OMG... Where to start? What POV should I write my short story from?
Have you ever wondered why one author writes from 1st person while another one writes from 3rd?
I’m not
going to bore you to tears or attempt to take you back to your high school
creative writing class. The purpose of this article to discuss how you can
avoid complications and/or rejections by making sure you write your next
manuscript in the correct POV or Point of View.
To simply
things, let’s begin where every writer begins, making the decision -- which POV--
First or third?
In first person narration, the
narrator; the one who says I all the time is in control of your story. Written
much like an autobiography the story is told from one person’s POV only. In
every scene he is the one who uses his senses (sees, touch, smell, taste, etc.)
which guides the reader through your story. Remember, if he cannot see it,
neither can you or the reader.
I’ve read multiple stories where the author will switch back and forth from
one character to another in first person narrative, usually the hero and the
heroine. This allows the reader to become involved in the story from the other
person’s perspective (think heroine) even if your hero is not in the same room.
The key to doing this successfully is to remain in
that characters 1
st person POV. I’ve also know authors,
including myself, who deliberately left out the identity of a character you are
talking from. This tends to be a very useful technique when an author is
writing mysteries or thrillers and you are writing from the killer’s or
antagonist’s POV.
One of the most unusual novels I read this past year, which you do not see
that often, actually switched from 1
st to 3
rd person
every other chapter. I will admit I was surprised how well the author pulled it
off. It was an amazing tale of a suicidal has-been rock star primarily told
from the 1
st person. On alternating chapters the author would fill
in the blanks of his story in 3
rd.
In third-person narration,
whether limited, omniscient or deep, the author has the freedom to guide the
reader down
the story brick road to see what everyone sees, hears and feels, but remember,
too many view points can take away from your story just as much as it can
enhance it. You definitely wouldn’t want to describe a party scene from
everyone that was in attendance, would you?
It is said that every time you jump from one character to another in the
same scene you actually separate the reader from the 1
st person’s
experiences. Sometimes, this can leave the reader empty, rather than doing what
the author hoped for; giving more exposure to the scene.
Personally, I think there is one major exception to this and that would be
the intimate love scenes. Quite often in romance novels, you will see both
couples in bed. The author will focus on the hero’s actions, writing what he
feels, sees, etc. then a paragraph or so down the page the author will switch
to the heroine. The author may do this several times until all actions and
feelings are expressed though each POV. Nora Roberts has become a master at
this as well as many others.
Although it is not recommended to describe every scene from both heroine and
hero it may become necessary to show both viewpoints of the same scene,
particularly if that scene is one where the heroine and hero are at odds, each
seeing things differently. A few years ago, I set two chapters aside in my manuscript
to do this. It was their official meeting and they were in total opposition on
what each experienced. To help the reader have a better understanding I felt it
necessary to write the same scene from their individual deep POVs. It seemed to work out for me, for them and for the book. In case you are wondering that scene is the initial meeting between Gabriel and Jennifer in Eternal Lovers. Gabriel is overcome with emotion, traveling back in the past to a time when he first feel in love with an Egyptian priestess while Jennifer, on the other hand is extremely afraid of Gabriel's size and mannerisms.
There are several things that are frowned upon within our industry with the
first one on my list being too many Points of Views within the same novel or
within the same scene. With the increase of soap operas and night-time addicting
series, television has spurred on a wide range of
new thinking when it comes to
POV shifts. Take a look at some of the award winning HBO and SHOWTIME series
and you’ll see what I’m about to talk about.
Game of Thrones is gearing up for
it’s forth season; a multi-plotted adventure with a complete cast of characters
where the audience visits a vast array of scenes. My PNR series is written much
like a night-time soap/series in the 3
rd person POV. Even though I
have a specified hero and heroine per book there is a cast of characters a mile
long in that series. I gambled, broke a few rules and wrote this series in multiple POVs. I even had one review say, "Jesus, even the butler has a POV, but, this author has pulled it off effectively allowing the reader to get a
real insight into her massive character's roles.
To avoid un-necessary complications, I ask myself the following questions
before I ever sit down to write out the scene then hopefully I will have my
answer on whose POV should I write it from.
(1) What
is this scene about and does it move the story forward?
(2) Who
has the most to loose or gain from the scene?
(3) Who is
able to see everything in the scene?
As I previously mentioned, switching POVs mid-stream in a scene is not
recommended, unless it can be avoided. The third question above I added while
writing the first book in my PNR series. I’ll explain below and hope you will
see why I did what I did.
Saying this particular scene was very difficult for me to write is an
understatement. At first, I wanted to write the scene from the heroine’s POV.
She opens the hotel door, sees her husband in the arms of another, screams and
within moments is shoved out the door to the hallway for her protection and is a
catatonic state when the hero arrives.
Did I forgot to mention I also tend to be a rule breaker? Oh yeah, I did. I started a
romance story with a married heroine... another big no-no in the industry. To
save my heroine’s face and get her out of a marriage I needed to create a
situation no one could ever blame her for leaving, which would indirectly set
her free to be with the hero of the story.
Back to the drawing board… I tried writing it from the hero’s POV. Sadly, he
enters the scene too late for the reader to know what happened before she
became catatonic. I knew I needed to guide the reader into the room and to have
someone who was in that room
the entire time who could describe
in detail what took place before and
after the main event.
I also knew I was gambling with this scene even though it was essential to
the story. You see my heroine’s husband wasn’t with his girlfriend; he was in
the arms of another man. Not wanting to give my readers
a bad impression towards gays, I also had to tread lightly where the male couple was concerned.
I finally made the decision to try something new. Even though the husband’s
lover was not previously mentioned in the manuscript (except for this scene), deep in my
heart, I knew he was the only one I could write the scene from and be able to
pull it off correctly so that everyone would be happy, especially the reader. After
everyone else leaves the hotel suite, it is the lover who embraces the husband
and tells him everything will be alright. It was a win-win situation. Hero
eventually gets the heroine and my two male lovers go off on their new
adventure. They are not involved in the rest of the story, but I suspect in the
near future those two guys will reappear later in the series.
Please forgive me as I got a little side tracked in this article. My main
purpose was to expose you to an alternative when selecting whose POV to write
from. My only other two choices would have been (1) scratching the scene all
together which wouldn’t have given my heroine an out or (2) write the scene
from multi POVs. I still feel my decision was the best for this particular
scene. And after asking several readers what they felt about the scene they
agreed whole heartedly with me, I had written from the correct person’s POV
even though he was a secondary character.
I’ve included some more things to consider when making the decision on what
and who’s POV to write from.
The viewpoint character is the guide through a scene.
The viewpoint character often is, but does not have to be, the protagonist.
If the viewpoint character can’t hear, see, touch or feel it – neither can
the reader.
Who will make the best presenter of the information you wish to covey.
Before making your final decision, look at your scene and look inside all
those present – get into their heads and see who can relay it the best.
Experiment
and if you’re having trouble, write the scene from another person’s POV – you
will be surprised what you might come up with.
Historically
genre has often dictated what POV we are to write in. Don’t be afraid to try
something new or break a rule. Remember, there was a time all romances were written
entirely from there heroines POV. I'm happy to say this isn't the case anymore.
I hope you enjoyed today's insight into POV and wish you all the best in your writing.
Sincerely,
V.S.Nelson
