Thoughts of a Mad Man

Mental POV

Does anybody know much about Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)?


I ask this because it is a mental discipline that--when its parts are properly understood--has a huge amount of applications. And many, many of them--most of which are beyond my ken--are useful to writers.


One which I am thinking has as much power for self insight as for writers, is actually more commonly written about in writing. POV.


Take a situation you participated in, and imagine it in first person--see what you saw, hear what you heard. Then move over and imagine it in third person--imagine what a stranger would see you and them do. Remember they don't know what you were thinking or what the other person was thinking only what they saw. Then slip into second person--see what they saw, from their POV.


And finally slip back into third to see how different the situation seems.





See what I'm thinking is when I'm plotting, I stick myself too much in just the Hero's POV. I rain down depression on them and then I can't figure any way out.


The story is in them facing that pit, then slipping out of their own POV just enough to see that something they perceived was wrong. What seemed important might be worth sacrificing. The impossible might just be worth trying.


You need the "first" person (or 3rd person limited close) to weave the story compellingly. To prove that the situation is worth caring about. And, you need the 3rd or second person to see where they've overestimated the challenge and it's defeatable.


If you can empathize with them enough to create the story but dissociate enough to see them from the outside, that's when you can actively give people the experience of surmounting challenges.