THE Right POV FOR YOUR STORY

By Janice Seagraves

Hi, I’m Janice Seagraves. Sorry I’ve been absent, but I’ve had a health crisis of sorts. After a week or nose bleeds and getting rushed to the hospital because I couldn’t stop the last one, I was told I have high blood pressure and must take meds from now on.

Now on to the point of this article: POV or Point of View means the eyes and ears of your story and it is important to pick the right POV for your story. You’re also showcasing that character’s feelings when something happens in any given scene.

Here’s a list of POVs and how they are used to help you decide on the right one for your story.

First Person POV: involves “I” and “me” in the story telling. You’re in the head of the protagonist only. What she or he see, hears, and feels is what is offered to you in the story telling. First person is used primarily by chick lit, urban fantasy, YA, and others. A lot of writers prefer this first-person narrative because you can really get into the head of your protagonist.

Second Person POV: used only rarely in which the point of view of a narrative work is told in the voice of the onlooker, which is you, the reader. For instance, the text would read, “You went to school that morning.” Is written as “you” see this, “you” hear that. Not my favorite POV. It feels clunky. I’ve seen this mostly for children’s lit. And the 1990’s pick your own ending novels.

Third Person POV: Can be told in two ways: Third person singular: which stay strictly with one person in each scene. Deep Third person: also stays strictly with one person but goes deeply into that person’s narrative almost as deep as first person. Is written with “she” or “he” sees this or hears that. It more universally accepted by publishers for fantasy, sci-fi, romance of any sub-genre, and many other genres.

Omnipotent POV or Narrator POV: This type of story telling is not used very much anymore except for children’s lit. It’s a type of floating narrative that was used primarily before 1980 or so. You can be in anyone’s head at any given moment or be floating above the action. It was used for a time in the early horror and gothic genres. But could be used in anything from romance to science fiction. I recently read an example of it in an early Anne McCaffrey novel. It’s loose, floating, and I find it confusing. Whose head are we in now? Who knows?

And add to that Omnipotent POV reads like head hopping and most editors frown on their writers using it.

What is the POV that I use? Deep third person POV. I find I can show case both the hero and heroine’s POV (in separate scenes of course) and tell the story well.

I hope this helps you in your own writing.

Please like and share and I’ll make another vlog next week.