Your Point of View Choice Can Make or Break Your Entire Novel. So you're ready to choose what point of view to write your novel in. Easy, you think. Ah, but it's not as straightforward as you might imagine. Because choosing different viewpoints will compel you to write entirely different novels. Think I'm kidding? Oh, wait... maybe you don't know what I mean. Let me explain. Up Close and Personal Point of view (also known in shorthand as POV) in a novel can mean both which character is "telling" the story, and how that character is telling the story.
If you're just starting out, it might work best to tell a story with the least leeway. What viewpoint is this? First person. I knew it was a bad idea the moment he said it. "Let's jump," Jon said, pulling off his shoes. "Maybe the water's not as deep as you thought," I replied. "Come on! Fine. "Come on! " Jon grabbed my hand, jerked and I was in the air, breath rushing out in panic. "...don't be dead, dammit.
I blinked blearily, my ears still ringing enough I only heard half of what Jon was babbling. Playing God. Overloading Third-Person Non-Omniscient Perspective | Tuna for Bernadette. Why Use Multiple POVs? So not too long ago I wrote a post on how to choose a POV character and once again, one of you fantabulous commenters asked a question that inspired a post—this time, on using multiple POVs.
Adding a second or third POV into your story isn’t a decision to be taken lightly—it’s much more challenging to write two or three (or more) distinctive voices than it is to write one, and creating effective transitions between the POV shifts is tricky. On top of the technical challenges behind crafting multiple POVs into a novel, there’s the added obstacle that some readers just don’t like multiple POVs because they find the head-hopping jarring and difficult to follow.
When you write multiple POVs, you run the risk that a reader may put your book down simply because they didn’t like the way you handled having more than one POV character. However, when done correctly, multiple POVs can add an interesting dimension to your story. What do you think of multiple POVs in books? Point of View in Literature -- Perspectives — The Writer’s Craft. In order to fully understand point of view in literature, we need to explore the different perspectives from which a story may be told. Bear in mind that the Perspective is the scene as viewed through the eyes/mind of the chosen character. The story, however, can be told from any one of several points-of-view regardless of the perspective chosen. Single Major Character Viewpoint The story can be told from first, second or third person POV but it is told throughout by just one character. The reader discovers everything in the story at exactly the same time as the viewpoint character does. You cannot hint at things that are to come if the main character doesn’t know they are coming.
You cannot give the character unnatural foresight-unless of course he is psychic. The single-character perspective is the most common viewpoint used in children’s literature and a lot of adult literature as well. Minor Character Viewpoint Again the story can be told from the first, second or third person POV. Maybe genius: The Dreaded Multiple POV Novel. Today's Tune: Everybody In my post about Head Hopping from Monday, I mentioned that I'd be writing a companion entry dedicated to the terrifying Mount Everest of multiple-POV novels. Aaaaaand off we go! I don't think it's a huge secret that multiple-POV novels are notoriously difficult to pull off, right? I mean, if you weren't aware: they're super difficult to pull off. First things first: deciding on your style.
Okay, you know how many characters you're following. Next, it's important to ask yourself why you want to tell the story this way. A few reasons for telling a story from multiple perspectives: to maintain mystery and reveal information slowly. Hopefully you've made your decisions about all these elements. Stick to one POV per chapter. When writing in first-person, it's important for each character to have a distinctive voice. Don't overwhelm yourself. Be mindful of whose head you're in. What are some of your favorite multiple-POV novels?