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I am almost ashamed to publicly admit that until nearly three years ago I was awesomely POV challenged. My writing went blithely down a chaotic road on which I was first in one person's head, and then without warning, sometimes in mid-paragraph, or even in mid-sentence, I would leap into the head of another character. Looking back on my earlier undisciplined writing style, I can only be thankful that I have had patient and knowledgeable friends who showed me the literary light. I must admit, however, when crossing genres some of the rules concerning when and where to change a point of view are a little confusing and inconsistent. Point of view is simply experiencing the story from one character's perspective at a time. The other characters are free to speak and react, but the reader has no direct access to their thoughts or emotions until the focus or point of view is switched to another character. Point of view is like experiencing the story through a unique but imaginary video camera, a camera that not only sees but also transmits what is being felt--but most important, a camera that reads the thoughts of the POV character. The way a character thinks about what takes place around him/her is one of the main reasons people read novels. They want to see how someone reacts to these sometimes incredible things that happen to or around the character. The reader lives safely through the mind of the POV character without risk of harm or loss while the POV character risks it all. Another way to experience a story is through the omniscient point of view. When in the omniscient perspective, the writer is moved up above the setting and the characters are just as the imaginary video camera would pull up for a wide shot. From this perspective he/she knows what each of the characters is thinking and can be inside any of their heads at will. If the omniscient point of view is used sparingly in third person, the combination works well. The problem with a strictly omniscient point of view is that the writer is telling the story rather than showing or doing, which makes it much less intimate and believable. The characters are much more alive and real when the story is told primarily from the character's individual points of view. Most novels are written in third person with a limited omniscient point of view. Another writing style used today is the first person point of view, but this style can be very tricky. When writing in first person, the writer is writing from one character's point of view throughout the whole story. The reader and the POV character never know what the other characters are thinking until or unless they vocalize their thoughts or they express them through reactions. Though some first person writers have become quite successful in that style, most writers prefer third person with a limited omniscient point of view. RULES: Remember I said in the beginning that the rules for point of view are not always consistent from genre to genre. I won't try to tell you what all the rules are because I am only familiar with those pertaining to the mystery and romance genres. It seems the greatest inconsistency is between these two genres. Generally, in fiction mystery novels, point of view is changed no more frequently than once per scene break or once per chapter. In romance novels, point of view can change as frequently as paragraph to paragraph. Whatever genre you are writing in and whatever POV rules are appropriate within that genre, remember, the use of point of view can either spice up a story and make it interesting and believable, or without the effective use of POV, the best story will probably be lame and confusing. |
