POINT OF VIEW: Let Your Characters Do the Talking
Natalie Bright
The Rescue Animal series expanded over many years, beginning as chapter
books but morphing into shorter eBooks with pictures. I still wasn’t happy.
There were so many stories left to be told, but the books were not coming
together. When that happens, the motivation becomes nonexistent. I moved on
to a new project.
Those horses kept bugging me though. One day I decided to writer the next
installment from the horses’ point of view and it worked. The story came
alive. I used a vocabulary reference book and targeted third and fourth
grade readers. Now this Easy Reader is perfect for kids who love true
stories about real horses.
Writing is your Journey, so go write!
THE BEST VIEW
Lynnette Jalufka
Here are two characters at a medieval tournament. What point of view am I in?
Lady Elyse looked around at the brightly colored tents that housed the knights of the tournament. Surely one would be a good match for her cousin. She stopped at the tent of Sir Reynald who was talking to his squire. He would do nicely: handsome, charming, and from a good family. “Theresa.” She turned to thin air. Her cousin was gone! “Theresa!”
Two tents away, Lady Theresa gave a heavy sigh. She wasn’t deaf. The beautiful gray horse being saddled for the joust was far more interesting then Elyse’s latest attempt to find her a husband.
So, what’s the point of view? I am in both character’s heads, so this would be third-person omniscient. Now, here’s the important part: is this the best way to tell what happens in this scene? It depends on what I want to accomplish. If I want to show Elyse’s frustration with her cousin, I would need to put the second paragraph in Elyse’s point of view. If I wanted to show Theresa’s irritation, I would need to change the first. Could I leave it as it is? Possibly, but that’s usually frowned upon today unless it’s romance.
Ultimately, it’s my job as the author to figure out the best point of view to tell not only this scene, but the entire novel. That may take rewriting the scene in different points of view to find the right one.
My Favorite POV
by Adam Huddleston
This month’s blog theme is literary points-of-view (POV). This has little to nothing to do with the writer’s opinions on certain matters, it is the style in which they write. In a nutshell, the POV of a work is how/who the reader follows the story with. For example, in a story written in first-person POV, the reader is listening to the narrator as the tale happens to them. In third person POV, the narrator is telling the story to the reader, but they are outside of the story. Each POV has different advantages and disadvantages, many of which will be explained this month from the other bloggers in detail much better than what I can give.
One of my new favorite POVs to write in, and one that is popular today in young adult fiction, is first-person present tense. In this style, the story is happening in real-time to the narrator. It gives the tale a sense of immediacy and suspense. You don’t know if the character is going to get out of whatever trouble they are in and it feels like events in the story happen to you as well as the narrator.
When writing, many POV choices are available. Try them all out and see which one feels best for you.
Happy writing!
Outtakes 397
Changing Point of View (POV)
By Cait Collins
We work hard to make our stories perfect or as perfect as possible. Something often noticed in our own review or a critique session is the shift of the POV in the middle of a scene. There are different ways to make the correction without a major rewrite.
Double Double Space between the two POV paragraphs.
Insert a phrase that maintains the POV. Mary shouted. “It’s your fault our baby died.” Frank’s eyes narrowed… “Change to It’s your fault our baby died.” She saw his eyes narrow…
Change the setting. Frank walked out of the room. He was through with the constant reminders of his son’s death.
If no other options work, rewrite.
POV Defined
Point of view refers to the perspective that the narrator holds in relation to the events of the story.
Point of view is the way a story is narrated or depicted and who is telling or narrating the story.
Narrative point of view is the perspective of that narrator.
Literature provides a lens through which readers look at the world. Point of view is the way the author allows you to “see” and “hear” what’s going on.
We’re blogging about Point of View all month long in September. Thanks for following Wordsmith Six.
Writing in your journey, so go write!
Wordsmith Six 