Anna's Writing Nook: Point of View

Hey everyone, and welcome back to the Writer’s Nook! It’s not Wednesday this time, but at this point, every day might as well be Wednesday. Last week, we navigated the messy middle of your story and I gave y’all some tips for staying motivated and organized with your plots. This week, we’re gonna take a little side road and talk about point of view.

You might already be familiar with the three main types of view: first person, second person, and third person. But let’s review just in case you’re like “Anna what are these words”: 

First person is when the story is told directly through the character’s eyes, using “I” and “we” and so on. For example, “Jenny and I spent the morning at the mall; I had to buy new shoes.”

Second person is when the narrator uses “you” and “your” pronouns, such as, “You woke up long before dawn and couldn’t go back to sleep.”

Third person is more of an outside perspective, where you tell the story using the characters’ names and pronouns (like he, she, they, etc). For example, “June and Pam took the dogs out for a walk, a task June thought was far too strenuous for this hot afternoon.”

To make things even more fun, third person also comes along with options of third person limited or third person omniscient. Limited is what I did in that example sentence just now: you tell the story from an outside perspective (as in, not using “I” for your narrator), but the story is still inside one character’s head. If you write in third person at all, you probably do this pretty subconsciously. Omniscient is when the narration is inside everyone’s heads, where everyone and anyone could have a point of view at any given time. This method is tricky and needs a strong hold on your characters and structure so things don’t get wild and out of hand.

Your story’s point of view (or POV, as I’ll refer to it from now on) is a critical detail that changes how your story is told. Some stories have only one POV, while others have several. A book like Harry Potter has one fixed, third person POV throughout the whole series. Everything that happens is only through Harry’s eyes, but think about how different it would be if we had some other perspectives in there! A lot of newer YA books tend to rotate POVs and have several main characters telling the story, because it helps broaden the perspective beyond just one person’s viewpoint. One of my favorites, Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows, is told through six alternating POVs in third person limited. To contrast that, Leigh Bardugo’s earlier books, the Shadow and Bone trilogy, are told in first person with only one POV character. How you use POV and how many POVs you have is totally dependent on what kind of story you’re trying to tell, as well as the scope of the story. If there are things happening outside of the main character’s awareness that your reader needs to know, it might be time to add on another POV.

POV is also supported by the verb tense of your story. That is, whether you tell it in present or past tense. A story told in present tense tends to immerse the reader instantly, because the reader feels like they are experiencing everything alongside the protagonists. It’s happening right now, whereas in a book written in past tense, you might get the sense that someone is looking back on this story and telling it from the future. That’s not always the case or the intention, however. You can tell a story in past tense without necessarily implying that the narrator is looking back on a memory. But you can also very effectively do that with past tense, especially first person, if that’s the structure you want your story to have.

Depending on who you ask, some POVs are better than others. I personally prefer writing in third person past tense, but the current series I’m writing is in first person past and it’s kinda driving me crazy because I’m not used to it. But I felt first person was the best choice for these particular novels, while my other book fit best with third person. There really isn’t a science to it; it’s really just what you feel most comfortable writing. A lot of writers will say that you can only pair present tense with first person, and third person present tense is an evil way to write, but like that’s not a thing. Write your story however you want. I just wouldn’t recommend switching tenses throughout your story, unless you do it for, I dunno, a past memory or a dream sequence or something. If you’re going to get wild with POV, there should be a reason for it that benefits your narrative and/or some piece of it, like characters, plot, etc.

I will also take this opportunity to warn you upfront that second person is very difficult to tackle when you’re writing fiction. Poetry and such is a different story. But I’ve only read one book written in second person, and that one happened to do it very well. Second person isn’t something you decide after you start writing; you basically have to plan your story with the intention of writing it in second person, because that POV suggests you’re trying to do something specific with the narration and structure. Like, there has to be a clear reason why the story needs to be written in second person. But hey, if you wanna try it, go for it, and power to ya! I’ve never tried it myself, but I definitely encourage you to give it a shot!

Actually… on that note, let me give y’all a little challenge! Instead of prompts this week, I’ll leave you with this little activity (it’s not homework tho, I promise): try out each POV and verb tense. Write a little something in first person present & past, second person present & past, and third person present & past. It doesn’t have to be a full story, just like a couple paragraphs or a dialogue sequence. You can decide whether you use third person limited or omniscient!

Try it out! See which one you vibe with most! OR if you really want a cool experiment, write the same scene in each POV/verb tense! Bonus points if you switch which character’s perspective with each different version. Honestly, this might be the best way to see the differences between these POVs and how they can change your story.

That all being said, I’ll tell y’all what I’ve been up to!

What I’m writing: I finished the first draft of The Sequel™, which now has a tentative title of THE DIVINE SAINT. I’ve also changed the title of the first book (which used to be A DECEPTION OF DEMONS) to THE DEMON MAGE. Titles are like, my weakness. But anyway, I’m about 30k words deep in revisions, and I’m basically rewriting the whole first quarter of the book. It’s a mess at the moment, but once I’m past that huge part I need to fix, the rest of the book should fall into place smoothly. Hopefully. Fingers crossed. Then once that draft is done I get to plan and draft a third book! Because this is apparently a trilogy now! Yay!

What I’m reading: 

Just finished: Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor. As I mentioned last week (I think?), it’s the sequel to Strange the Dreamer, and wow those books are so good. I cried. A lot. They’re absolutely beautiful. And they happen to use the third person omniscient POV very well! 

Currently reading: I’m back to The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman, which I was neglecting while I read Muse of Nightmares. I also started listening to The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, and it’s VERY good. It’s a punch in the heart type of book, but it’s so important and so well written.

Up next: Hmmm if I really like The Devouring Gray, I’ll pick up the sequel next. Otherwise, I think I’ll go back to The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen. I started it way back in the fall but it wasn’t what I was in the mood for at the time. 

That’s all from me this week! Sorry this was a day late; Wednesday got away from me. If you guys have any questions or want me to ramble about anything specific, feel free to drop a comment! Happy writing, stay safe and healthy, and I’ll see ya next time!

Anna 😎✌🏻