Point of View

[scifishipper]

Hello dear writers! I've been planning my novel and one of the elements that I've found to be in question is that of narrative voice, or POV. I'm used to writing third person subjective/close, which I will continue, but I was also considering writing from three different POVs. I've decided that for my first novel, it might be easier to stick to one

Comments

[coffeesuperhero]

Is it pretentious to say the story just ~speaks to me~ when it comes to POV? I feel like that sounds like pretentious bullshit when I read that back to myself, but it's pretty true for me. I mean it earnestly.

So I guess I'd say: Trust your instincts! It may be your first novel, but this ain't your first rodeo! ♥!

[scifishipper]

Not pretentious at all, and it's usually what happens to me! This story is different, though, because it's pretty complex and there are parts of the plot that would be so much more interesting told from a different POV. THAT is the issue. I feel like there are other voices I want to explore in the work. I think I'll have to see if I *need* it or if I just want to play! :D

Thanks!

[kdbleu]

I think a lot of a story come full blown when I start writing. POV is part of that, but more in the whose story is this sense than who tells it. I love hearing how other writer's process is different though.

[ninjamonkey73]

I totally agree, so we can be pretentious together! ;)

[kdbleu]

POV is something I think a lot about... too much sometimes but it's important. It effects the story and how I write it

[scifishipper]

I would like to write more about Harlowe but I'm wondering how that story would play out from another character's POV... What would I gain? But also what would I lose?

I think these are the questions I am asking and will continue to ask as I write. I happen to love multiple points of view (usually several chapters at a time) so that was calling to me. It just might not be right for this particular work.

Thanks, bb!

[kdbleu]

I did try writing a scene in Harlowe's story from another character's POV and it felt wrong, out of place. Like what was the point of showing this scene this way. It was interesting because I expected it to be illuminating, to open up the story and make it easier. It was weird.

[scifishipper]

That's how I felt when I tried to write Kitt in first person POV. WEIRD and just like my own voice. It seems so hard to write. (I bet it gets easier with practice.)

[plaid_slytherin]

It generally seems obvious to me. My original is all in one POV because I don't really see a reason to switch but when I do switch, it usually kind of does it on its own. Sometimes it's important that Bill's introspection be shown in a certain scene but I'm not sure I could always say WHY. It's just what makes sense. But my original just needs one POV.

[scifishipper]

Yes, sometimes a single POV totally makes sense! I wish that were the case here, but seems to be a little wobbly.

Thank you!

[kdbleu]

It is interesting that sometimes the why of anything in a story is so obvious and sometimes so "just because" but just as necessary. hmm.

[ecstaticdance]

I usually write in third person/subjective, but with my short story, I wrote a draft in first person to help locate the places where I was slowing the story down unnecessarily. Then switched back to third person.

I started out with the intention of writing my first novel from only one point of view, then realized the scope of the story was larger than I'd anticipated, and bigger than that character, so it needed multiple points of view.

I have another story in mind that I think will be told from a single point of view, ultimately, but I also think I'll need to write some sections from other peoples' points of view in order to really understand the story.

So I guess the short version of that is:

I use point of view as a tool to help me figure out my story. The story does tell me what it needs, but that doesn't keep me from playing with other things to figure out where the story needs to go.

[scifishipper]

Thank you. This is very helpful as I am finding the same issue with my plot, which is rather complex and could be best told from more than one POV. It's still something I am keeping open as an option, but I appreciate hearing that POV is not necessarily automatic. It's certainly been for me in the past, but I've also only written one other piece novel-length and that had two POVs.

[ecstaticdance]

POV is not necessarily automatic

Absolutely not. Nothing is fixed until it's published. :)

[kdbleu]

One of the most interesting free writing assignments I've ever had was to write a paragraph (or for five minutes, I can't remember) and then stop and rewrite from another POV.

It works with tense too past vs. present. Really interesting way to play with how to tell a story.

[embolalia]

Most of my work is third person limited, but through different characters in different scenes. For my novel, I used three characters primarily but five or six others for bits and pieces. What's worth noting is that they're used in different ways. The primary character early on is trying to figure out the history of the others - she's the deepest POV, if you will, because her confusion can be entirely unveiled to the reader. The other two *know* the secrets, to a greater and lesser degree, so their limited POVs don't go as deep - or go very metaphorical and vague. I think there's a difficulty in being too deep inside a character when they're concealing a secret from the reader; later it can feel like a trick if you felt like you were seeing their thoughts all along. It makes them unreliable - though that can be well done too. (Thinking of Tana French and such.) Okay, now I'm tired and rambling :)

[scifishipper]

Another author who does this (to varying degrees of success) is Mo Hayder. Her work is mostly from one POV, but then she will throw in a bunch of minor character segments (sometimes only one or two paragraphs) which tell the reader something the main narrator doesn't know. It's a total mindfuck because what these other characters know would INSTANTLY solve the murder. It's fascinating, but a little tricky for a first time reader of her work.

[kdbleu]

I haven't read Mo Hayder, but your example kind of answers my question. That balance isn't all about "page" time but also about the importance of the shared knowledge. Interesting.

[scifishipper]

I found it to be jarring the first couple of times it happened (even irritating) but when I finally saw the impact of the snippets she was giving, I was blown away. (The snippets usually reveal the location of something critical to a murder investigation that some random stranger has seen and just as randomly doesn't ever report.) It's so frustrating (intentionally) because it makes me want to scream at the character "CALL THE POLICE YOU MORON!" LOL. So, yes, very effective.