Why Do I Need a Point of View?

One of the first decisions to make when you begin a short story or novel is: From whose point of view is the story told?



Story-telling has evolved over the years. Fifty years ago, a book could get away with long passages of exposition, description, or non-essential scenes and dialogue. It was common to find yourself inside first one character's head, and then another.



Not so any more. Modern readers have shorter attention spans and are easily bored. If every scene doesn't grab the reader, he is likely to set the book aside--or worse, never start it at all.



One technique that keeps a reader engrossed is a sense of identification with the hero, or protagonist. And one of the best ways to keep that reader reading is to put him inside your hero's head. We more closely identify with people we understand--even villains.



One problem beginning writers often make is to become so engrossed in the story that we begin to "head hop." This is jarring to a reader and immediately confuses, taking them out of that realm of make-believe where you want to keep them.



When beginning a story, you must tell it from one character's point of view. Pretend your blank page is a television camera and your character is looking through it. Your heroine won't describe her "golden cascade of hair" because she can't SEE her own hair at the moment. Likewise, she won't mention the hero's "dark, churning anxiety" because she cannot know what is inside someone else's head.





My beginning writing students struggle with this, often not realizing they are telling things which can't be known until I point it out to them.



There is a place for switching POV's. You can add depth and curves to your story by switching to another viewpoint, but be sure you make a clear distinction before doing so. Either a chapter break or section break, and then clearly identify your secondary character early in the paragraph so the reader eases smoothly into the next point of view without losing momentum.

For deeper point of view, avoid "telling" words like "felt, wondered, decided." Instead, show your character feeling, wondering decided.

Instead of saying, "She wondered if he would be back." Write, "Will he be back? Had she driven him away?

For more discussion on point of view, click on the POV label on the right sidebar.