Babble on POVs

[donutsweeper]

Just a question, and I'm not sure of the correct terminology here, but when reading (or writing), do you prefer a tight 3rd person POV  (where all events are seen and interpreted through one character's eyes) or switching between people's 3rd person POV with obvious page breaks or markers to show the new POV?

For example- my entire Charming the Pants off the Pashahads SGA/Jack crossover is told from Sheppard's POV, there is no scene where we see what Jack thinks about falling into the Pegasus Galaxy.  At points there are Sheppard's interpretation of Jack's actions (he notices a hedged answer, an avoided question, but doesn't know why Jack  answered that way).  If it had been written with switching POV's there could be the scene from Shep's perspective, noticing what he notices and wondering about it, followed by the same scene retold from Jack's, where he explained the reasons for saying what he did.  There also could have been scenes left out from the story the way I told it- I never did explain how Jack managed to get his hands on the Pashahads (because Sheppard wasn't there and wouldn't know).

I've been noticing more and more of the latter showing up in stories lately.  Presuming this babble actually makes sense to anyone, do you notice the difference between those types of POV styles and do you like one more than the other?

Comments

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

oh god. FLASHBACK BEGINS blah blah blah FLASHBACK ENDS drives me up a WALL

[karaokegal.livejournal.com]

It's just so insulting. What kind of an IDIOT do you think I am. Maybe you can get away with "Three years earlier," but I'd still prefer a transition marker and I'll figure it out myself. Or go into italics. Or something.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

the worst I ever saw had an inner flashback within the regular flashback. I clicked away when I saw that.

Depending on the fandom a simple marker or year/place stamp is all you need to make a flashback known

[karaokegal.livejournal.com]

Have you ever seen an old Humphrey Bogart movie called Passage to Marseilles? It's got pretty much everyone from Casablanca except Ingrid Bergman and it's got an incredibly convoluted story that has flashbacks within flashbacks. It's highly entertaining because that's how they made them then, but that's what your comment reminded me of.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

no I haven't, I'm sure they managed it well, but the fanfic I've seen it in was horrid. *shudders remembering*

[tejas.livejournal.com]

If it can't be made clear through the writing, the writer's not doing it right.

[karaokegal.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU!

[tejas.livejournal.com]

I need to use that icon more often. Sadly, there are far too many opportunities. :-)

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

to be fair, some fandoms have flashbacks dealt with in canon. Supernatural, for example, always has the year and place clearly noted so people tend to write things that way

[tejas.livejournal.com]

I consider that a fandom-specific quirk. Same with X-Files or, I'd think, 24.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

For other fandoms though, it's probably best avoided

[tejas.livejournal.com]

Exactly. If it's not a characteristic of the original, don't go there!!!!

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

it's one of those things that needs to be done well or not done at all

[tejas.livejournal.com]

That covers so very many things. :-)

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

very, very true