Professor Old Silly’s Tutorial Tuesday – What’s Your Point of View?

Welcome back to Bloggyversity, English class 10001.3b, “Writing With Power in Fiction.” Class, come to order, please, we have a very important subject to go over today, and I have not a bit of patience for your normal shenanigans. Stop throwing spitballs, turn off your ipods, cell phones, blackberries, etc., desist with google-eying members of the opposite sex, adjust you monitors and undies and have a prompt seat.

Thank you. Ahem. Let’s begin with today’s subject.

One thing I’ve noticed while editing manuscripts lately is the lack of understanding of the all important Point Of View (POV). It is one of those elements of masterful writing that separates the amateurs from the professionals. What is POV?  It boils down to whose head you’re in. Which character’s emotions and feelings you’re going to have the reader experience.  It’s a powerful tool in any writer’s toolbox, and has a dramatic effect when one understands and uses it correctly.

There are three types of POV commonly used in fiction: omniscient, first person, and third person.  Omniscient POV is told from the viewpoint of the writer, or, you might even say, of God.  The author knows, and the reader is allowed to see and know, everything; nothing is hidden.  Here is an example: John walked away with a smile on his face. Little did he know it would be the last smile he would have for a long, long time.

The author, in that passage, let’s us know not only what John does not know, think or feel, but indicates a knowledge of the future … clearly stuff reserved for “god-consciousness’, hmm?”

Omniscient POV has its advantages, it makes it quite easy to introduce backstory, to give the reader a good sense of the place, time, atmosphere, setting, and etc. On the downside, it is a rather sterile way of writing. It does not allow the reader to get inside the heads and hearts of the characters, to feel with them as they move through the story. The characters are viewed from an impartial distance. Also, since the reader sees and knows everything, who is thinking what and who is doing what at all times, it is much more difficult to build suspense. Omniscient POV was used a great deal in the nineteenth century, but it is seldom used in popular contemporary novels.

Next, we have first person POV. Now you are only in one person’s point of view, and that being the main character – the one telling the story. You, the author, use “I” when spinning your tale. For example: I felt crucified. My gut tensed as she cursed and shouted foul threats at me that I felt would tear my soul apart.

The primary advantage to first person POV is, you are right inside the head and skin and emotional makeup of the main character. It can be extremely immediate and compelling. You get to live, breathe and feel the story right along with him or her. Of course, the more interesting the character you’ve created, the better in this respect. The downside to first person POV is that everything you, the reader, learn about the plot and story, you must learn through that character’s experience. This takes great skill as a writer. The reader is only getting one side of the story. While this technique can be used effectively in certain types of mysteries and/or romances, those where the author only wants the reader to know one perspective in an attempt to build more suspense and tension, it is generally not recommended for stories where the author wants the reader to have insight into all their important characters’ true feelings and/or motivations  – not limited to just the main character.

Third person POV is the most often used and popular today by fiction writers. Here is an example of third person: John felt crucified. His gut tensed as Mary cursed and shouted foul threats at him that he felt would tear his soul apart.

Now we are in John’s POV.  You know that because I’ve told us what he’s experiencing, feeling and thinking.  In third person POV, you can stay in one character’s viewpoint, and/or just as easily switch from one to another – the perfect compromise between omniscient and first person. You have more than one viewpoint at your disposal as a writer, creating balance with relative ease, with the added benefit of being able to get inside the heads of individual characters.

But don’t throw away omniscient POV. It does have its place and purpose in good prose. Though seldom used to write entire novels these days, occasionally in can be used to good effect to begin a story, giving the reader a good sense of time and place, as we discussed above. However, once all that’s been established, it is advised that the writer switch to third person, and get lodged into one character’s viewpoint.

Picture an opening scene. A helicopter is zooming over a large city, a city imperiled by war, and gunmen are peering out the open side of the chopper. The camera follows the chopper as it swoops over a certain neighborhood. Shouts and shots fill the air. People are screaming and running. The chopper fires a bomb and flies off as the explosion sounds. The camera zooms in for a close-up of a mother holding her little baby, whose husband has just been severely wounded by flying shrapnel. She screams and calls out to anyone who can hear, “Help! Help me – my husband is bleeding!”

We are now firmly in the distraught woman’s POV.

Now there are several things to keep in mind while writing in third person POV. For one, the sooner you let the reader know whose head they’re in, the better. And it’s easy. Just tell the reader the character’s feelings. Here’s an example: After Mary had left, John felt as though he’d fallen off a cliff emotionally. He held his head and cried, thinking, god how far my life has fallen.

There is no doubt whose head we are in, hmm? No. From anyone else’s POV, we could not know what John felt and thought, unless it is through dialog and/or the descriptions and suppositions of other characters.

One more thing to watch for with third person POV and then we’ll dismiss blog – this lesson is getting a bit long and I know you kids – probably thinking about partying and/or sex by now. But bear with me, okay? This is important.

When in third person, you can only tell the reader what the character that you are inside the head of is experiencing. This is a common mistake I see a lot. For instance, what’s wrong with this short segment?

John felt woozy. Too much to drink, he thought, moaning, as he clutched at his churning stomach. His head and the entire room started spinning. He leaned over a table and vomited, then passed out, dropping his drink. The goblet crashed to the hardwood, shattering into fine shards of glass and splattering Long Island all over the floor.

Did you catch my error? The last sentence. How would John know what happened to the drink? He’s already passed out. I switched to omniscient POV and told you, the reader, what happened next. This is a no-no. I should have had another character observe and comment on what happened to the drink if I wanted you to know that.

Okay, ahm – there’s more to cover on this topic, and we’ll get back to it in a later blog class. When and how often it is appropriate to switch POV’s, that sort of thing and more. But right now I can tell you’re all antsy to get going and finish your blog-hopping, so – thank you, class, oh – and class?

Class?

Sigh, off to the teacher’s lounge for warm milk and cookies. Nobody cares anymore, it seems. Now that I think of it, a nice stiff Long Island would be better.

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