Point of view or POV has always been the most confusing part of telling a story by a new writer. Learning to stay in one POV is hard... you don't want to think about things like that, you just want to tell the story. BUT, there are rules governing how to use the three accepted POVs: first person, second person, and third person. I'll let you do the research on these three but will say that I had written
The Looking Glass Labyrinth in first person initially. This means that statements are written using "I, me and myself." It's easier to understand if I give an example... ""I understand." I change the subject. "Her name was Rachael?" The intense watchful eye in the portrait are fastened on me as I chat with her great-great-great-granddaughter." Here I'm telling the story in first person. When I submitted parts of it to my writers' group, our leader, a published writer, suggested that I try rewriting it in third person. I kind of rebelled inside since I had finished it, but thought I'd rewrite part of it in third person and prove her wrong.
Well, as I rewrote it, I found that it became... stronger? Maybe even a much fuller story. And my publisher loved it. And so it never hurts to experiment with the POVs to see which best tells your story. In my first published novel,
She's Not You, I used third person but actually wrote it from a number of POVs. When I submitted chapters in my Creative Writing class, the professor said it was not the normal way to write a novel BUT, then she said I had done it so well that it didn't bother her. I actually couldn't imagine telling this story any other way. And as it turns out, most of my books are now written that way.
My latest Christmas story to be released on December 2nd,
Broken Christmas Promise, elicited the same comments from the editor assigned to me by my publisher. She was about to tell me to rewrite it as a single POV when I stood my ground and said "This is pretty much my signature now... my voice." She admitted that it didn't bother her but was still unorthodox.
Most new writers attempt the multiple POVs but don't keep them separate. You can't be in one person's head in one sentence and then another's the next sentence. POVs have to be separated by chapters or divided by a break to show that this new section is a different POV, Most writers show a break by three asterisks (***).
I find it interesting to write the same event from a number of points of view... when it makes sense.
So choose your POV carefully. It will make or break your story.
Keeps writing and learning how to be a better and better teller of stories!
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Till,
Judi
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