Point of View - Writerly Words
Point of View
(Often abbreviated as POV)
Definition: The way a character processes the events surrounding him or her.
Explanation: When writers say “Point of View”, they are usually (but not always) talking about one particular character’s perspective—the way this character views a situation, how he thinks, acts, or speaks, and how he communicates his experience to the reader. It is very important that an author KNOWS her Point of View character well, so that she is able to adequately represent his perspective and keep it consistent throughout an entire novel.
It is easy to think that Point of View is only important if you are writing from a 1st Person perspective, but this is not true. Even if you are writing from a 3rd Person perspective, you need to know how Point of View works because your narrative style will depend on it.
Think of those arguments you had with your brother or sister as a kid. You’d be fighting, faces red and fists clenched, then your mom would calmly (or not so calmly) walk in and ask each of you to tell your side of the story. In essence, she was asking for your Point of View. This is the same thing you do when you write a book. Even though, as an author, you know every side of the story, your characters and your readers do not. Your job is to ask your Point of View Character for his, and only his, side of the story. Let this character tell the story the way he saw it happen, and you’ll be writing his Point of View well.
Rule Breakers: Even very good writers sometimes mix up their character’s perspectives. This is called a Point of View Shift, and it happens when a writer allows their character to say, think, feel or narrate something they could not know. This is a big no-no. You cannot mix up your characters’ Points of View. Not only is this unrealistic (and a lazy writer trick), it is confusing to your reader and breaks the integrity of your story.
Example:
Rebecca’s body ached from the very tips of her toes to the top of her head. Sweat poured down her face, tunneling through the layers of dirt and turning it to mud. With a groan, she stopped in the middle of the path.
“Keep moving, Becca,” Nathan’s voice growled from behind. Frustration filled him… and even a little bit of fear. How much more could she take?
“I can’t,” she wined, letting the backpack fall from her shoulder into the dirt. A billow of dust rose around it.
The grit filled Nathan’s mouth with a bitter flavor, and he spit, but the taste wouldn’t go away.
Okay, so what is wrong with this passage? If you’re writing from 3rd Person Omniscient, nothing is wrong with it. But if you’re writing from any other perspective, you have some serious problems. Let’s say this passage is supposed to be from Rebecca’s Point of View… How did the author shift that Point of View? What details did she include that our main character (MC) could not know?
Rebecca’s body ached from the very tips of her toes to the top of her head. Sweat poured down her face, tunneling through the layers of dirt and turning it to mud. With a groan, she stopped in the middle of the path.
Nothing is wrong with this paragraph’s Point of View. We honestly see what she is thinking and feeling; that’s good.
“Keep moving, Becca,” Nathan’s voice growled from behind. Frustration filled him… and even a little bit of fear. How much more could she take?
Here’s where we hit our first snag. How on earth would Rebecca know Nathan's feelings (in blue) or his thoughts (in green)? She couldn’t… not really, but there are ways we can write this without shifting our Point of View. What if we tried this instead:
“Keep moving, Becca,” Nathan’s voice growled from behind, breaking mid-note. A heavy sigh followed, but Rebecca didn’t really care what he felt. He was the one who got them into this mess in the first place.
Do you see how we stayed in Rebecca’s Point of View? At the same time, we caught a hint of what Nathan could be thinking.
“I can’t,” she wined, letting the backpack fall from her shoulder into the dirt. A billow of dust rose around it.
The grit filled Nathan’s mouth with a bitter flavor, and he spit, but the taste wouldn’t go away.
Next problem, how can Rebecca know what the grit in Nathan’s mouth tastes like? She can’t! …Unless the same grit fills her own mouth. We could change this to say:
Nathan crinkled his nose, made a strange gargling sounds and spit. Gross. It didn’t matter how dry her mouth felt, how bitter the taste of this colorless grit, she wouldn’t spit. It was too… dirty. Rebecca clinched her teeth and swallowed.
Practical Application: Go through your story looking for moments when a character communicates something he/she could never know, then fix all of these Point of View Shifts.
Writerly Words is a bi-monthly e-column devoted to teaching new writers how to understand the Writing World’s cryptic language. Just like any hobby, craft or business, professionals in the writing industry constantly use words that seem strange and foreign to a novice. But it doesn’t have to be hard to learn how these words apply to you and your writing.
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