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POINT OF VIEW
Also, please remember these files are copyrighted and cannot be reproduced without the permission of the below listed people. Thank you for not plagiarizing. Point of View. What is it? When I first started writing I got a wonderful letter back from a woman I had written a fan story for [Jacqueline Litchenberg and the sime gen fandom]. She said I was great but I could only do one Point of View wrote back and said, POV? What is that? Boy, was I green! We went through four edits of that before I finally caught on to what point of view was. It is currently posted at my website: www.cherylwolveton.com and is the story.. What Must I Do? My very first story ever! It's reeeeeally bad. Anyway...I can laugh now about not having any idea what point of view is because to me, the best lesson I have ever learned was being forced to write from one person's point of view. Point of view is the head you want to tell the story in. You don't want to tell the story in your point of view. You already KNOW what's going to happen. You want to pick the hero or heroine and tell it from THEIR point of view. Now wait a minute. Am I saying tell it from one point of view? No way! You miss too much that way. But I've found over the years that the story usually ends up one person's story more than they other. Whether it is the hero or the heroine only you can decide. But which character speaks to you the most, which one do you want the reader to empathize with more? That's the one who is probably going to gobble up most of the POV. This used to be the heroine. But it can be the hero as well now. So, first, choose whom you want your reader to sympathize with. THEN, you write your story. Each scene should probably be in one point of view. Each PARAGRAPH should ALWAYS be in one point of view and EACH SENTENCE must ALWAYS be in one view point. This is a standard rule. Nothing will freak a reader more than to start reading and half way through the paragraph you suddenly realize it's not him thinking it but her...It interrupts the flow of the story, confuses the reader and makes them pause You don't want your reader to interpret what you mean...when they have to pause, they lose the tension you're building in the story A good way to switch point of view is to switch paragraphs or scenes. What is point of view? How can you tell you've fallen out of the point of view? Here is the fun part. When I was training myself in point of view, I pretended I was a camera inside the heroine's head. I would look around and see what I could see. And if the hero hadn't told her he had an appendectomy then she couldn't know that yet. If she hadn't been in that house, she didn't know there were four bedrooms upstairs. If the hero said...I had dog stew yesterday for dinner and she didn't know the hero...she wouldn't know if he was joking or serious....unless he said...see what I'm getting at One of the most common mistakes I see in POV is allowing the hero/heroine to know something that THEY don't know yet. That's author intrusion. You're forcing the scene to go a way you want instead of letting it flow out; or it's simply a mistake;) Another common mistake I see is every line is a different point of view or every paragraph is a different point of view
Some can do this and do this wonderfully. But 99% of the people can't. Now, don't get bent out of shape over this. However, think about what we're doing! We're storytellers! We're creators. It's not stomping on our right to tell a story by simply working to write it beautifully. It's enhancing our art! When we're story telling we want to pull at the heart strings of the readers. We want them to sigh with us when we sigh, worry when our hero/heroine worries, gasp when they gasp...be standing on the chair saying, don't you DARE open that door you fool! Point of view can help you do this. How? That's easy. You build your tension in ONE person's head. Think about it. Going back and forth disrupts in most cases. But if you set out and say, this is the heroine's scene and she is going to discover that the hero probably killed the ex-boyfriend because of something he says...if you hop into his head and mention he's thinking she is gorgeous and boy he needs to think about what he says because his mind is on her looks...you've ruined the mood...the intrigue...the dark mysterious...is he the one who did it? mood of the story;) Another thing to think about in point of view. Don't use minor characters unless it is absolutely necessary to move the plot along. Of course they are important to the story...but honestly, do we need to know the butler thinks the little lady of the house is precious and he can remember when after losing both of his parents he moved to Wales and became a butler for them because he lied to get his position and he just loves it so much and is really looking forward to the day he can retire....IF.... the story starts out with her leaving that castle and never returning the rest of the book????? I've seen people do this. No reason to know all of that. However.....Picture THIS...The heroine is worried about leaving, she's scared to be going to an arranged marriage [note: her POV] and this SAME butler starts rattling all of this off to her as he's standing there by the carriage. With this you can show her patience as she listens to him...or a reason she's so worried about leaving or a number of other things....and you don't change into his point of view but reinforce her actions/fears/motivations. Animals POV? please....spare us. Yes, I know Linda Howard has done it. Yes, I know Pam Morsi has done it. But why do we feel we have to break the rules just to prove ourselves. I've seen a couple of places it was done wonderfully...but others, it just falls flat....it somehow ruins the illusion of reality. Now, if you're writing a fairy story where the hero is turned into a talking goat.....hmmm now there is an idea Kiiiiiisss me and I'll be a great lord...hee;) When is the proper TIME to change points of view? Okay, say you need BOTH the hero/heroine in this scene-- It MUST BE SMOOTH... A good way to do this is...with a new paragraph...starting with him/her saying the name of the person, and possibly reaching up and touching the other and a short thought inserted there to subtly hint of POV change. Then go on with the dialogue and slip in what you're wanting the reader to learn with that dialogue. Not in a big lump...but throughout the dialogue and actions Another way is to have the hero/heroine leave the room. With a sigh the new POV person turns and walks across the room or leaves the room or whatever and you go into his thoughts...it's an action. So, a paragraph break. An action. you CAN put a line between and a # sign. But that's the lazy man's way out. Learn how to do transitions into other people's POV...because the pound sign interrupts. Finally...the other way to do it? A chapter Break! This is a good way to skip an hour, a day, a month if need be. Okay.... Are there questions? Comments? PLEASE feel free to discuss. (c) Cheryl Wolverton April 11th 1999... --------------------------------- Sue Krinard here: I don't think I can add anything to Cheryl's original post! She said it all. Unlike Cheryl, however, I always knew exactly what POV was and have been using it pretty much the same way from the first moment I started writing my first book. I just picked up on it from all my reading of SF/fantasy; it came naturally to me. I tend to break chapters down into 2-3 POV scenes, sometimes more if the story calls for it. Each POV is usually cleanly separated by a break (which I don't consider lazy at all!), but in love scenes, and occasionally elsewhere, I will shift POV's without a clean break. I generally find a clean break works very well in most cases. I like to get deeply into one character's head at a time, and so I don't change POV frequently. I tend to dislike books in which POV changes a lot during a scene, because I feel as if I'm losing depth of character. I want to know a character inside-out. Also, while some authors (LaVyrle Spencer comes to mind) can do this "head hopping" well, many authors cannot. I also tend to feel that most books are more one character's story than the other's, but I try to balance both characters equally, and won't see "whose" story it is until I'm finished. Lately I've been adding more secondary characters, and adding more POV's. In my forthcoming book, TOUCH OF THE WOLF, I have only three POV characters: Hero, Heroine, and Heroine's friend (for outside views of them and their relationship.) I don't use minor character's POVs (the maid who walks in on one scene, for instance) and find that very distracting in other books. I choose major characters to feature, and make sure I have their POV a minimum of three times (preferably more) throughout the book. It really has to contribute something major, not just a brief outside view of one event. In my current book, I actually have FIVE POV's, unusual for me. I found it necessary in this particular book. I have Hero, Heroine, Villain, "good" Antagonist (villain's brother) and a secondary female character. I sprinkle the various secondary POV's throughout the book as evenly as possible, where they seem to work best in the flow of the story. I try to have a character's thoughts reflect only what he or she actually knows, or guesses, and avoid "self descriptions" (She pushed back her long, beautiful blonde hair and batted her emerald green eyes.) Unless she's very vain, the heroine wouldn't think of herself this way. I agree with the idea that you choose POV largely based on who has the most to gain or lose in a scene. But I also go for balance, so that I don't have two chapters only from the heroine's POV . Often if I get stuck, I find that I've been trying to write a scene from the wrong POV. I'll be happy to comment on anything else or answer any questions to the best of my ability! } (c) Sue Krinard and Romance-L April 11th 1999 ---------------------------------------------------------
I've learned so much from reading your essay on this important issue.
Of this I agree wholeheartedly. Changing POV in the middle of a paragraph
pops me out of the book. Break time. I usually go for some water or something
giving time and space to settle down enough to continue reading the book. (c) Cherri Munoz April 11th 1999 and Romance-L -------------------------- Well, someone on one of my other lists called themselves a "POV purist". I'm still not sure what that means! but I think it might apply to me too. I am very, very disappointed in the recent "requirements" of the major publishers to have BOTH hero/heroine pov's. I cut my teeth on first-person gothics, and still love and prefer that format over any other. Talk about limited perspective!! But it taught me many things -- like how to show emotion with dialogue and mannerisms and facial expressions, instead of "hearing" the person's internal, personal dialogue with themselves. This leaves open room for lots of misinterpretations, lots of misconstrued innuendo, lots of confusion. But most of these gothics were mysteries, so that just enhanced the tension and suspicion. Another reason I like first person or third person singular POV is because I'm interested in the growth and emotions and developing feelings that the heroine goes through. This may sound strange, and I'm not quite sure how to phrase it, but I'm not all that interested in the hero's POV. I mean, as long as all I'm getting is the heroine's POV, then I'm "with" her, I "am" her, I can experience the same things she's experiencing, I have the opportunity of falling in love with the hero along with her, and still having the same doubts about his true feelings, wondering (just as in real life!!) if he's for real or just playing me. When I have his POV, this is totally taken away from me. I'm no longer participating, I'm simply observing. I've become a voyeur instead of a participant. Which means that unless there's a very VERY good reason for revealing the hero's (or anyone else's) POV, I don't do it. I can write a story from strictly ONE POV, all the way through. It may not be as satisfying to certain readers who have come to enjoy reading the hero's POV too, but it satisfies ME. For instance I took out other pov's entirely in my last story, simply because they were going into areas that I wanted the heroine (and the reader, by extension) unaware of, at least for now. Later, when she finds out, the shock is real, for both her and the reader. If I'd left those scenes in, the reader would have known all along, and probably thrown my book against the nearest wall for having a "too stupid to live" heroine. Yes, I'm long-winded. Deb Crockett -------------------------------
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