Point of View + Psychic Distance: Some Thoughts

Hey Story Crafters,

The first week of NaNoWriMo is over! How is everyone feeling? If you set writing goals, were you able to meet them?

If you set goals and weren’t able to meet them, don’t beat yourself up about it. Writing is hard, especially when you’re still trying to figure out what you’re writing about. Some days the writing feels like pulling teeth, like you have to force the words onto the page; some days the words flow out of you so easily, the days when the writing comes slowly feel like a distant dream. But you can’t have the good writing days without the not-so-good ones. Like I said in the previous post, “You can’t know what you don’t know.”

Even on the not-so-good writing days, you’re still figuring out what you don’t know. So try to sit down with your project a little bit each day, whether you write a thousand words or just two, using the tips and tricks I mentioned last week, or your own. Try different techniques to get yourself writing. Just reading what you wrote during your last writing session is a form of progress, even if you don’t write anything. Staying connected with your project will help you find the inspiration to keep writing.

Okay, onto the topic for this post. This week, I’d like to talk a bit about point of view and psychic distance.

Point of View (POV) vs. Psychic Distance

Usually when it comes to craft talk about POV, it’s compared to camera placement: How close is the camera to the protagonist, or the POV character? How much access does the reader get to this character?

The “camera placement” and “how much access” aren’t the same thing, though they are connected; you can’t have one without the other.

Author Emma Darwin has an excellent post explaining psychic distance, where she expands on John Gardner’s explanation of it from his craft book, The Art of Fiction. (I recommend reading Gardner’s book, if you have time.)

In his book, Gardner explains psychic distance in terms of 3rd person POV. (This range will be used in a diagram below.)

1. It was winter of the year 1853. A large man stepped out of a doorway.
2. Henry J. Warburton had never much cared for snowstorms.
3. Henry hated snowstorms.
4. God how he hated these damn snowstorms.
5. Snow. Under your collar, down inside your shoes, freezing and plugging up your miserable soul

Darwin gives an example of psychic distance using 1st person POV from a fantasy angle (listed below), and then further explains psychic distance. (Make sure to read Darwin's post before you reach the diagram below!)

1. In the far-off days of Uther Pendragon, witches stalked the earth.
2. (*As Darwin puts it, this level—true omniscient perspective—has “Once upon a time…” vibes.)
3. Every village had its witch, and we feared or consulted her according to how desperate we were.
4. When I was a child Mistress Margit frightened me, and when she walked down the street the big ones would shout "Here comes Old Margit!", while I hid and crossed myself.
5. And here came Old Margit, with her ragged clothes and her big black cat, and I shivered and prayed because St Mary would save me, wouldn't she?
6. Margit’s coming and her cloak like little demons dancing and what’ll I do – mustn’t catch her eye – hide in the ditch cold and wet but Black Peter will see me – Mother Mary save me, he’ll look at you and then Margit can see into your mind and plant demons in there and...

I like to think of POV + psychic distance this way: point of view is the camera placement and psychic distance is the lens.

In the case of writing, “camera placement” is how the story is being told, if it’s in 1st person, 2nd person**, or 3rd person POV.

**Second person POV isn’t commonly used in fiction, so I won’t go into it here. However, the “telling” nature of 2nd person gives the impression that the psychic perspective can’t break through to the deepest, inner-most thoughts of a character.

Psychic distance as the lens—how much the lens is “focused,” is how much access the reader gets into a character.

The camera placement—how the story is being told—needs to be consistent throughout the story. Psychic distance, on the other hand, has more range. You can, and should, experiment with how close you want to zoom into or how far you want to zoom out of a character’s head (or how much you should or need to zoom in or zoom out, to keep the reader engaged in the story).

Here is a diagram of how I visualize POV + psychic distance:

3rd Person POV Diagram for Psychic Distance

You may or may not agree with me, which is completely fine. This is just how I make sense of POV + psychic distance.

The important takeaway from this diagram is that psychic distance is a range, and should be adjusted wherever it’s appropriate to do so in your story. Point of view is what stays the same. (Usually. For the most part.)

I know point of view and psychic distance can be tricky, so feel free to ask questions or share thoughts in the comments below!

If there’s a topic you’d like me to cover, just say so in the comments, or email me directly. I’m happy to cover topics that are of interest or of concern for you. ??

Happy writing!

Best,

Leah

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