Using Settings to Tap Your Reader's Imagination

by Jan Drexler

In my June post, I talked about giving your readers a complete story experience by immersing them in your fictional world. We discussed how to make that world come alive for you, the writer. You can read that post here.

Today we’re going to take your story world a step further: how to convey what you see in your mind onto the page and into your reader’s imagination.

Because, really, isn’t that the where the magic of story-telling happens?

We use the setting of each scene to convey emotion and increase our reader’s perception of our themes. Every word reveals details about the scene that provides an undercurrent to strengthen the action and dialogue. Many writers talk about using your setting as another character in the scene, but I think it goes further than that.

Yes, your characters interact with the setting, but the setting also creates a framework that helps to communicate your theme and subtexts more effectively than any other aspect of your story.


To help illustrate what I’m talking about, I’m going to use some scenes from one of my early books, A Home for His Family, published by Love Inspired in September 2015.


The opening scene of the book takes place in a gulch outside of Deadwood, Dakota Territory, in 1877. Yup, that’s right. Just like in a Hopalong Cassidy story. It’s May, there’s a snowstorm coming, and it’s one of only three roads into town. The spring influx of miners is arriving, and the place is a chaotic mess.


The heroine, Sarah, and her Aunt Margaret have been traveling to Deadwood in a stagecoach and are anxious to get to the end of their journey. But there is a delay ahead of them on the trail and the stagecoach is stuck until traffic starts moving again.

Deadwood, South Dakota

Here is Sarah’s first glimpse of the setting:

Sarah climbed out of the stagecoach, aching for a deep breath. With a cough, she changed her mind. The air reeked of dung and smoke in this narrow valley. She held her handkerchief to her nose and coughed again. Thick with fog, the canyon rang with the crack of whips from the bull train strung out on the half-frozen trail ahead. She pulled her shawl closer around her shoulders and shook one boot, but the mud clung like gumbo.


In describing this scene, I wanted to show the unexpected hardships Sarah was facing in her new adventure, but also her determination to follow through with her plans. So I let her leave the stagecoach to get some fresh air, but then she comes nose-to-nose with reality. The weather creates an oppressive layer of fog that obscures her vision and concentrates the odors of hundreds of animals and men confined in a narrow space.

There’s a subtext going on in this description, too. Sarah has come to Deadwood to bring the light of education to the children in the town and to the prostitutes who make up a significant number of the female population in 1877. A recurring theme in the story is that the prostitutes are trapped and confined in their lives with little hope for escape. The narrow gulch in this first scene is the reader’s – and Sarah’s – first hint of that unsavory reality.

This isn’t the only place I use the setting to convey that subtext. I scatter it throughout the story:

This cabin and a few others were perched on the rimrock above the mining camp, as if at the edge of a cesspool. Up here the sun was just lifting over the tops of the eastern mountains, while the mining camp below was still shrouded in pre-dawn darkness. 

* * * * *

The businesses crowded together between the hills rising behind them and the narrow mud hole that passed for a street. Nate slowed his pace as the storefronts turned from the saloons to a printing office. Next came a general store and a clothing store, with a tobacconist wedged in between. Across the street was Star and Bullock, a large hardware store that filled almost an entire block.

And in the middle of it all, just where the street took a steep slope up to a higher level on the hill, men worked a mining claim. Nate shook his head. In all his travels through the West, he had never seen anything quite like Deadwood.


But even amid the chaos of the mining town, Sarah’s spirit is focused on her goals. I use descriptions like this one to show Sarah’s hopeful courage:

Sarah took the bucket to the door and tossed the dirty water into the gutter. As she did every day, she looked past the crowded streets and crooked roofs of the neighboring buildings to the towering hills beyond. She let the bucket dangle and leaned against the door frame as she gazed at the white rocks at the top of Boot Hill. What would it be like to climb that mountain someday? 

Deadwood from White Rocks

Another aspect of any story is contrast. In this story it is between chaos and order; sin and forgiveness; the wandering life and home.

How can you convey the contrasts in your story? Choose your words carefully.

Yesterday's rain had made a miry mess of the streets. Horses walked in mud nearly up to their knees, while the drivers of the wagons shouted curses to keep their teams from stopping before they got to firmer ground.

Sarah crossed Lee Street on the wooden crosswalk and paused on the corner, looking up and down Main. Aunt Margaret had been right. The saloon girls crowded the board walks in front of the stores, their bright silk dresses and fancy plumed hats lining the street like a show of exotic tropical flowers. Not one “respectable” woman was in sight.

Finally, she caught sight of Maude’s red dress and purple shawl in a cluster of girls outside a peanut vendor next to The Big Horn Grocery on Upper Main. She hurried across the street on the wooden walk, soaking her kid shoes in the slime as the boards sank into the mud beneath the weight of the crowd doing the same. Thankfully, she climbed the stairs between Lower and Upper Main, out of the mud for a change.


Compare that to Nate observing Sarah’s first view of the land where he intends to establish his home:


He drove the team along a natural shelf on the side of the slope and then turned up. As they crested the rise, the sight that greeted him still took his breath away.

Green meadows stretched away in a wide swath at least a half mile across and twice that long, curving around the wooded slopes that crowded close to the open space. An eagle drifted above them against the clear blue sky.

Sarah whispered, “It’s perfect.”

Nate chirruped to the horses, driving them slowly through the knee-deep grass, heading for the grove of trees at the far edge. In his mind the mountain valley was dotted with horses—brown, black, white, gray—all grazing on the rich green grass that grew in a thick carpet everywhere he looked. Across the meadow, a meandering line of cottonwood trees followed a fold in the grass. That stream cutting through the land was the crowning touch.

He glanced at Sarah, still standing in the wagon bed, holding on to the seat between him and James. Her face was bright in the clear sunshine, the wind pulling loose hair from her bun. Her gaze went up to the tops of the hills surrounding them.

When she looked at him she smiled, and his heart swelled. Everywhere he looked he saw his future, waiting for him to reach out and grasp it. It was as if the past twelve years had never happened and he was just starting out, full of promise. 

What is the biggest difference between these two scenes? It isn’t only the contrast between the crowded streets of Deadwood and the open spaciousness of Nate’s land.

In the description of the town, I used a lot of words with hard consonants: curses, crosswalk, corner, crowded, walk, silk, exotic, respectable, kid…along with some “dirty” words for good measure: mud, mess, soaking, slime, sank.

But in the description of Nate’s land? The opposite. I used soft consonants and “clean” words: green meadows, meandering, wide swath, curving around, wooded slopes, drifted, clear blue sky, swelled, full of promise.

Words are important – not only their meanings, but their sounds. The soft consonants convey the underlying theme present in all my books: home.

Do my readers notice these details? Not consciously. But they play a role in the total reading experience.

Now I’d love to hear your ideas. How do you use your settings to add depth to your stories? Or for readers, how do carefully written settings add to your reading experience?


"A Home for His Family" is now out of print, but the e-book is still available! One commenter will win a Kindle copy of their very own!

The Rancher's Ready-Made Family 

Nate Colby came to the Dakota Territory to start over, not to look for a wife. He'll raise his orphaned nieces and nephew on his own, even if pretty schoolteacher Sarah MacFarland's help is a blessing. But Nate resists getting too close—Sarah deserves better than a man who only brings trouble to those around him. 

Sarah can't deny she cares for the children, but she can't let herself fall for Nate. Her childhood as an orphan taught her that opening her heart to love only ends in hurt. Yet helping this ready-made family set up their ranch only makes her long to be a part of it—whatever the risk.

Order your copy here!

Jan Drexler lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband of (almost) thirty-six years and expanding family. While she writes Historical Romance with Amish characters, the romance of cowboys surrounds her, tugging more story ideas from her imagination than she can hope to write in one lifetime.

Using Imagery In Your Writing

 

Hello everyone, Winnie Griggs here.

Today I want to talk a little bit about the use of Imagery in your writing.  First, a quick unofficial definition:  Imagery is the use of descriptive or figurative language to evoke a mental picture of the scene, action or emotion being depicted.

 

It’s much more than simple description, it is a tool that helps the writer paint vivid pictures that fire the reader’s imagination, that gives them new ways to look at whatever it is that’s being described.  Painting those fresh word pictures is key to creating fiction that resonates.  In other words imagery helps the writer say things in a way that touches the reader more effectively than a literal description would.  Because, by the act of their need to read between the lines and make the necessary translations and connections, however slight, readers become more involved and more engaged in the story.

 

Let’s talk about some of those methods.

 

Metaphors and Similes

These are probably the most common types of figurative language we use.  While similar, metaphors and similes are not the same thing.  A simile takes two distinctly different items and compares them using words such as ‘like’ and ‘as’.  A metaphor also compares two essentially different things but in a more subtle way.  It doesn’t announce the comparison by using comparative language but rather uses the items being compared  interchangeably, implying that they actually are the same. 

 

Let’s use an example to illustrate: 

 

The dandelion fluff scattered in the wind like a troupe of graceful dancers  (simile)

 

The gust of wind awakened the drowsing bits of dandelion fluff, scattering them from their hammocks to gracefully dance across the meadow.  (Metaphor)

 

In these examples, dandelion fluff is being compared to dancers.  The difference is, in the first example you are being explicitly told that this is a comparison and in the second you are implying it by giving the dandelion fluff the characteristics of a dancer.  There is a place for both constructs in your writing.

 

Analogy

An analogy is very similar to a metaphor or simile, in that it makes comparisons.  In fact, analogies normally employ similes and metaphors.  The main difference is that an analogy is used to do more than describe, it is used to explain or convince the reader/listener of an idea or concept. 

Robert Lee Brewer in Writer’s Digest explains the differences using these examples:

Metaphor: Time is a thief.

Simile: Time is like a thief.

Analogy: Time is like a thief in that thieves steal physical objects and time steals moments of our lives.

Another example of an analogy, this one from Mark Twain:  

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightening and a lightening bug.

 

Zeugma

A zeugma is another comparative technique, and is one of my favorites.  It’s much rarer than the others we’ve discussed but when done well it can be quite effective.  A zeugma is a word that is used to modify or govern two individual words or phrases, but each in a different way.

 It sounds complicated but here is a fairly simple example:  

Working beside my grandmother in her garden that summer wore holes in the knees of my jeans, and in my heart.

 In the matter of the jeans we are, of course, referring to actual holes.  In the case of the heart, however, we are using the word more figuratively.

 

Symbols

Symbolism is another great way to add the power of imagery to your work.  Symbolism is the use of some object or action to represent an idea, emotion or any other abstract quality.  It’s a type of shorthand.  If you show a motorist an octagonal red sign, even if there are no words on it, he understands he’s supposed to stop.  If a parking space has a stylized image of a person seated in a wheelchair, drivers know that spot is reserved for handicap access vehicles.  These are symbols.        

 

In literature, you’ll find two categories of symbols - author created symbols and universally understood symbols.

 

Universally understood symbols are those that convey meaning either by their very nature or by their context.     One of my favorite examples of this is from the movie Notting Hill.  There’s a scene in the movie where the Hugh Grant character is trying to get over the blow up of his relationship with the Julia Roberts character, and we see him walking through the market in a scene that takes up only about 2-3 minutes of actual screen time.  But during this walk, without the use of any dialogue, we see background characters and weather elements flow seamlessly through changes in such a way that by the end of his stroll we know an entire year has passed in his world.  And this was done entirely with a shorthand that we as viewers instinctively understood.

 

There are lots of these kinds of symbols out there - road signs, storms, falling leaves, howling wind, flowers in bloom, shooting stars, new dawns and sunsets, and oh so many more - they are all around us, all have meaning to our readers and all can be used in a number of ways to signify different things.  For instance, depending on your story’s theme and context, a reference to falling leaves can conjure images of the inevitability of death, or it can signal that holiday time is drawing near, or for the less astute reader, it can mean nothing more than that it is autumn.  And it can do this without any overt reference to any of those things.

 

Then there are the symbols that are author created.  Something you give significance and meaning to in a way that it then becomes shorthand for that meaning throughout your story. 

For instance, in page one of my book A Matter of Trust you’ll find this passage:

Her sweet, curious, intelligent little boy - he was so precious to her.  Now that her own mother was gone, he was all she had that truly mattered.

Lucy’s smile faltered at that reminder of her loss, and she pressed a hand lightly against her bodice, comforted by the feel of her mother’s locket, cool against her skin. 

 From that point on in the story, whenever Lucy touches that locket, which she does on several occasions, the reader should have a sense of what she’s feeling without me having to elaborate.

You should be subtle about your use of symbols, even the more obvious ones.  And never, ever explain a symbol to your readers.  If you’ve done your job properly, then the perceptive reader will ‘get it’ either on a conscious or subconscious level.  If less perceptive readers only see it for its face value, then so be it. 

 

Some DOs and DON’Ts on imagery

 

Strive for originality

When crafting your images - avoid clichés like the plague!  There are exceptions of course, but for the most part you want to give your reader fresh imagery to fire their imagination.  Find new ways to say ‘cold as ice’  or ‘fresh as a daisy’.

Here are some snippets pulled from my book The Christmas Journey:

As frustrated as a frisky dog on a short leash.

Relief washed through her in giddy waves.

She was still madder than a dunked cat

 

Use the mood and setting of your book to create the palette you draw your images from

Is your book a gothic set in the Victorian period?  Much of your imagery should have a dark, heavy, ominous feel - storms, nighttime, forests, rock, thorns, scavenger animals

On the other hand, if your story is a light-hearted romp set in small town America, your imagery might be drawn from things like sunshine, spring, flowers, songbirds, domesticated animals

 

Here are some snippets pulled from my book, The Christmas Journey, which is a western

Otis glanced her way and the ugly smile he flashed sent alarm skittering up her spine like a frightened centipede.

Otis and Clete lounged outside the saloon, all but licking their chops, nudging each other like a pair of weasels who’d spied a way into the chicken coop.

Mr. Lassiter’s well-being was more important than getting vengeance on that bucket of pond scum.

 

Keep your imagery focused.

Don’t make it a multiple choice issue for your reader. 

For example:  He was as forceful as a locomotive barreling down the tracks, or as a tornado swirling across the plains.    Not good - pick one!

 Also, make sure you use an image we can grasp.

The sentence - He was as effective as Daedalus in teaching caution to his son  won’t evoke an image for the reader if they don’t know who Daedalus was.

 

Surprise Your Reader With The Unexpected

When you are trying to describe a woman’s lips, a skilled writer will naturally reach for something other than red as rubies or cherries.  But suppose you take it in an entirely different direction - say red and puffy as an inflamed blister or that they matched her bloodshot eyes?  It might make your reader squirm a bit, but it’ll definitely paint a memorable picture, and depending on what you’re going for, it could work.

 

Some Final Thoughts

You obviously don’t want or need to overload your story with imagery and symbolism.  As with any technique, overuse can result in reader dissatisfaction or a dilution of impact.  So sometimes you simply want to describe a scene or emotion literally.  The key is to know when and how to use these tools to create the most enjoyable experience for your reader.

Figurative language is a powerful tool for your literary arsenal and one you shouldn’t be afraid to play with.  When properly wielded it can transform and elevate your writing.

Do you have some favorite examples of imagery from books or movies that you’d like to share?  Is so, please post them for us. 

 

Leave a comment to get your name in the hat for your choice of any book in my backlist.

 

Applying Disney's 12 Principes of Animation to Writing

 

Hello everyone, Winnie Griggs here. Recently I came across an article that described Disney's 12 principles of animation and as I was reading over the list I was making mental comparisons to how they might apply to writing as well. So today I thought I’d document those thoughts and share them with you.

 

These principles of animation were first introduced by animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in their 1981 book The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation. Through examining the work of leading Disney animators from the 1930s onwards, this book shows how Johnston and Thomas boil their approach down to 12 basic principles of animation.

So here they are, along with my writer takeaways.

1. Squash and stretch

This principle states that an object’s mass remains constant no matter how much pressure or tension is applied. So when you stretch something it gets thinner and when you squash it, it gets wider.

My writer takeaway: You need to really understand who your character is at their core, regardless of what image they project.  

2. Anticipation

This principle applies to the fact that you should prepare the audience for action. If you’re going to have a character leap you should show that character bending his knees first.

My writer takeaway: Foreshadowing is important. This goes to that old adage that states if you’re going to shoot somebody in scene 7 make sure you show the gun in scene 3. Foreshadowing is an important device to build tension and suspense, it makes your reader keep turning the pages to see what is going to happen next.

 

3. Staging

The purpose behind this principle is to direct the viewer’s attention to what is of greatest importance. This can be done by placement in frame, by the use of light and shadow and/or by the angle and position of the camera.

My writer takeaway: Not only is description important, but which elements you chose to describe and the emphasis you place on them is key as well.  When using description it is important to identify what you want to describe, why, and what response you want to evoke from the reader

 

4. Straight-Ahead Action and Pose-to-Pose

This principle states that the artist has two ways to handle drawing animation. The first involves drawing start to finish frame-by-frame resulting in fluid, realistic movements. The second method has the artist draw the beginning frame, the ending frame and then the frames for some of the key motions in between the two. This allows for a little more control in building the dramatic effect in the movement of the character or object

My writer takeaway: There is no one right way to approach writing your scenes. Whether you write linearly, hit the high spots first or approach them in some other fashion, as long as you have command of your process you can pull your reader in and keep them turning the pages then you’re on the right track.

 

5. Follow through and overlapping action

This has to do with following the laws of physics. Not everything on an object or body will move at the same rate, nor will they stop at the same rate. For instance when a runner stops, their hair or clothing may continue moving.

My writer takeaway: It was a little more difficult for me to find a writer takeaway from this one, but what I finally decided was to liken this to the fact that not every character’s arc will follow the same trajectory or have similar timing. And your character arcs will contribute to but not necessarily follow at the same speed or path as your story arc.

 

6. Slow in and slow out

This refers to the principles of acceleration and deceleration. Most objects need time to accelerate and decelerate to and from a stop. In the world of animation this is depicted by having more drawings near the beginning and ending of a particular action.

My writer takeaway: The set-up portion of a story will require more focus and detail than the rising and falling action of the middle. And to a lesser extent, this may also be true of your wrap-up at the end.

 

7. Arc

Most objects follow a specific path or arc when they are in motion. Deviating from this projection without a valid reason makes the movement seem erratic rather than fluid.

My writer takeaway: The events and action from one scene to the next should follow a logical path. This doesn’t necessarily mean expected or predictable (that would be boring!) but when something unexpected does happen, the reader can see how it logically followed from what came before.

 

8. Secondary action

This principle states that by adding secondary actions to the main action (e.g. adding swinging arms or whistling when a character is walking) helps to add more realism and dimension to the primary action. However, the secondary action should never diminish the primary one.

My writer takeaway: Secondary characters and subplots are wonderful ways to add context, dimension and color to your story, but they should always remain just that – secondary.

 

9. Timing

This principle refers to the number of frames dedicated to a specific action sequence which affects the visual speed of that action on film and how realistic that action appears. In animation, timing helps to establish mood, reaction and personality.

My writer takeaway: It’s important to have your protagonist(s) front and center for the majority of your story (a high number of ‘frames’) so that they remain the stars of your story and are not usurped by the secondary cast.

10. Exaggeration

This principle refers to the fact that a perfect imitation of reality can make an animation look static and dull. Adding in just a bit of exaggeration in form or motion adds interest  and makes the piece more dynamic.

My writer takeaway: As writer’s we don’t want to depict a perfect imitation of reality either – no trite everyday dialog or depictions of the kind of coincidence that often occurs. By paring things down, focusing on your core story and characters you can provide your reader with the best experience

11. Solid drawing

This principle states that before you can succeed in animation, you need to know the basics of drawing, including three dimensional shapes and forms, light and shadow, anatomy in motion and the proper use of symmetry and asymmetry. Consistency in the design of the world being depicted is also important.

My writer takeaway: This one should be obvious – know your craft, the basics of good storytelling. It’s okay to break the rules but only if you understand them first and are subverting them for a reason.

 

12. Appeal

This principle states that the animated character have something that appeals to the reader, a power to captivate or draw them in. That doesn’t necessarily mean they are sympathetic, villains can also have a strong drawing power.

My writer takeaway: Make certain your story’s characters have the power to engage your readers. Cardboard characters that are one-dimensional, whether all good or all evil, or characters that are too passive or too bland give your reader nothing to engage with, no one to root for or against.

And there you have it! My writer takeaways from Disney’s 12 essential principles of animation. What do you think? Have you heard of these principles before? Do you agree with my takeaways or would you have interpreted any of them differently?

Leave a comment to be entered in a drawing for any book on my backlist.

 

Writing The Book Blurb - Part 1

 

Hello everyone, Winnie Griggs here. 

Today I want to speak to you about writing a book blurb, sometimes called back cover copy, for your book. I never paid a lot of attention to what went into one until I dipped my toes in the self-publishing pool and had to write the blurb myself. The first thing I discovered was that it was hard! At least for me. So ever since then I’ve been studying them and reading articles and tips on how to write them and I thought I’d share a little of what I’ve learned. To do the subject justice, I’m going to do this in two posts. Today we’ll cover what it is, why it’s important and some DOs and DON’Ts

What Is A Book Blurb

Just so everyone is on the same page, let me explain what I mean by a book blurb. For the purposes of this post, the book blurb is the short book description you find on the back cover or inside jacket of books you purchase. For an e-book it’s the book description you find front and center on the book’s main page on seller websites.

Why Should You Care

The purpose of a book blurb is to function as a marketing tool or sales pitch. They’re used to attract and entice the reader into purchasing the book. In most cases, the blurb is second only to the cover in what a potential reader uses to make a buy/don’t buy decision. As such, it needs to really be engaging.

So how do you accomplish all of that in such a small word count?

 

Here are some DOs and DON’Ts. (And keep in mind – THIS IS ONLY MY OPINION. Feel free to disagree if you have found something else that works better for you)

·         Don’t confuse your blurb with a synopsis. You don’t want to focus on the plot or try to summarize your entire story. Instead you want to focus on the characters and the emotional resonance of your story. Provide just enough information to intrigue potential readers.

·         Don’t give up too much of your blurb space to review quotes and accolades. Those can be placed elsewhere. The blurb is a place to let the reader know what THIS BOOK is about.

·         Don’t give away any spoilers. The reasons for that should be obvious, but it can be tempting to show how clever you are with the twists and turns you take with your story – resist! Find other ways to hook your reader enough to want to buy the book and let them enjoy those surprises when they encounter them in the story.

·         Don’t forget to highlight the main conflict, the thread that will carry your story. But do leave out the resolution of that conflict – again, no spoilers.

·         Do keep it tight and punchy – a good rule of thumb is to shoot for 100-200 words and to make use of both power words and words that evoke emotion.

·         Don’t ignore the genre and tone of your book. Whether you are writing a thriller, a fantasy, a romance, a women’s fiction, a cozy or anything else, the genre should be clear from the word choices you use. Is it action packed, suspenseful, humorous, spooky or dark? Reflect that in the tone of your blurb.

·         Do make sure you understand the selling points of your story and then highlight them.

·         Do show what makes your book stand out from the crowd. How is your Marriage of Convenience, Secret Baby, Second Chance Romance, etc. book different from all the other books out there with the same trope? Find those aspects of your story that are unique—be it the conflict, the character occupations, the setting or something else—and highlight it.

·         Do end with a strong hook—leave your reader with an irresistible urge to scoop up your book to learn more

 

That wraps up Part I. Next time we’ll do a deep dive into the components of a blurb and look at some examples.

So do you have anything to add to my list of DOs and DON'Ts?  Do you pay attention to a book's blurb when making a buy decision?

Leave a comment to be entered in a drawing for a book from my backlist.

 

It's All About Perspective

Hi everyone, Winnie Griggs here. Today I'd like to discuss Perspective from three different angles.

A lot of folks think of POV and Perspective as inter-changeable, but while they are related there are some key differences. POV refers to the type of narrator you’ve chosen to tell your story, the vantage point from which your reader will experience your story.  It’s a technical choice you make based on whether you want to tell an up close and personal first-hand account, an omniscient narrative or something in between. 

Perspective, on the other hand, is about how your characters view, process and filter the actions, environment and sensory details they encounter. It takes into account your character’s education, experience, upbringing, beliefs, attitudes and goals. Because the sum of a person’s experiences and beliefs will inform how they view the world and react to whatever they are faced with.

There’s a quote I like from Dr. Wayne Dyer, who was an author and speaker in the field of self-development. You may have heard before:
If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

Of course, Dr. Dyer, was referring to one individual adjusting their focus to see things in a different light. But it can apply equally well to the writer who wants to present either a deeper characterization of an individual character or slant a scene or description a certain way.

CHARACTER PERSPECTIVE

To nail your character’s perspective, you first need to make certain you understand their backstory, the events, environment, occupation, relationships, experiences and ambitions that shaped him into who he is in the today of your story.

Let me try to illustrate.

If a young child, a woman who just learned her cancer is in remission, and a CEO who’s late for a meeting all got caught in a rainstorm, their reactions and observations would all be different. The child might gleefully seek out puddles to splash in, the woman might smile and view it as a blessed sign of renewal, and the CEO would likely grumble at the inconvenience.

But it goes even deeper than that. Perspective should play a role in word choice, in what details are mentioned and which are ignored, and it will determine the attitude with which those details are viewed. 

Let’s discuss a few examples to illustrate what I mean

In the area of word choice:
Let’s say you have a seamstress who suddenly comes upon something that frightens her. She might think in terms of fear stitching its way up her spine or about her nerves unraveling. But if you put a sailor in the same situation, he might think in terms of being pulled under, drowning or swimming in shark infested waters.
Or suppose we have a young child and an adult both describing a puppy. The adult would probably use words like rambunctious, house-trained (or not!), kid-friendly, purebred, rescue. But your child wouldn’t be thinking in those terms – or at least he shouldn’t be. Instead he would use words such as wiggly, furry, or say the puppy like to gives wet kisses.
If in both of these instances you use generic terms for the emotion of fear or the description of the puppy, you are not only missing the opportunity to add color to your story, but also failing to deepen your characterization

In the area of details:
Let’s say you have a group of friends walking into a museum lobby – we’ll call them Tim, Sue and Leo. Tim has been there a number of times so he doesn’t look around or pay attention to any of the teaser exhibits. Instead he goes right to the ticket counter to pay the entry fee. What he notices is how talkative the ticket agent is, what the discount options are, what flyers are on the counter.
Sue, on the other hand, has never been to this museum before and what she notices when she walks in are the elegant architecture of the lobby, the plush benches and beautiful tapestries and the stunning patterns in the tile floor.
Then we come to Leo who hasn’t been here before either, but he was dragged along and doesn’t really want to be there. What he notices are the long lines and the high price of the tickets.

In the area of attitude and values:
Going back to our example of the three friends at the museum. Let’s say Tim is an artist in his own right and has a deep appreciation for art in all its forms and is eager to share that appreciation with others. If we are viewing the museum through his eyes we will get a very positive, immersive impression.  

As for Sue, she really only has a surface appreciation for art, doesn’t understand any pieces that aren’t literal and really just wants to impress Tim, who’s her boyfriend. If we are viewing the exhibits through her eyes we’ll get a very different impression, one of vague confusion and eagerness to see the beauty that’s just beyond her understanding. 
And of course, there’s our reluctant friend Leo. He grudgingly trails behind his two friends.  He considers the exhibits lame and he’s on to Sue’s pretense so what we’ll get from him is a very cynical view of his surroundings.

Hopefully you can see how, by digging deep into who your characters are you’ve enriched your story and added layers of texture for your reader to enjoy.

In the end, you want to highlight the variety in your individual characters. You need to get out of their way and allow them to reveal themselves through word and thought in a way that is true to who they are.

AUTHOR PERSPECTIVE

There is another kind of perspective that impacts your writing and it’s based on what slips into our stories based on the author’s perspective.  Because your own values, beliefs, experiences can’t help but color your work to some degree. It’ll show up in the subtext, in the way we dive deep into or avoid certain topics - your ideas of justice and morality and spirituality all influence how we portray our characters in our stories.

We’ve all read ‘agenda stories’, stories where the author had a point they are trying make and they are using the story as a vehicle to deliver the agenda. It is like being preached at and if it is very heavy handed it will quickly cause the reader to put the book aside in favor of another, more entertaining read.

But even if we don’t have an agenda or want to hammer home a social, political or moral issue of some kind, author perception can still creep into our work.  As writers we need to be conscious of this and try to minimize this author intrusion in your work so that we can be true to our characters and the story we are trying to tell.

READER PERSPECTIVE

And there is yet another level of perception that impacts your story, and this is one you as the writer have absolutely no control of – that of reader perceptions. Each reader will bring the sum of his or her own experiences into the reading experience. If your story contains elements of violence, abuse, injustice, infidelity, etc., you are going to be touching on sensitive areas for your readers who have experienced some of those things. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go there, just that you need to be aware it will have that impact.

But even something you thought of as quite innocuous when you wrote it might very well strike a nerve with some of your readers. Something as simple as a scene set at an outing to the circus could set off alarm bells in your reader simply because she had a very frightening experience at a circus when she was a child.

As I said you really have no control over this, but it is just something for you to be aware of.

So what do you think? Have you ever looked at perspective from all its various angles in either your writing or reading? Is there something I've left out here or that you disagree with? Let's discuss!