In part 2 I tried to explain what is meant by perspective and why it is used by writers. I am aware that many readers do not pay attention to it and it does not arouse a feeling of mild irritation when perspectives are mixed up.
For me, the person who has the perspective, in that part of the story, is the main character. That does not mean, however, that he or she is the main character in the entire story.
Writers handle the separation between the different perspectives very differently. Some indicate this with a new chapter, others with letters, such as I use, or other types of characters and still others do it more simply by inserting an extra blank line. How you want to do that is actually up to you or your publisher. The important thing is to be consistent. If you use a blank line, you do so throughout the story. You do not switch to a different way of separating perspectives halfway through.
Italics. You see that a lot in fantasy stories, but less in thrillers. I sometimes write in italics when the person who has the perspective thinks something, and then always in the first person. An example (from my political thriller “The Information War”):
Lya frowns. This makes me feel sick. Nineteen cows and a bull. And they are going to complain about that in The Hague? If they think Atte is cooperating, they are disappointed. I think he will put up ten more blue-white-red flags in the country. She looks at her partner and decides that it is better not to interfere with the proceedings.
Atte cracks his knuckles and takes a deep breath. ‘Madam, tell me why you are here and spare me the nitrogen part. No farmer believes that.’
This is going completely wrong. Atte already has a short fuse and by provoking him, the confrontation could get out of hand. I have to try to calm him down, she thinks.
Lya has the perspective here. When she thinks something, there are two possibilities: She does so in the first person (where I express her thought in italics) or she “thinks” something. In that case, I never use the first person, but the third. If you use italics, do so sparingly.
The use of italics is a personal matter. Some writers use it, others do not. In addition, the publisher generally has the final say on the writing style.
More next time.