Mythcreants EIC Chris Winkle has a new blog post on using a close perspective, i.e.: getting inside your character’s head. “Close perspective brings the audience closest to feeling like the story is happening to them,” Winkle explains.
Close narration requires the writer to be in tune with their protagonist’s feelings and experiences throughout the story. The writer also should be careful about cheating by withholding from the reader information the narrator knows. While holding back information can create a big reveal scene, it might also throw your reader out of your story.
Another major challenge is showing what happens to your narrator, what they feel, and what they experience, without relying on telling phrases. Winkle has a number of good examples of how to describe your narrator’s experiences through action and feeling.
And finally, the biggest trick is maintaining a consistent perspective and not accidentally drifting into distant third-person. Winkle offers paragraphs written both ways, as well as advice for keeping it straight.
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