Choosing the
right POV (Point of View) for your story can be a challenge. I know, because
it’s challenged me. But after writing five novels and moderating a critique
group for several years, I think I’ve learned a few things I can pass on to
you.
I was
probably halfway finished with
Ride of Your Life before I realized it
needed Josh’s POV. Until then, Josh was kind of flat. The reader only got to
see him through Tracy’s eyes, and Tracy had a tendency to idealize him. In her
eyes, he was this cute boy, a boy who made her imagined ghostly heart beat
faster. Love doesn’t let us see the whole person, just the parts we like. That’s
the way Tracy sees Josh. And if I had
written the entire book from Josh’s POV, Tracy would have been flat for the
same reason. People are much more complex and interesting on the inside than
they seem on the outside.
So I went
back and added chapters and rewrote others to give the reader Josh’s POV. And
that brought this entire ghost story to life.
Ride of
Your Life was probably the biggest eye opener for me, although I think
I learned something every step of the way. Believe me, if this is something
you’re struggling with, there’s a reason. Getting the right POV is
hard! In fact, if you’ve never struggled
with POV, I think you might want to reconsider your process. The best POV isn’t
always obvious, and it’s worth taking a deeper look.
Okay, so how
does POV work? There are three tenses: past (most common), present (immediate,
exciting and fun, but a bit challenging), and future (rare, and very difficult
to do well). There are also three kinds of narrators: third person (most
common), first person (immediate, exciting and fun, but a bit challenging), and
second person (common in nonfiction, but rare and difficult to do well in
fiction).
While tense
tends to be consistent, at least within a scene, the kind of narrator you use
can be blended and can shift.
For example,
a third-person narrator can get inside a character’s head like a first-person
narrator and show the reader what the character is thinking. This is sometimes
called “
close third,” and the character whose thoughts we get to see is
referred to as the “
focal character.” If the narrator does this a lot and jumps
from head to head, the narrator is
omniscient, something that’s generally
fallen out of favor in the last few decades (although when done well, like in
A Series of
Unfortunate Events, it can be delightful to read). A third-person
narrator who knows things the characters don’t, particularly future events, is
also omniscient.
In most
cases, a writer needs to decide if a narrative will be present or past tense,
and first-person or third-person.
Past is
standard. Readers are accustomed to it.
But
present can be good if you either really want to get into the character’s
head at the immediate moment (almost diary style) or you want to give the
reader the impression that anything can happen at any moment, for example, that
the main character could die. Of course, that made present tense perfect for
Why My
Love Life Sucks (
The Legend of Gilbert the Fixer, book
one). The book starts with Gilbert dying. How much fun would that be if the
story were told in first-person past tense? It would kind of give away that
(SPOILER ALERT) Gilbert doesn’t exactly die. Not permanently anyway.
Whether a
writer should choose third or first person is often a lot trickier.
The main advantage of third person is that the narrator can know things the main character
doesn’t know, as well as show a counter point of view to the one the main
character might have of him or herself. Sticking with
A Series of Unfortunate Events,
the narrator, Lemony Snicket, has an adult, reflective and comically morose POV,
which contrasts sharply with how the main characters view themselves. If this had been written in first-person, it
would have lost half its humor and charm. The books simply wouldn’t be the same
without Lemony Snicket’s strange point of view.
The main advantage of first person is that it really lets the reader feel what it’s like
being in the main character’s shoes and seeing the world through his or her
eyes. I couldn’t have written
Why My Love Life Sucks from any point of
view other than Gilbert’s. He has a unique way of seeing things that makes the
story what it is.
Of course, the
problem with first-person narration is that you can’t show the reader something
the main character doesn’t know. That can be a serious problem if something
important happens when the main character isn’t there. That’s why in the second
book of the
Gilbert the Fixer series (
Why It Still Mega Bites, which I am
close to finishing), Amber gets to be the first-person narrator of about half
the chapters. Gilbert spends most of the book away from the main action, and there
wasn’t any other way to tell the whole story.
In addition,
first-person narration can be challenging for those who don’t feel they have a
good handle on how their characters see the world. I get complimented for how
well I write from a male point of view (considering I’m a woman), but I have
seen writers struggle with trying to write from the point of view of someone of
the opposite gender. I’ve also seen adults write kids as they imagine kids to
be, rather than as they are. Beverly Cleary’s
Ramona books—indeed, any of
Cleary’s children’s books—are great examples of a writer who knows how to get
into a kid’s head. And these books are written in omniscient third with focal
characters, not first.
Third-person
narration is more flexible than many writers think. Not only can you get into a
character’s head, unless you’re one of those rare writers like Hemingway or
(sometimes) Capote, you generally should. At least you should know how to write
third-person with a focal character. If you decide not to, that should be a
conscious choice, not one made because you didn’t know there was another
option.
Writing in third makes it easier to jump around from one character’s
head to another, although in general it’s preferred to have only one focal
character per scene. And you can write about things the main character doesn’t
know or see, so it would seem that third-person is the obvious choice.
But is it?
Well, no.
It really depends
on the story.
Like Gilbert Garfinkle, sometimes the main character has a very
interesting way of seeing things. In my post about writing humor, I mentioned the House of Funny lens that is
character. I love the lens of character! I love seeing thing through the unique
perspective of a character who sees the world very differently. Sure, you can
sort of get that with a close third-person narrator, but it’s like the
difference between hearing a reporter talk about something and hearing the
person who was involved talk about it. I'd rather hear the story first hand.
Whatever
point of view you choose, I hope you won’t be one of those writers who
deliberately hide information the narrator knows. I consider that cheating. If
your narrator gets to see all the cards, your reader should get to see all the
cards, too. The only time cheating is acceptable is if it’s a part of the
story. If your narrator is meant to be a liar and a cheat, it’s fine to lie and
cheat here, too. But if we’re meant to see the narrator as honest, the narrator
has to be honest and open with the information he or she shares, too. Lay those
cards on the table where we can see them, narrator!
Okay, so
let’s say you have a story, but you don’t know which POV to use. How do you
decide?
Who are your
characters? Do they have interesting points of view and interesting voices? Do
they have a lot at stake? If so, first-person or close third-person with focal
characters will probably work best for you. The more interesting and unique
their voice and way of thinking are, the better your story will be in first
person.
Do you want
to tell the story from an outsider’s point of view? Are there things you want
the reader to know that the characters don’t? If so, third-person is probably
the way to go. Whether or not you use focal characters will depend on how much
you want to get into your characters’ heads. If you do decide to show their
thoughts, I recommend going all the way. Really show the entire landscape of
what they’re thinking and feeling. If you do it, don’t do it superficially. Dig
deep.
Are you
trying to give the reader a sense of immediacy, the feeling that all this is
happening right here and right now? Do you want to give the impression that
anything could happen at any moment at any time? If so, present tense is the
way to go.
Do you want
to give the impression that the story you’re telling has already happened? That
it’s over and fixed in stone and nothing can change it? That calls for past
tense.
Let’s say
you’ve decided to go with first person or third-person with a close focal
character, but you’re not sure whose point of view it should be? Obviously, you’ll
need to choose a character who’s present in the scene, which can change from
scene to scene. After that, the character who has the most at stake is usually
the most interesting.
One thing to
keep in mind is that readers prefer it if there’s a clear pattern for who the
narrator or focal character is. If you plan to write a book almost entirely
from one character’s point of view, don’t let the first time you switch to
another character’s point of view be halfway through the book. It’s jarring.
Just let another character be the focal character earlier on so that readers
know to expect a shift.
Like with
anything else, don’t be afraid to change the POV when you edit your story you
see something that will make it better. Yes,
it can be challenging, but it will be worth it in the end.
