Of Cameras and Their Point of View.

I have commented previously on how invaluable I find my writers’ group.  We meet once a month, at the local library. Last week I took a break from writing Doctor Jack - to enjoy the company  of my fellow writers and discuss the final scenes of The Department of Curiosities’s fifth chapter  (my novel length manuscript work-in-progress).

These scenes of Chapter 5: Of Resurrections, Discoveries and Assassinations/Eliminations (still being decided) – follows the despicable acts of the antagonist’s henchmen. No spoilers. From the start, I envisaged the henchmen as almost faceless non-individuals. They do not speak. We never learn their names. They act almost as one. We do not get any insight into their thoughts, feelings or motives. Nada.

This has forced me to practice writing from a new point of view (POV) – that of the ‘Camera‘. Not an easy task! Personal descriptives kept sneaking into the prose. One sentence that had to be culled was:  ’This had been expected, and planned for.‘  How can a camera interpret their motives or intent?  Smells, vision and sound need to be self-explanatory – or suggestive. Gone was also ‘With all secrecy lost‘. The reader must interpret for themselves.

This has been a great learning experience. If I can pull it off, the henchmen will be just that little bit more detached and hopefully produce some discomfort – like emotionless robots. My take home lesson this month has been:

The camera does not think. It does not interpret. The camera only sees.

Of Cameras and Their Point of View.