On December 22, 2023, Kasie and Rex welcomed two special guests into the studio and wrapped up the conversation on perspective. Here are the show notes:

Theme for the day

Perspective & Listener Appreciation

Agenda

• Quick Catch Up & Introduction of guests
• Perspective in literature/writing
• Imagining Christmas stories from alternate perspectives

Listen to the podcast

So we’ve been working on perspectives of the narrator the last few weeks and at the end of each episode we talked about how to choose. But today I thought we’d do something fun by imagining some pretty famous (well known) stories from someone else’s perspective.

Segment 1

But first! We have two very special guests in the studio this morning. Let’s introduce them and talk about how they’ve supported us and the show.

Segment 2/3

What is perspective? It’s the lens through which we view the story. Most of us are the hero in our own story and that’s true for fiction, too. Many of our villains don’t think they’re bad, they’re just doing what they need to do, what they feel called to do. Think of the retelling of The Karate Kid from Johnny’s perspective – this punk kid moves in from out of town and starts challenging everything. Ruining his senior year.

So, what about some of these stories:

• Star Wars from the perspective of the Empire, or from Leia’s perspective
• Gone With the Wind from Melanie’s point of view, or from Ashley’s perspective
• Harry Potter as told by Neville Longbottom – this is actually a fan fic
• Goonies and Home Alone from the villains’ perspectives
• The Incredibles from Frozone’s perspective
• Rocky from Adrienne’s perspective

Or these Christmas stories:

• A Christmas Story from the mom’s perspective
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas from the perspective of the Whos in Whoville or Max the dog
• A Christmas Carol from Tiny Tim’s perspective

So why don’t they work? Well, we have to have a character who:

Has enough proximity to the protagonist’s story to be able to see all the pivotal things

Has enough stake in the story to be affected by the choices the protagonist is making

Segment 4

Questions to ask when considering who your POV character will be:

What is the character’s role in the story?

What is the character’s relationship to the protagonist?

What is at stake for this character?

How likable is the character?

Do you want to be in this character’s head? Why or why not?