Basics of Writing: POV

When I started thinking about my blog posts for this year, I realized that about half of my writing posts were about getting ready for NaNoWriMo, or participating in NaNo or Camp NaNo. Basically, those months sort of have a theme. Because of that, other theme-like ideas came to me. For the next few Wednesday posts, I will be going back to the basics and discussing topics to consider not just while planning a story, but also through every step of the writing and editing processes.

Today's topic is a big one: Point of View.

Technically this can also be tied into the topic of Voice as well, but I will save that for a later date, because I don't want to throw too many concepts into the same post.

First, we should probably define Point of View. The point of view (POV) is from whose eyes we see the story^1. That is a pretty basic definition, but there is so much more to POV than that. Henry James called the point of view in fiction a "central intelligence." By this, he meant that point of view operates as eyes, ears, memory, and understanding through which the narrative makes its progress^2.

Point of View is very important for writers, and often POV has an effect on everything else within the story. It sets parameters for the voice or voices, for the writing tense, and even on how some readers feel or react while reading.

Think about it: How many stories have you read using 2nd person POV? Probably not many. 2nd is difficult to pull off well in most scenarios and can be confusing to many readers. The obvious exception to this is Choose Your Own Adventure books. They almost always seem to be in 2nd person. "You walk down a hallway. At the end are two doors. You look at each in turn, knowing you must go through one of them, but which leads to safety?" The use of "you" puts the reader into the adventure in a way the other POVs don't.

Most stories will either be in 1st person (I) or 3rd person (he/she) and each have their own pros and cons. In fact, I know there are readers out there who prefer to read only 1st or only 3rd. So let's take a closer look at the two most popular points of view.

1st person POV is actually quite popular in many genres, but I see it used a lot in YA, romance, and urban fantasy/paranormal. This particular POV allows the reader to get inside a character's head. We get to read the character's thoughts, feelings, and actions first hand. Of course, this does not always mean that a reader feels connected to the narrator, but that once again deals with voice more than anything.

1st person can be limited to one character or a few characters, but it is usually not wise to utilize 1st person POV if writing from the perspective of say ten characters. Imagine reading George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series if each chapter was in 1st person. It is hard enough to give each character a distinct speaking voice, let alone continuing that in thought as well. One of my favorite childhood book series, K.A. Applegate's Animorphs featured five--later six--different main characters and each book is in 1st person POV. However, that POV is limited to one main character per book, with the exception of the Megamorph's books and the final book in the series. Those specialty books change narrator each chapter.

1st person can be written in either present or past tense, with benefits and limitations to each. Obviously present tense makes everything that happens feel more immediate, whereas past tense gives a little distance. My Project Death books are written in 1st person past tense, changing narrator with each book. My narrator for book three wants to tell her story in present tense though. And in the fourth and final book the 1st person POV alternates between two characters. I feel that this gives each book distinction from the others.

Finally there is 3rd person, which has a plethora of uses and benefits. With 3rd person POV, readers may be limited to following one character, a small handful of characters, or even an omniscient/omnipresent narrator. This all depends on the story being told by the writer. For example, what fun would a mystery novel be if the 3rd person narrator already knew everything? Mysteries tend to limit the reader to following one character of a couple. This can be seen in the books by "Richard Castle," Based on the TV series Castle. In those books the POV is 3rd person, past tense, and the reader gets to follow Nikki Heat, Jameson Rook, and occasionally Detectives Raley and Ochoa. The reader learns information at the same time as the characters, which is nice.

3rd person allows for a little distance from the characters too. You can get glimpses into their thoughts but don't live in them like what happens with 1st person. 3rd person seems to delve deeper into description of setting and action as well, as it is not limited to what the 1st person narrator might observe. This also makes covering a large cast of characters simpler, as the same voice can be used for narration throughout. It is why GRRM can handle having a large cast and spending chapters focusing on one at a time (for example, some chapters focus on Tyrion, or Arya, or Dany, or Jon). In the first of the series-- A Game of Thrones--chapters rotate through nine characters, but by the fifth book--A Dance With Dragons--we have 31 different POV characters.

My upcoming Souls trilogy utilizes 3rd person POV because I don't want to limit myself to the thoughts of one character at a time or throughout. I like the idea of having a little bit of distance from their minds, and won't have to dive so deep into a character's consciousness like I have in other series. When I started the trilogy in high school I wrote it in 3rd person present tense, which I know realize was a horrible mistake. That only works if you know how to do it right, like James Patterson.

Obviously this post only covers the most basic information on POVs. For more information search online or look through books on writing. There is so much to study about writing, and so much to consider with any story.

My other Basics of Writing posts this month will cover Setting and then Relationships. If there are other Basics you would like to learn more about, let me know. Finally, I will wrap the month up with a post on my Most Anticipated Summer Reads.

See you next time.

^1 Your First Novel by Ann Rittenberg and Laura Whitcomb, 2006.
^2 What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers 2nd edition by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter, 2004