Characters voicing their opinion

In third person, characters can say what they think about a situation and the narrator can simply report what they say.

For example, here are two characters who disagree:

Bod looked up at Silas, pleadingly, but there was no sympathy on Silas's face. He picked up his bag and said, "You will be in good hands with Miss Lupescu, Bod. I am sure that the two of you will get on."

"We won't!" said Bod. "She's horrible!"

Each character expresses their opinions and judgments in dialogue.

Basically:

  • Silas: "Miss Lupescu is good."
  • Bod: "Miss Lupesco is bad."

More specifically, the disagreement is about their assessment of whether or not Bod will get along with Miss Lupescu while Silas is away:

  • Silas: "You will be in good hands, and you will get along."
  • Bod: "She's horrible, and we won't get along."

What are Frederik and Ilse disagreeing about?

"You mean the mirror my grandmother gave us?" Frederik said, pointing at the shield-like disc above their bed. "It's a priceless heirloom!"

"It's trash, I hate it, and I want it gone," said Ilse.

Cody and Alonso both have opinions, but are they agreeing or disagreeing?

Cody shook the trucks, roughly, then handed the board back to Alonso. "Your bushings are done, bro. You need to swap 'em before you bust a knee."

"I don't have any money," said Alonso. "It sucks."

You have to make a perspective shift into third person:

  1. Stick with third person limited, so you have one primary point of view character.
  2. Put your point of view character into a situation with another character and have them assess something and give an opinion about it.
  3. Have the other character respond with a contrasting (or reinforcing) opinion.
Write a snippet in which two characters express contrasting evaluations.

It's one thing to report what a character says, but what about describing what they think or feel?