The Shit No One Tells You About Writing
How the Close Third Person POV Can Get You Closer Than First Person
Episode guests
Podcast summary created with Snipd AI
Quick takeaways
- Illustrate external plot points in a query letter to highlight the emotional depth of a quiet/internal book.
- Revising opening paragraphs with specific details and interiority can establish a stronger emotional connection with readers.
- Exploring the contradiction between Claire's desire to be a mother and her fear of losing her identity can add complexity to the story.
Deep dives
Prologue: Unnecessary and lacks curiosity
The prologue gives away the main relationship and does not generate curiosity. It can be removed or revised to create more intrigue.
Chapter 1: Focus on specific details and interiority
The opening paragraphs should be revised to include more specific details and sharper interiority. This will help establish a stronger emotional connection and pique the reader's interest.
Explore the contradiction in character's desires
The contradiction between Claire's desire to be a mother and her fear of losing her identity should be explored more effectively to create a stronger emotional depth and complexity.
Rethink the scaffolding of 'perfect life' theme
The repeated emphasis on Claire's desire for a perfect life may not be serving the story effectively. Consider finding a different focus or making it less prominent to maintain reader interest.
Focus on Adoption Narratives
The podcast episode discusses the author's dissatisfaction with the prevalent adoption narratives that focus on tragedy and loss. The author believes that adoption stories should not always be portrayed as tragic and negative, but rather should reflect the complexities and nuances of real-life non-traditional families. The author aims to challenge the stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding adoption and present a more balanced and realistic representation of adoptive families.
Writing in Close Third Person
The author explains the intentional choice of using a close third person narrative style in the book, which brings readers even closer to the characters than first person narration. The author believes that close third person allows for a deeper exploration of each character's perspective, presenting their unique voices and viewpoints. By using this narrative style, the author seeks to create a more immersive reading experience, where readers can empathize with the characters and gain insights into their thoughts, emotions, and relationships.
In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe are joined by guest listener, Erica. They discuss the need to illustrate external plot points within a query letter, even if the book is more quiet/internal; using plot as scaffolding for the emotionality within your novel; the need for propulsiveness in a query and plot; figuring out how to describe your climax when it includes various subplots; how having a strong, definitive hook makes it easier to write a query letter; letting your story speak for itself rather than trying to shoehorn it into a different genre; the purpose of prologues (when they work); and specificity within a character's thoughts.
After which, Bianca interviews Laurie Frankel, author of Family Family. They discuss the importance of creating unique character names; writing a novel that's full of nuggets of wisdom without being trite; sticking to one draft instead of choosing a different one that's easier; Laurie's approach to editing; what a leap of faith writing a novel is; and Laurie's use of third person close POV and how this can get a writer even closer to their characters than first person.
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