Let's Play Perception!

" 'Be what you would seem to be' - or, if you'd like it put more simply -'Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise."  the Duchess, from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

While trying to figure out how to improve letter three, and my writing in general, I read through a Writer's Digest article on POV. (Alicia's Rasley's The Power of Point of View, 2008. Here's her blog: edittorrent.) After all we each have our own personal way of viewing the world, and it makes sense, especially in a first person story, to individualize the POV.

I like to think I do this already, but I could do it better, or at least be aware of it. Sometimes even when talking about Goosey I'll use first person. I become the character. I am Ange. (See my user name is Angelbird, but right now I'm writing as the author.)

In the article Rasley asks: "Which of the five basic senses is stongest for you? Can you actually taste the difference between Pepsi and Coke? Can you distinguish the perfume of every woman in the room? Can you tell just by the tone of a friend's voice how she's feeling? Do you love to touch different fabrics? Are you overly sensitive to color, to the point that you're unable to work in a yellow room?"

Personally I'm very visual. I remember things I've written down. I easily tune out music or noise and ignore smells that I dislike. I've always tried to use all five senses to describe things, but I've never thought about personalizing what I'm describing to how a character views their world.

It's fun to think about, in a brain teaser kind of way. This is exactly what I need to do with Ange's letters. Write from her perspective, yet what is her perspective? I've never really thought about it. So the question is, how does Ange view the world? How does Mirth?

So here's the game. (Actually it's from a writing exercise I've borrowed from Rasley.) In the comments below answer these questions from your character's first person voice:

"When you walk into a party, what do you notice first? The mood? The people? The decorations? The things that need to be fixed? The background music? The food on the buffet table? Whether or not you fit in?"

Ready . . . set. . .go.