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Topic : How can I make my writing more interesting? For some reason my writing is really boring. I think its because I write in the character's point of view and I suck at that. How can I fix this? - selfpublishingguru.com

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For some reason my writing is really boring. I think its because I write in the character's point of view and I suck at that. How can I fix this?


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I assume you're writing in the first person. (Writing from a single character's point of view can be done in third person too.)

A trusted instructor told me that writing in first person should only be done when (a) the character has a unique voice or (b) the narrator is not the main character, but is telling someone else's story.

I haven't always followed his advice, but I present it to you as something to try. If you want to continue in first person, then either give your narrator a unique voice (Read "The Prophet from Jupiter," one of my fave stories) or make a secondary character your narrator (The Great Gatsby might be the most famous example).


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First of all, you're actually making it difficult for yourself by writing from a single character's point of view. Presumably your perspective character is the same person as your hero. Don't do that I suggest.

Some authors do it successfully only if the plot really requires it and the plot has sufficient novelty in other ways.

Here is a structure that I like. I call it the Spear on Mount Fuji plot, and think it works and is fun to fill out into a story. It is is easy to use to get emotional impact. Focus on behavior. Results are more surprising when they are occur: the reader did not already know who was thinking what leading to action.

This structure also works if you get stuck in deciding where the story is to go at a point.

Introduce another character at whatever point in the story you are at. It doesn't really matter who they are. They can leave or disappear for any other reason. Have them now ask a question.

Here you have the perspective (main) character (not necessarily the hero) answer it.

Switch to the hero of the story and also have them answer the question casually in dialogue. In a different way. Let the difference work for you converging toward the end. The goal is to make a contrast in outcomes, not necessarily positive, but what is more probable for the story.

From here the narrative follows him for a bit. It introduces a secondary perspective character who goes along. His reports on behavior is what the reader knows. The hero merely talks or acts. You don't know what he or she is thinking.

Have the answer the hero goes anticipate the ending but this does not become clear until later. Let the ending be in significant contrast to most of the narrative, positive or negative.

Make sure incidental characters that appear early and disappear for most of the story play a large role in the end, and behave contrary to their earlier behavior. Make some up precisely for this to happen. This gives some organization to where your story can go at any place, and makes it easier to write well.

Return to the perspective character, making a third perspective character to switch between them and report on what's occurring. Proceed swiftly to the end.

Compress the action and description. This makes sure the action can be anticipated in retrospect but novel when it occurs, disorienting and fast paced. Actions happen quickly in real life, faster than described, while speech usually takes more time in real life.


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