The other night I sat in on a live chat with a prolific Christian author, Susan May Warren and her friends. It was fun and educational. She talked about writing stuff that might bore a lot of you. However she gave me some food for thought. I will be chewing for awhile.
She gave me a certain thought that has stuck in my head for a few days. I think it relates to everyday life. It has to do with Point of View. That is writing vocab for "who" is the teller of a scene. In some books it stays the same consistently throughout the whole story. In others, it can change depending on the scene.
For my NaNo project I am trying a different style than I have done before. It is written as a strictly romance genre. Which means most publishers want a hero POV and a heroine POV. I have only written one other project from a his/hers perspective before. It is my second manuscript titled Another miracle.
The author who lead the on line talk, Susan May Warren, gave me a treasured tidbit; a nugget of author gold. Almost always the scene is told from the point of view of the character who has the most to lose. That provides the reader with more of an emotional ride. I can see that, however it got me thinking of my own life.
How many times have I looked at a situation differently because someone else has more to lose than me? What about in a marital disagreement? Have I ever thought to myself who has the most to lose here? What about an disagreement with my teenager? Or a co-worker?
I almost never thought about it this way before. Instead I am usually focused on ME and what I have at stake.
While this thought germinated in my mind for the last couple days, God was using it to find a fertile place in my heart. See, yesterday I got in a disagreement with someone. Actually I would have gotten into one if I hadn't changed my POV. A situation happened where I was mad at something a friend did. I thought it was inconsiderate and it hurt my feelings. I had to wait for an appropriate time to talk to them about it later. So I sat and stewed. Then Suzie's advice came back to my mind. I tried to imagine what would my friend have at stake to make them do and say what they did. What could they possibly have to lose in that scene?
When I took the time to ponder it from their POV I saw the situation totally different.
In fact, when it came time to chat with my friend I was done being hurt and mad. Instead I focused on the other side of the coin. The conversation went much smoother and ended amicably. Thanks to my new writing lesson.
A lesson for all of us. Try considering why someone did something you didn't like based on what they have at stake.
Do you have an example of a misunderstanding that could have gone much worse? Tell me about it.
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