Was Your Brain with You All Day?:  Making POV Work for You
(by Jen, mostly)

Point of View--it's one of those terms writers tend to throw around a lot,
but what does it mean?  In a nutshell, POV means the perspective from which
you tell the story--whose eyes the reader sees through.  Choosing a point
of view is an important decision, because it can affect the whole
story--and if it's done right, it can be a major factor in suspending the
reader's disbelief and making her a part of the story.

There are three main types of POV:  first person, third person limited, and
third person omniscient.  With first person, one of the characters tells
the story.  For example, "I told Buffy not to go.  But does she listen to
me?  Of course not.  I'm the inexperienced, whiny nuisance of a little
sister, and she ignores me (except when I'm doing math homework when she's
around, and then she sits on the other side of the kitchen table like a
vulture waiting for me to die or something)."  The beginning of a Buffy
story, told from Dawn's POV, in her voice. 

First person POV works when you really want to get into a character's head.
 It's great for angsty stories, but it can be good for humor as well. 

What's the downside?  Unless it's a vignette, first person POV is difficult
to maintain through an entire story.  You need a character with a really
strong voice, so distinctive that the reader will know you couldn't tell
the story any other way.  In fic, pay attention to the verbal tics of
characters you like.  Do they have certain catch phrases they say over and
over?  Are they funny, or serious?  Do they tend to have long monologues,
or do they speak in short, clipped cadences?  It'll be harder to believe a
story where a normally quiet character rambles on and on; that doesn't mean
you can't do it, only that you'd better have a good reason for it.

Tip #1:  If you really want to get into a character's head and have them
tell the story, do a brief scene in first person to start things off, then
switch to third person POV for the rest of the story.  It's a good way to
set the tone, without letting one character maunder on and steal the show.

Third person limited POV takes you into the head of one character, but
doesn't tell the story in that character's voice.  To return to our Buffy
example:  "Don't go.  I really need your help with my homework, and the
Weather Channel said there'll be a bad storm tonight.  And it's only a
little demon."  Dawn leaned over her geometry book, her eyes worried.
"Don't you want to make sure I get my homework done?"
        Buffy sighed.  "This won't take long.  And last time I tried to
help with your homework, you said I was like a vulture."
        "Did I say vulture?  I meant eagle.  Really watchful and keen-eyed
and . . ."
        Same basic information, but this time we see it through Buffy's
eyes--she sees that Dawn's worried, but she feels like she's got to go.

Third person limited works well when you want to focus on one character's
viewpoint, but you don't want to have to maintain that person's voice
through an entire story.  There really is no downside to this particular
POV, except that so many people can't grasp the concept of 'limited'.  That
means for an entire story, or at least an entire scene, you stay in that
one character's head.  You do not flit back and forth, not even for a
moment to show that, yes, Harm has noticed that Mac is wearing girl
clothes.  The best way to get around this rule, if you really, really
want to show two different points of view is to (are you still with me?)
START ANOTHER SCENE. 

Tip #2:  In third person limited, dialogue is the main way to get the
character's voice into the story, but you can be clever and illuminate him
in other ways, too--clothes the character usually wears, the way he moves
his hands when he speaks, the way he drives.  (Like you needed another
reason to rewatch your tapes, right?)

The third and last POV I'm going to discuss is third person omniscient,
where you as the writer get to hop in and out of everyone's heads.  It
isn't used much by professional writers any more--it's sloppy and unwieldy,
and it can be confusing unless you know what you're doing.  Consider
yourself warned.

To go back to Buffy:  "Dawn didn't want me to go out tonight."  Buffy
studied Spike's face and wondered what he was thinking.
        "Maybe you should have listened to her, Slayer."  Spike kicked a
clod of dirt at a grave marker and wished he'd had the sense to stay the
hell away from her.  Even if she did smell like flowers and fear. 

This isn't so bad when you've only got two characters, but it can get messy
if you're dealing with a crowd.  I find it easier to write a scene--or part
of a scene--from one POV, then make a clear break before switching to
another point of view.  And remember, third person omniscient doesn't mean
writing from one person's viewpoint, then switching to another halfway
through the story because it's more convenient or interesting.  You should
be in pretty much everyone's heads, pretty much all the time.

Tip #3:  Make sure you really need to be in everyone's head at once.  Can
you show what characters are thinking by their words or actions?  Be
subtle--many readers do not need to have plot points hammered into their
heads by Blunt Force Trauma, thank you very much.

To conclude the lesson, I'd like to offer a couple of exercises for you to
try.  If you write one and it turns out well, send it to us.  If it fills
us with joy, we'll post it on our web site.

Exercise #1:  You say to-may-to, I say to-mah-to

Think of your favorite show, and pick two characters who are often in
conflict, either overtly or secretly (Sydney and Sloane from "Alias", for
instance).  Write a scene where your two characters are having a
conversation.  It doesn't have to be an argument--in fact, let's have it
not be an argument, at least at first.  Write the scene from one
character's point of view.  Stay out of the other guy's head
completely--just show what's going on in his head through dialogue and
action.  When you've got that done to your satisfaction, rewrite the scene,
using the same dialogue, but write it from the other character's POV.  You
can use either first person or third person limited, but not both.

Exercise #2:  Three's a crowd

Gather up the folks from your favorite show.  Put them all in an unfamiliar
place (unfamiliar to them, at least) and see what they think.  Maybe it's a
national park, or a nightclub, or a museum.  Describe the scene from each
person's POV.  Remember to use those verbal tics or action cues.

Exercise #3: Fly on the wall

Take two or three characters, stick them in a room together, and give them
something to do (talk, fight, whatever).  Now describe the whole thing as
though you were watching it from a security camera in another room.  Don't
go inside anyone's head at all.  No thought or feelings; convey the whole
scene from the characters' dialogue and actions. This is a good way to
figure out whose POV to write the scene from, or to clear out all the junk
from your head and just focus on the plot.


Thanks for joining the POV tutorial, and good luck!

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