At Eyecon '99 I spoke with Crais about LA Requiem, and going
with multiple POVs was his most difficult decision, one he
thought long and hard about.
Earlier this summer, I emailed him about some "writerly"
techniques, and he wrote back,
"Speech tags feel intrusive to me. I'll use 'he said/she
said' occasionally--when I feel I must--but you'll notice
that I NEVER use things like 'he replied/she
answered/etc'."
He also said, "As for the number of sentences per
paragraph...that's something that happens by 'feel.' I don't
think it out, or count lines, but I do develop a sense of
'feel' for the pace and rhythm for the book."
On the other hand, Elmore Leonard decided years ago to use
multiple POVs. What he does that is not just interesting, but
helps define his style is that after he rough drafts each
scene, he goes back and rewrite the POV of that scene from
the most domineering character in that scene. The other
characters therefore are either deferring to or competing
with that most dominant character for power.
Leonard uses speech tags, also only "he said" or she said".
Sometimes at the beginning of the speech, so the reader knows
instantly who is speaking. Leonard will also use "he said"
twice in a paragraph -- for the speech rhythm. His
paragraphing is also based on the rhythm of the
sentence.
Only the other (minimalist) hand, we have Shakespeare, who
gives us only dialogue and entrances/exits.
Frederick Zackel
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