Different Point of View
Did you ever lay down on your bed as a kid and hang your head over the edge? My brother, now with kids of his own, finally admits he did it for the head rush. I did it because everything looked so different. The brown carpet became the white ceiling and the white ceiling became a place for feet. I would lay there until my head ached and my face was bright red. Like hanging upside down on the monkey bars, it gave me a whole new perspective on the loose thoughts in my head.
Sometimes all a story needs is a shift in PoV, a shift in emphasis…a different point of view. I was reminded of this when I couldn’t get any tension into what my protagonist felt about her friends. Then I had a brief epiphany (hey, it’s been known to happen!). Instead of thinking about her feelings for them, I thought about how they felt about her. Wow, what a headrush. Tension? Not a problem.
Need a visual illustration? Okay. Take these:
And go do this. Upside down. Monkey bars optional.
Yes, I remember doing this when I was a kid too. I’d lay with my head upside down and imagine walking on the ceilings and trying to get stuff “down” from the tables above.
Great way of illustrating how a shift in POV can change perspective!