Steering the Craft, Chapter 8 Exercises

Today, I am on Ch. 8—Changing Point of View.

Part One: Quick Shifts in Limited Third: A short narrative, 300–600 words. Tell the story using several different viewpoint characters (narrators) in limited third person, changing from one to another as the narrative proceeds. Mark the changes with line breaks, with the narrator’s name in parentheses at the head of that section, or with any device you like.

Photo by Lloyd Newman on Unsplash

Acolyte Ellie gulped and approached the altar, shaky legs hidden by her long black cloak. She outstretched a hand. “Secar,” she murmured. She was afraid that she would fumble the simple spell, but after a second, an invisible knife sliced her palm.

Deaconess Radcliffe smiled thinly as Ellie winced. She counted the drops of blood that fell from the girl’s cut onto the altar; once the number reached six, she waved her birch wand and healed Ellie’s wound, then called forward the next student.

Acolyte Beth watched enviously while Deaconness Radcliffe sent stupid Ellie off with a rare smile. So unfair that she should get preferential treatment just because she was a sneaky little suck-up. Beth nudged Daniel next to her and rolled her eyes. He smirked back, no doubt on the same page.

Shut up, Beth, Acolyte Daniel thought, giving her a perfunctory and ambiguous smile as Steven went up to perform the ritual. Everyone knew Beth hated Ellie for no other reason than that instructors and students preferred Ellie. Daniel tried to stay on Beth’s good side, because it was handy being friends with someone who came from that kind of wealth, and sure, she could be sharply funny and entertaining, but the girl was a lot.

Acolyte Ellie, back in line with the other students, tried to relax. She had performed the spell correctly; she had completed the ritual; her blood was forever part of the temple. Everything had gone perfectly well, so why did she still have that heavy feeling in her stomach? She scanned the altar room, looking for something out of place. Everything appeared normal, from the way the shadows danced in the firelight to the way Beth glared at her from across the room.

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Part Two: Thin Ice In 300–1000 words, tell the same story or a new story of the same kind, deliberately shifting POV from character to character several times without any obvious signal to the reader that you’re doing so.

“Acolyte Ellie,” called Deaconness Radcliffe, nodding at the girl. Ellie gulped and approached the altar, shaky legs hidden by the long, black cloak that marked her as a trainee. She outstretched a hand and murmured the simple spell, then waited, afraid that she had erred—after a second, an invisible knife sliced her palm. Drops of blood fell onto the altar. Deaconness Radcliffe kept a silent count; when the drops reached six, she waved her birch wand and healed the girl’s wound. Radcliffe sent Ellie off with a perfunctory, thin-lipped smile and beckoned forward another trainee. The smile annoyed Acolyte Beth, who nudged Acolyte Daniel and rolled her eyes. Beth saw Ellie as a sly little suck-up, someone faking her insecurities as a sympathy ploy. She figured her friends thought the same. Daniel, however, understood that students and instructors alike preferred Ellie because of her humble nature. He also understood it would be unwise to point this out to Beth if he wanted to keep enjoying the benefits of her family’s wealth. So when Beth rolled her eyes at him, he smirked back, hoping the nonverbal response was enough to satisfy. Ellie caught that Beth was glaring at her, but something more pressing weighed on her. She had performed the spell and completed the ritual—her blood was now part of the temple forever—still, her stomach roiled with unease and concern. She scanned the room but could find nothing to explain her anxiety.

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If you complete the exercise, I encourage you to post and share your responses.

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