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Techniques
Point
of
View
One of the
most
important decisions you will make in writing
your story is choosing
which point of view to use. The point of view
is the "head" or "camera
angle" from which you filter the action. Here
are five commonly used
points of view.
- First Person Point of View - The
narrator is "I"
or "we." A writer only reveals things the
narrator sees, hears, thinks
or knows. I knew I shouldn't have let
Grandma go down there. She isn't
too steady on her feet to start with, and
then she gets those dizzy
spells. But she insisted, and the next thing
I know, she's tumbling
down those stairs like a gymnast.
- Second Person Point of View - The
narrator
addresses the reader. You know how it is.
You think you shouldn't
intervene, you think she'll get mad at you
if you don't let her do what
she's always done.
- Third Person Point of View, Panoramic -
The
narrator sees all the action, but doesn't
read minds. Think of this
like a movie camera--describe anything you
see or hear, but not
thoughts. Mrs. Smith stood at the top of the
stairs, her son John next
to her. Clinging to the handrail, she
planted her trembling foot on the
first step. But the other foot caught on the
carpet.
- Third Person Point of View, Controlled
Consciousness - Like first person, the
reader sees all the action
through the eyes of a single character and
can only see what that
character sees. The difference is the writer
uses "he" or "she" instead
or "I" or "we". When using a controlled
consciousness point of view,
choose one character, called the viewpoint
character, to experience the
story through. A writer can have more than
one viewpoint character in a
novel. The viewpoint character should change
only at chapter or scene
breaks and should never change without good
reason. John knew he
shouldn't have allowed his grandmother to go
down the stairs alone. She
wasn't steady on her feet and sometimes she
grabbed onto the nearest
object when dizziness overwhelmed her.
- Third Person Omniscient - God-like; the
narrator
knows and sees everything, and can move from
one mind to another.
Although third person omniscient allows the
most flexibility, it's
difficult to manage. Besides visiting the
heads of different
characters, the reader can also see into the
future or see things that
none of the characters can see. John stood
next to his grandmother. He
wanted to help her down the stairs. Mrs.
Smith looked at her grandson,
her blue eyes sharp, and moved a strand of
hair from her face. She was
determined to do this on her own, to prove
she wasn't helpless.
By changing
your
viewpoint character, readers get a different
account of the action.
Therefore, carefully choose whose viewpoint to
use so they can get the
greatest power from each scene.
Even within
third
person omniscient, there should be only one
viewpoint character at a
time, only one character whose thoughts and
mind readers visit. If you
must switch "heads" within a scene, clue the
reader to allow for a
transition. Once the switch is made, stay with
it. "Head-hopping"
confuses the reader.
Besides point
of view,
intimacy and voice affect how close the reader
feels to the story and
the characters. Intimacy is how close the
reader is to the action and
to the character's thoughts and emotions. Like
a video camera, a writer
can zoom in and out, getting close (into a
character's head) when she
needs to and then back off when things get too
hot or when a broader
perspective works better.
Voice is the
way in
which the narrator talks—it
can
be
proper and formal, conversational, or even
illiterate. To be
effective, it must be natural and unique, just
like each person's
voice. An author's voice may be one of the
most difficult things to
develop. When you first begin putting words on
paper, you "try out"
different voices, trying to find the one that
suits you. Of course,
each story can have a different voice and
still be the author's. The
more you write, the more comfortable you
become with your voice.
Likewise, the
tense
chosen affects the power of the story. Writers
often use past tense (he
was) in fiction, although some effectively use
present (he is). Past
perfect (he had been) and future perfect (he
will be) should be saved
for flashbacks and special effects. It is
extremely important to
maintain tense. Like viewpoint changes, tense
changes jar the reader
and mark the writer as an amateur. Unless you
are an accomplished
writer, do not even consider changing tenses
within your novel. If you
are uncertain which tense to choose, go with
past tense. It is the
easiest to handle and the most invisible to
the reader.
Point of
view, voice,
intimacy and tense are the spices in your main
dish of plot, character
and setting. As such, they must exist, but
they should be invisible to
the reader, allowing for a smooth, full-bodied
flavor without any
jarring inconsistencies.
For
additional tips,
worksheets, and discussions, order your own
copy of the
Inspiration for Writers Tips and
Techniques Workbook.
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rights reserved. You may reproduce this article
for educational
purposes like writing workshops as long you
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