Editorial Tip of the Week: The DL on POV

Point of view: an essential building block for any work of writing. But how much time do you spend thinking about it? Your choice of point of view can be an important tool for engaging your reader and revealing your characters. Let's reviews the choices:

First Person

Utilizes "I," as in: I went to the store today. I felt uneasy around the shoppers. First person is sometimes considered the easiest point of view, but it requires a great amount of understanding to work with. Because the entirety of your story must be conveyed through the one character, your perspective is limited. You are in danger of telling more often than showing. First person point of view provides a greater intimacy and is quite reader friendly, just be careful you are wielding it well.

Third Person

Relies on he, she, or they to tell the story (usually in past tense) and is quite common across all genres. Example: She wanted to go out last night to support her friends and felt guilty for feigning an illness to stay in instead. The story is told through one character and as with first person perspective, you are limited to what that character sees, hears, feels, experiences, or knows.

Omniscient

Allows for an all seeing, God-like perspective on the story, with the perspective jumping from character to character (remaining in one character's head one at a time). This perspective can be very revealing for readers, but is a handful to manage as the author. Omniscient perspective requires diligent attention to keep characters straight and reveal information through the right characters at the right time.

Second Person

Look for second person point of view in "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. This is the least commonly used point of view. Nobody wants to be told what they are feeling or what to do, and this is precisely what second person point of view hinges on: you. Most often executed in present tense, second person relies on the "you are..." perspective. Example: You are walking through the park and feel a sense of euphoria. The sun warms your face and you smile.

Spotlighted Literary Events

Saturday, August 28th

Locally grown poetry at the Hollywood Farmers Market, final reading for summer 2010: Frances Payne Adler (10:30 am) and Judith Barrington (11:30 am). The two poets go on when musicians take breaks. Come on over while you shop for heirloom tomatoes, purple potatoes, sweet berries, and extremely lovely lettuce; eat breakfast burritos, crepes, and cookies while good words come beaming out at you.

Where: Hollywood Farmers Market, NE Hancock at 44th

When: 10:30 am and 11:30 am

Cost: Free

Saturday and Sunday, August 28th & 29th

Portland Zine Symposium! A conference and zine social exploring facets of independent publishing and DIY culture. The PZS aims to promote greater community between diverse creators of independent publications and art.

Where: Peter W. Stott Main Gym, Portland State University

When: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Cost: Free

Tuesday, August 31st

Please join us to hear two terrific authors, Matt Love and Willy Vlautin, read from their latest works and be generally entertaining. Matt's latest book, is Gimme Refuge: The Education of a Caretaker. The book tells the passionate story of his teaching career, his experience as a caretaker of the 600-acre Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge, and his awakening as an Oregonian.

Where: Broadway Books, 1714 NE Broadway

When: 7:00 pm

Cost: Free

Friday, September 3rd

Reading and signing with William Upski Wimsatt in celebration of his third book, Please Don't Bomb the Suburbs. Wimsatt weaves a first-person tour of America's cultural and political movements from 1985–2010. It's a story about love, growing up, a generation coming of age, and a vision for the movement young people will create in the new decade. Wimsatt was honored as a "Visionary" by Utne Reader, and included in The Source's "Power 30" list.

Where: Reading Frenzy, 921 SW Oak

When: 7:00 pm

Cost: Free

Photo Story Prompt: A Place Called Banda Café

Write whatever comes to you! Post it as a comment or email it to us at photostory@indigoediting.com.

Editorial Tip of the Week: Hyphen and the Dashes

Mistaking a hyphen for an en dash is an easy thing to do. Singular hyphens are even frequently used in place of em dashes, either by mistake or through lack of understanding. It is generally known that two hyphens are representative of an em dash, like this: --. Before we go on, let's clarify what the three look like:

hyphen -
en dash –
em dash —

Though readers may not easily recognize the difference between these, especially the hyphen and en dash, proper use is necessary for editorial precision. Conversion errors from one software to another, through email, or from print to digital form are common with hyphens and dashes, so careful proofreading is important to ensuring you have all your dashes and hyphens where they should be.

But what if you don't know which is which just by sight? Here's a quick refresher:

Em dash: the dash. An em dash is a dramatic punctuation mark; it interrupts the flow of the sentence and introduces extra material. It is called "em" because, traditionally, the dash is as long as the width of a typeset capital letter M.

En dash: the least frequently used of all three. Most commonly it is used to indicate a range of inclusive numbers. For example: Charlie will be out of the office from December 9–January 17th. It is called "en" because, traditionally, the dash is as long as the width of a typeset capital letter N.

Hyphen: used in compound modifiers (long-term relationship), to write out numbers (sixty-four), or within words (T-shirt, re-press). A dictionary is often helpful when you can't decide whether or not a hyphen is necessary in a word.

Spotlighted Literary Events

Monday, August 23rd
Julia Holmes at Powell's on Hawthorne. In her dystopian debut, a hapless bachelor must quickly find a wife--and a nice suit--or lose his freedom forever. Meeks (Small Beer Press) is a dark satire rendered with the slapstick humor of a Buster Keaton film.
Where: Powell's Books, 3723 SE Hawthorne
When: 7:30 pm
Cost: Free

Thursday, August 26th
Zines on Toast tour! Alex Wrekk will be joined by UK zinesters Isy Morgenmuffel, Edd Baldry, Steve Larder, Tom Fiction, and Natalie who will regale you with an evening of entertainment and information about UK zine culture.
Where: Reading Frenzy, 921 SW Oak
When: 7 pm
Cost: Free

Friday, August 27th
Come celebrate the release of Northwest Passage: 50 Years and Independent Music from the Rose City, a book and audio CD highlighting the history of Portland's burgeoning music scene, with short talk by Marc Moscato and Erin Yanke from the Dill Pickle Club. Feature contributors include the Oregon Historical Society, Mississippi Records, PDX Pop Now, Calvin Johnson, Vanessa Renwick, and more.
Where: Reading Frenzy, 921 SW Oak
When: 7 pm
Cost: Free

Friday, August 27th
Write Around Portland is releasing their 33rd anthology--titled Follow Me, Move the World--of community writing by adult and youth summer 2010 writing workshop participants. We invite the public to attend this reading of the writers' powerful work.
Where: First United Methodist Church (Collins Hall), 1838 SW Jefferson
When: 6:30-8:30 pm
Cost: Free, donations are accepted