Your viewpoint character inevitably conveys an attitude through choice of words. Consider the following three sentences:
Her hair was brown.
Her hair was the color of good rich earth, gleaming in the sunlight.
Her hair was the same shade as a dog turd that's sat on the sidewalk for three days.
All three of these convey similar information about the woman's hair...but obviously, there's a world of difference in emotional content. In each case, the viewpoint character passes judgment, and the character's choice of words reveal what that judgment is.
The above examples are deliberately extreme, but the same principle applies to everything. Choice of words reveals the viewpoint character's personal tastes, however subtly. Does the VPC say that someone walks to the door, strides to the door, scurries to the door, or slinks to the door? Each word carries a different perception and a different quality imputed to the person who's going to the door.
Notice that I say the viewpoint character chooses the words. Of course, it's really you, the author, who chooses the words...but you choose them to reflect the perceptions and prejudices of the VPC. If the VPC dislikes someone, the VPC is likely to refer to that person with negatively loaded words; if the VPC is in love with someone else, the VPC will tend to use positively loaded words.
So the choice of words reflects the VPC's judgments.
The words also reflect the VPC's background: an older
person is likely to use different words than a younger one;
an educated person will use different words than a
not-too-bright peasant; a mercenary soldier talks
differently from a bishop. I don't just mean the way these
people
talk in dialogue. I mean everything in the story
that is told from that person's point of view, whether
you're using first or third person. You're describing
events as that person sees them; never allow
yourself
to fall out of character.
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Copyright © 2001, James Alan Gardner