#WritersGuide

◦ Point of View

                                         The Basics of Writing Fiction 

                                                    Point of View

        Every writer has their own struggles with point of view. One writer may prefer third person point of view because it allows them to develop multiple characters through their thoughts, while another will only write in first person because they're afraid of branching out and failing. Point of view is not an eaisly learned concept for a lot of writers, and writers don't always do it the right way. 

First Person POV --

        - Narration from the perspective of "I" or "We."  Narrators may be involved with the action or may simply observe it; they may also be reliable or unreliable.

        Every detail of your story must be filtered through the storyteller.

       If your main character cannot see, hear, or feel something, then neither should your reader. This is a diffuicult POV for some writers because there is an urge to tell the reader everything rather than show. 

        Example (WritersCraft.com): The banging on my door reverberated within my skull like a giant church bell in an empty hall. I groaned and rolled onto my stomach, pulling the pillow over my head.

        Another mistake made by writers is the urge to switch between first person POVs in a story. This is a major turn off for a lot of readers, and will ultimetly result in the reader tossing your story into the junk pile of their mind. Stick with one (maybe two) POVs and keep several pages between the two. It becomes very confusing for a reader if the narrator is changed every chapter. 

        Pros of First Person POV

        - Less likely to alienate the reader

        - Comfortable

        - You get to know your character extremely well

        - You can be less formal in style

       Cons of First Person POV

        - Expected

        - Restrictive formatting

   Third Person POV --

        THIRD PERSON POINT OF VIEW: HE, HIS; SHE, HERS; THEY, THEIRS PERSPECTIVE

      "The bonus to utilizing third person limited is that it is the generic default. Most people are familiar with it, and often times they expect it. That makes using it the most comfortable for your reader to slip into. It doesn’t ask them to take on a persona like second person, have a conversation with a character like first person, nor keep track of as many characters like third person omniscient. Your risk of alienating your readers is low; your risk of boring them is high." (CleverGirlHelps on Tumblr.com)

     There are several options when writing in third person pov: omniscient, universal, limited, multiple narrator. 

        With a third person limited POV, no matter what version the writer is utilizing, the author needs to pick a character and stick to it. Make sure you pick the right one. The character needs to be present for most (if not all) of the action, much like the first person POV. If you have a message, often it’s beneficial to make them the character your camera follows, but that’s not actually a requirement. 

        Multiple narrators is the subset of third person limited just like universal omniscient is for the third person omniscient. Multiple narrators is a style in which the author follows one character in a limited point of view, then switches to another character in a limited point of view. Usually the break between POVs happens at a chapter break—which is the preferred method, actually—but has also been known to occur at scene breaks within chapters. Here’s a tip: Make sure your audience knows you’re switching POVs. Leaving it vague and ambiguous frustrates your reader more than anything and confuses easily. Avoiding this emphasizes the importance of your character’s voice. Having clear voices for your disparate characters can immediately identify to whom and when a POV switch happens. Another popular technique is using character names as chapter titles to identify who is the POV character for the new chapter.

        The question to ask yourself is: Do you need your reader to hear the thoughts of more than one character all in the same scene?

        -- If your answer is yes, the third person omniscient POV may be for you.

Do you want some distance between your character and the audience?

        -- If your answer is yes, the third person limited POV may be for you.

If you would like to learn more about point of view, please view the external link. There is a link to a very helpful page with links and worksheets for you to practice. If you would like any more assistance, feel free to private message me.