use it every night though.  So, I use it every third or fourth night.  So, the previous two nights (Wednesday and Thursday) were without Zzzquil and I dealt with some stressful stuff before going to bed.  Didn’t have a choice there.  Both times I violently woke up at 2:30 AM covered in cold sweat, gasping for air, and not sure where I was.  I’d settle down a little bit and get a bit more sleep, but not enough to fully counter everything.  It wouldn’t be until noon that I felt more human.  A tired human, but one that was no longer thinking his skeleton was trying to claw itself out of his body.  There weren’t any clear dreams to trigger this too.  Yet, the damage was done and I dragged myself to the finish line yesterday.  That’s why I took Zzzquil last night and am hopefully still asleep when this goes live.

One interesting thing I found is that apples help clear my head and give me an immediate boost of energy.  Not sure what this means or if it makes sense, but I definitely want to add more of them into my diet.  Definitely couldn’t hurt.

I’d say ‘in other news’, but nothing else happened.  I finished the March posts, worked on a puzzle, pseudo-watched an anime that I barely remember, and wrote maybe a page of Darwin & the Demon Game.  It will be nice if I can do more this weekend, especially since the original plan was to write chapters 4 and 5.  That would put me at the 1/3 mark.  Getting frustrated that I start suffering from exhaustion, brain fog, or getting really sick every time I try to write a book.  I can’t tell if it’s bad timing or I only get the time after pushing myself beyond my limits everywhere else.  At this point, I’ll be happy to get chapter 4 done.

Not that here is any rush to get these books done.  Think I mentioned this before, but I don’t know when I’ll be able to publish again.  Need to find someone to do the covers for Darwin as well as the money.  I still can’t afford any real marketing, so it would be tossing books into the ether and walking away.  Not a great idea and feeds the belief that I’m wasting my time.  Whoa, that was a big spin of the room.  Maybe it is fatigue and I’m just pushing myself too hard.  Anyway, I need to figure out how to solve this problem or it’ll be another year of no new releases.  Heck, that might be useful and I’ll just write the books then publish when life gets better . . . or one of my descendants proves to be smarter and does something with them.

This coming week isn’t going to be much different from the previous one.  I think there’s an appointment or two in there.  My son has a bar mitzvah next weekend, so that’s going to take up 2 of the 3 days.  We have MLK Day off, so we can do video games and relaxing at that point.  I’m not going to make any major plans considering how easily things go helter-skelter these days.  Why do the decisions and actions of other people end up punting me into a state of physical and emotional torment?

So, what are the goals for next week?

  1. Sleep better.
  2. Rest more.
  3. Hydrate
  4. Eat apples.
  5. Hope for the best.
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7 Tips to Writing Teenage Protagonists

Posted on January 6, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

TMNT

This is going to be tougher than I expected.  After all, I haven’t been a teenager in decades, so I’m kind of out of touch.  Even at work, I realize that teenagers of today aren’t like the ones when I was growing up in the 90’s.  So, let’s get to it and see how lame these tips are going to be.

  1. If you are writing a story that takes place in modern days, you really should research teenagers.  The workaround of having your protagonist not be into the same stuff as their peers while loving ‘vintage’ things can only go so far.  It’s pretty lazy and can cause some story issues, especially if you don’t want them to be a social outcast.  Just try to find out what teenagers are into in terms of pop culture, clothing, and slang to make the character seem more real.
  2. Try very hard to avoid making your teenager as mature and wise as an adult.  We tend to forget this mistake when we get in the zone, especially at first.  Once the character is locked into our minds, we are less likely to have them act beyond their years.  Still, an author can forget that a teenager is prone to making bad decisions from time to time.  They are in a big learning stage of life here, so they shouldn’t be perfect.
  3. Not every teenager has an interest in romance.  Even if they want to be with someone, they won’t necessarily be making that a fixation.  Some teenagers are more interested in friends, a job, classes, and their future in general.  Hormones do play a factor, but it doesn’t mean every teenager is a lustful horndog.
  4. Emotions are not always stable or perfect for the situation.  Teenagers can get frustrated, excited, depressed, and other extremes more easily than most adults.  So, you can have them overreact to certain stimuli.  For example, they may get loud and celebratory when they achieve a goal that seems minor to an adult like getting a B+ or parallel parking successfully.  You have to think like a teenager and have them react accordingly.  Not all the time, but enough to make sure the reader doesn’t think they’re really reading about an adult who is lurking in a high school.
  5. If you are writing about teenagers in other historical eras, you need to do your research.  It’s the same as #1, but you can’t talk to a teenager from that period.  You need to read up on things.  They will always have different skills, world views, and experiences than modern teens.  After all, child labor and marrying young being legal weren’t as far in the past as we’d like to think.
  6. Teenagers in fictional worlds can be seen as more malleable than those of Earth.  You have to make everything from scratch there.  An author can even have them act more mature than one would expect from that age.  Maybe they’ve seen enough death and horrors to erase their innocence.  This does mean you’re working with a traumatized teenager though, so looking up mental health in that age range should be done.  One thing that is always true is that teenagers always have some level of immaturity even if it rarely turns up.
  7. GROWTH!  I saved the big one for last.  Teenagers are in a stage where they are rapidly growing.  Not only physically, but emotionally, socially, and mentally.  More so than adults, they need to change as the story progresses.  It can be in leaps and bounds or oozing ahead, but they cannot go back to their original form.  This is because people see teenage protagonists as symbols of maturation.  If they don’t grow then they failed and there goes the connection.
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Using Dialect and Vernacular

Posted on January 6, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Hey, SE Readers. Joan with you today. I hope you had a wonderful holiday season, and the new year is off to a good start. Regional dialect and …

Using Dialect and Vernacular
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Poetry Day: Death of the Overused Meme

Posted on January 5, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Dr. Evil

(This one is rather self-explanatory.  We’ve all seen it happen.)

You use it every chance you get

The latest viral phrase of fun

Hilarious in its native land

That not everyone has seen

You drag it out at every whim

Draining it of life

Making it a husk of humor

That can barely cause a chuckle

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The Benefit of Teenage Protagonists

Posted on January 4, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Teen Titans

The Young Adult market is pretty bad.  One of its staples is having a teenage protagonist, which gets some interesting responses.  Most people seem to relate to these characters on some levels, but you have the occasional audience member judging them as if they are full adults.  This is a downside to teenage protagonists, which also turns out to be one of their biggest strengths.  How so?

First, let’s look at their buttressing groups:

  1. Pre-teens are very young and are limited in what they can do and know.  They are still highly dependent on the adults in their lives, so they tend to need help more often than teens.  This is extremely true in terms of transportation. You also have people not relating to them and sometimes calling them downright annoying.  Teenagers get this as well, but not to the same degree because pre-teens do have a lot less maturity.  They can’t all be ‘mature for their age’.
  2. Adults are on the other side of this advantageous group.  They have the resources, knowledge, and skills to do many things.  Of course, they’re also so mature that people expect them to act a specific way.  Adult characters are judged rather harshly by some audiences.  If they haven’t find their niche or are actively looking for it, they can be labeled as a loser and mocked.  The exception is if finding their path is a key part of the story.

Meanwhile, teenagers hit that sweet middle spot when it comes to development and expectations.  They still get judged, but have more flexibility.  These protagonists can be admired by younger readers who are excited to reach that age.  They can also be understood by adults who remember being that age.  Of course, that’s a difficult caveat considering how many adults seem to forget that they were ever young and had the maturity of an unripe mango.  In other words, we’ve all been there, so there is a higher chance of a reader at any age to relate to a teenager on some level.

Teenagers are also fairly easy to put through character development.  They are at that life stage where they are trying to find their path.  It doesn’t even have to be a central plot point because people expect them to not be where they want to be.  So, they have the freedom of exploration and experimentation.  It isn’t surprising when a teenager makes a mistake or moves ahead suddenly.  As stated, those of us who remember those years can relate to the emotional and social rollercoaster.  Adults strive to not have all that chaos and little kids are in a different growth stage, but teenagers are right there in the middle.  They are growing like pre-teens while pushing towards the stability of adulthood.

Because of this fluidity in their maturity and growth, teenagers get more leeway when it comes to their decisions.  At least, they should.  Those years are rife with mistakes and shaky decisions.  We’ve all been there.  A teenager’s decision can really twist a story around too.  It won’t feel contrived as if an adult made a bad call because people expect the teenager to not have the same insight and forethought.  Their age creates a cushion of immaturity that helps them stay in the good graces of the audience.  As long as they learn from their mistakes, which is essential.

I won’t say teenage characters are perfect and don’t have flaws.  They can be shortsighted and their immaturity may turn off some older readers.  Skills and knowledge are still not at the level of an experienced adult, so they may have some limits.  This is easily fixed by having them learn such things, but it can get iffy when a protagonist always claims they study something just when they need it.  You have to be careful with how much they know and how much they need to learn.  An author can go too far and forget that there are still some knowledge gaps.

The other hindrance comes from the emotional highs and lows of being a teenager.  This is what draws authors to focus on romances and loners.  Many teenage protagonists become fixated on love or fall into that ‘I am an outcast’ faux emo/goth exaggeration.  It’s a trap when an adult writes a teenager and doesn’t do their research.  Sure, you will connect with some people, but these two tropes tend to appear regardless of what the overarching story is.  So, one has to find that balance of emotional immaturity and growth to avoid the clichés.

So, what do you think of teenage protagonists?  Do you have trouble connecting to them?

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Final Examples of Types of Humor

Posted on January 4, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash Hi SEers. John is back with you again. Happy New Year to you all.  Last week I  gave you some humor examples from …

Final Examples of Types of Humor
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Legends of Windemere Paperbacks and eBooks Available!

Posted on January 3, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

All Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

For this month, I’m going to use Tuesdays to do a promo for the paperbacks.  There are still eBooks though.  Fingers crossed that I get a few sales of both during the start of this year.

First up, we have Legends of Windemere.  The series that started it all and established Windemere.  Everything I write in this world will connect to this series in some way.  It could be a location, cameo, or concept.  You can still read future stories without this one, but it’s nice to have a series that can set a foundation.  Enjoy a teaser from Beginning of a Hero and then check out the series.

*****

Visindor Forest remains at peace as it has every morning for centuries. Birds sing and shimmering pixies play tag in the warm sunlight. Glistening droplets of dew cover the leaves and grass as animals venture from their homes. A low grunt echoes throughout the wilderness, causing all other sounds to stop for a few seconds. The grunt returns minutes later, but it is too far away to scare the timid forest creatures. It is a landscape of serenity that painters strive to capture.

No place is more peaceful than where a tumbling brook cascades into a deep lake. It is an isolated area where slender naiads bathe and a herd of red-hide deer drink. The only sound that does not fit with the rest of the morning stirrings comes from the lakeshore. This constant, steady grinding noise catches the attention of several pixies, who cautiously approach the lone swordsman. They soon realize they have nothing to fear as the youth smells like the forest and emits an aura of calm. Instinctually, the pixies know he is trained in the ways of the wild and would never hurt them. It is the adult noble shepherd curled by the smoking remains of a fire that makes the tiny creatures nervous. The pixies tiptoe through the air, trying to get a closer look at the youth without disturbing the dog. They are within a few feet of the swordsman when the dog stirs and barks, shattering the morning peace.

“You sleep through the call of a dread boar, but sneaking pixies wake you?” the young warrior asks, patting the beast on the rump. In response, the stubborn dog barks louder at the pixies. “Calm down, Stiletto. They don’t mean any harm. Grandpa said pixies never attack unless their soul tree is threatened. So be careful where you relieve yourself.”

The young warrior’s face and body show few signs of battle or harsh traveling. The pieces of leather armor on his forearms and torso are as smooth and pristine as the day they were crafted. The youth’s dirty face is handsome with none of the scars or stress lines one would expect to find on a wandering warrior. Even his dark blond hair is well groomed, which is incredibly rare among adventurers. Most people would think he was new to the road, but his boots tell a different tale. Once high-grade leather with silver embroidery, they are beaten shadows of their former glory. Dried mud covers much of the leather and only flecks of silver remain of what must have been an intricate pattern. To say these boots were well-used would be an understatement.

Getting tired of the noise, the young man puts down his twin sabers and tosses a piece of dried meat to the dog. A blue pixie lands on one of the youth’s pointy ears and walks around his cheek to inspect his face. It gently wipes at a smudge of dirt on his nose. With a giggle, the tiny creature returns to its friends, who are hiding behind the wide leaf of an oak. They rejoin the larger group of pixies that are playing a game of tag through the trees.

“Now, this is the freedom we were meant to have,” the young warrior happily declares. “Beats being stuck home and not seeing anything beyond Haven’s borders. Right, Stiletto?”

The swordsman goes back to sharpening his blades, taking some time to buff the smooth ruby embedded in the pommel of each weapon. Tucking the rag into his belt, the youth makes a final inspection of the beautiful blades. He stops abruptly and sheathes the sabers with a muttered curse.

“Who the hell am I kidding? This isn’t what I want at all!” he explodes in sudden frustration. “We left home six months ago and I haven’t done anything heroic yet. All of my ancestors were great heroes of Windemere, so why should I be any different? The bards make adventuring seem so glamorous and easy, but there is so much competition. All these mercenaries and experienced heroes keep beating me to the big jobs. They get to fight demons, Weapon Dragons, and trolls while I’m left with scraps. All I want is to go down in history as a great hero who saved some part of Windemere. Not some pathetic slayer of nuisances like skeletons and rabid goblins. Is it so wrong to want to be as great as your ancestors?”

The dog rolls its eyes as if it has heard this rant many times before.

“Don’t start! All I’ve done so far is stop goblin raids and minor undead from destroying nearby farms. Look at me! I haven’t even been touched, so people don’t believe I’ve even been in a fight. I know I’m helping people, but I need something bigger. The dangers around here are far too easy to defeat,” the half-elf complains, pacing between two maple trees. “Look, Stiletto, we both know I’m highly skilled and that nothing frightens me. At least, nothing I’ve seen so far. Still, I didn’t run when I faced my first zombie or my first orc, which has to count for something. When do I get to prove to all of Windemere that I have what it takes to be a great hero?” He stops pacing and stares at the morning sky. “I’m fed up doing small jobs. Today, I’m going to find an actual adventure and start on my path to being a hero. Are you with me, Stiletto?”

The young man bends down to pat the dog on the head while Stiletto chews on the piece of dried meat. “Lots of help you are. The least you can do is stop eating while I talk. It was a good rant too.”

The snap of a twig catches the young man’s attention and he whirls around with both sabers drawn.

CONTINUED IN BEGINNING OF A HERO

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