As for viewpoints, my strategy is to try capturing the viewpoint of a character totally unconnected with the main character/plot and force myself to work that character back to the main plot – fit them in, so to speak. I also am not opposed to using crutches like physical twitches (remember Lews Therin whistling when he sees a pretty women, or pulling his ear-lobe)

But then again, I think Jordan probably over-emphasizes character distinctives (like always mentioning Perrin’s eyes or ability to smell, etc…) to both his credit and failing. You needed those elements to get back into a character’s shoes (because you hadn’t heard from them in a book or two), but it was always annoying to continually hear it… So, it may be another one of those back and forth arguments. Sorry to focus so much on Jordan here…

Todd… you’re right. Jordan does that well. If not for his fatal flaw of over-describing, I’d probably hold him up as the best example of multiple viewpoints in Fantasy. And that might just be my own preferences talking too… maybe the majority of people who read the genre like their descriptive prose in pages at a time. But then, would the environment he created be quite so thoroughly engaging without the description? I go around and around on this one. I’d love to develop some thoughts on how to do it well (viewpoints, not description… although maybe I need to change my thinking on both)without also losing track of the main story arc.

Do you suppose there is any way to be multi-dimensional in writing? I think Robert Jordan is one of the only guys I might reference as being truly great at capturing multiple ‘perspectives’ in a narrative, without losing the reader – and yet his work is a mammoth as a result, with a thousand loose ends.

Thanks for the post!