Max never intended to break Claire's heart—a cruel ultimatum forced him to disappear from her life. While he's shocked to find her in Gull Harbor, he isn't surprised by the bitter resentment she feels for him...or the fiery attraction that remains between them.
Claire is determined to rid her temporary home of its aggressive ghost, but Max soon realizes she's facing a danger beyond the paranormal. When Claire risks everything to help a desperate spirit, Max must race to save her—before another tragedy tears them apart forever.
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Writing Tips: Point-of-View Challenges by Kathryn Knight
In
romance writing, the general practice is to utilize two POVs: the point of view
of the
female main character (the heroine) and the point of view of the male
main character (the hero). These two
separate viewpoints allow the reader to experience the emotions of each
character and truly understand the internal conflicts driving actions and
decisions. The reader doesn’t need to be
“told” how the character feels, because they are connected to the character,
living the story through his or her eyes.
A change in viewpoint is usually signaled by a scene or chapter
break. When segueing from one viewpoint
to another within the same scene, a flawless transition must be achieved to
avoid the sensation of “headhopping” – the reader should not be bouncing
between character viewpoints. Even when
the story is written from a third person point of view, the author needs to
ensure that whatever is happening to a certain character is being filtered
through that character – the sights, sounds, smells, emotions, revelations,
etc. Nothing pulls me out of a story faster than a sudden omnipotent
narration—i.e., “As Beth turned to leave, she missed the evil smile lifting the
corners of Jon’s lips.” If Beth didn’t see it, how do we, the readers who
are living through Beth at the moment, know about it?
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Often in romantic suspense, one more viewpoint is required: that of
the “bad guy”. This helps the author reveal the antagonist’s motivations
and plans without having to use the clichéd conversation between the captor and
the hostage…you know, the one where the bad guy suddenly decides to give his
victim a detailed explanation of his motives and actions before actually
killing his captive.
There happens to be a bad guy in GULL HARBOR, and so I dedicated
some chapters to his point of view. It’s actually somewhat unpleasant as
an author to get inside the head of a depraved and desperate lowlife, even if
the character is only a product of the author’s imagination. And in GULL
HARBOR, I had another issue: the ghost. Too many viewpoints can clutter a
story, so I solved this problem through the heroine’s skills as a medium.
Claire occasionally slips into dreamlike visions, during which she experiences
the traumatic events which ultimately led to the ghost’s tragic death. In
that way, the reader gets a taste of what the ghost went through, and the
suspense is heightened as Claire attempts to interpret these visions and
unravel the mystery.
I’m always looking for new challenges, so after writing SILVER LAKE
and GULL HARBOR, I decided to explore an idea for a young adult (YA) novel my
muse was pushing. I had a complicated paranormal plotline involving the
last living Nephilim building in my imagination. But most YA novels are
written in a first person POV, which I’d never tried. Basically, every
single scene, feeling, and revelation was going to have to be relayed from the
experiences of my main character, Jamie. If she doesn’t experience it,
the reader can’t either. If I was looking for a challenge, I got it…but I
enjoyed my research, which basically consisted of reading YA book after YA
book, noting methods other authors used effectively to relay the story without
straying from the all-encompassing POV. I discovered a number of really
great books along the way. My finished product, DIVINE FALL, is awaiting
publication now, and I’m hoping the novel will appeal to both young adults and
my over-18 readers as well!
I love when readers and reviewers say “I felt like I was right
there” after reading one of my books. That means I’ve done each
character’s POV well. Romance is the most popular genre for a reason –
people love happy endings. But a happy ending is boring without plenty of
tension and conflict. The characters go through a lot as they fight to
overcome both internal and external obstacles. When POV is done well, the
reader gets to feel each and every emotion along the way. And while some
of those emotions may not be pleasant, romance readers know they will be
rewarded, in the end, with a happily-ever-after that makes all the trials and
tribulations worth it!
Author Bio:
As a child, Kathryn Knight kept her parents on a constant quest to find enough reading material to last her through each week. An early fondness for books about horses later gave way to a lasting preference for both love stories and ghost stories; as a writer, the paranormal romance genre is a perfect fit. Silver Lake, a RomCon Reader’s Crown Award Finalist, was Kathryn’s first published novel, followed six months later by Amazon bestseller Gull Harbor. She lives in New England with her husband, her sons, and a number of rescued animals. Please visit her at www.kathrynknightbooks.com or on Facebook at Kathryn Knight books.
Thanks for having me here today, Melissa!
ReplyDeleteHi Kathryn,
DeleteThank you for joining me today. I'm right there with you on head hopping. It's one of my pet peeves. I need a scene break before there's a POV change.