I’m currently working on my newest project – potentially titled “Is This The Real Life”, as part of Camp Nano, and though I should be typing away at my 1000+ words a day goal, I sit here pondering point of view instead.
I was/am seriously considering writing this one from a first person point of view, really wanted to, since a lot of it, especially in the beginning is all just the main character sort of nattering on about her life, but I know too that once the other characters come into play, it’s going to be harder for me to stick to that. First person is not a comfortable writing style for me at all – guess that’s why I always had a hard time keeping a diary as a child. XD
Anyways…
- What point of view styles work best for you all? Or does it vary depending on what you are writing?
- What ways do you find it best (when writing in first person) to convey the thoughts of others, or to convey actions/events that may have happened outside the narrator’s presence, but that are somewhat central to moving the plot along?
- Should I just abandon first person and go with third person, or just keep at this and see how it goes for a bit?
Inquiring minds want to know!!
Sephira Allen 
I like third person limited perspective and first person. I play with present vs past tense as well, sometimes. Different perspectives work for different projects, and I like to experiment. 🙂
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Yeah, I’m fond of third too. So far I’m only about 2300 words in, and I’m managing, but it’s still kind of weird. But I think too part of it is just that I’m not used to it. Hoping it will smooth out as I go.
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It sounds like maybe our two stories might be similar in feel (calling in to question reality). I was originally going to write in 3rd POV because then I could show the perspectives of the other characters more easily. Thing is I HATE writing 3rd person. Haven’t written it in six years. I find that writing in 1st is so much easier and more enjoyable for me.
To answer how I show the action/thoughts of others, you show what the MC sees/thinks/feels. This means the motivation of others can be hard to clearly show, since it’s all through the eyes of one person and not the outside perspective of 3rd. This is where the reader has to be subjective and judge the ‘outside’ characters on words and actions and not merely on what the MC thinks. In my NaNo novel the POV is from a 12 year old boy who has a mentally unstable father. HE doesn’t understand what’s wrong with his father, but an older reader can clearly see by the father’s actions and words he suffers from depression/anxiety/etc.
For what POV to pick… go with whatever you will most enjoy. I kept telling myself my story would be better told from 3rd but I couldn’t write it. I wanted to scream from frustration. Of course it’s good to stretch yourself as a writer and try different things, but some things simply don’t work. For me, having fun is more important because when I enjoy what I’m writing everything flows nicely and end result is SO much better than if I was forcing the story the whole way.
Anyway, I hope that helps you a bit. Good luck writing!
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Thanks! That definitely helps.
I’m going to try to stick with the first person at least through the first draft. With so much of it being about the MCs own thoughts, I think it would probably be just as awkward switching it to third. Then you have to figure out ways to show inner dialogue vs speaking out loud, etc… XD
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