What about POV??

Okay, I have a question. How do you go about establishing POV in your writing? I think this is my biggest "I don't know" when it comes to my own writing. I had heard a lot of different opinions on this. One person told me I should have each chapter written from a different character's POV, but I like to write conversations and events with multiples POV. I know that there should always be a new para when the POV changes, but is that enough? Does it make a conversation cloudy when you switch back and forth? Does it make it too hard for the reader to follow what's going on if you switch POV during an event or conflict?


Thanks for your input on this!

much love;

venus

I can give you my opinion on different POV, but it's just that.

I don't care much for first person. You can really delve into the character of just one person in the story with it though. Done right, first person can be quite satisfying to read.

I tried first person with a story I have on here, but it was irksome to do.

Whereas with third person, you can change POV easily. You might try writing the same scene in both POV and see which you prefer. I prefer third because of its flexibility.

And second person drives me nutz! There is no worse way for the authors voice to intrude on the reader. I keep wondering, "Is this joker talking to me?

I will never read anything written in second person.

I've read your work and I think you have this stuff down already, but I guess it doesn't hurt to broaden your experience. I'm confident you could pull off first.

Hope this helps.

gar

Thank you! Yes it does, very much in fact.

I write in third and when I switch POV I always have people tell me to stick with one person's POV and switching is awkward. So, I don't know. I can follow what is going on, but of course the characters are in my head, and of course, it is my book. LOL!

Here is a fairly thoroughly covered article about Third Person POV. There are several different modes to this POV that can be used.

Thid Person Omniscient is the most flexible of them all because you can switch between thoughts and feeling of all your characters.

gar

In my opinion, it doesn't matter which POV style carries a story forward as long as the format remains consistent throughout the piece. Readers will adjust to a style of writing but they abhor arbitrary change. That said, some POVs are easier to write, while others, like first person, demand more literary skill from the author to pull off successfully.

In The Last Human War, I used a multiple POV theme and parallel subplots to advance the story. For example, chapter one features the MC, a human named Simon, as the reader learns about human captivity from the POV of a human laborer who escapes from the mining quarry. Chapter two chronicles the pursuit of Simon from the POV of Dr. Hadje, an alien scientist in charge of “Human Affairs” and responsible for managing DNA experiments on the captives. Chapter three switches back to Simon as he penetrates through the jungle and discovers a secret society of free humans. By the middle chapters, the POV includes the perspective of an aggressive Heptari space fleet commander, Simon (the human), Dr. Hadje and an interesting human scientist-hologram named Dr. Boroski. As the action in three parallel subplots converges, some points of view become linked and fuse with help from an omniscient narrator.

The most difficult aspect of using multiple points of view and parallel subplots is keeping simultaneous, yet separate, actions in proper relationship to each other.

Garmar wrote:Here is a fairly thoroughly covered article about Third Person POV. There are several different modes to this POV that can be used.

Thid Person Omniscient is the most flexible of them all because you can switch between thoughts and feeling of all your characters.

gar

Gar, you should add a topic to the Reference Links Library called "POV" and attach your "Third Person POV" link from the post above. As time goes on, it is important to "mine" such gems from all the posts that members offer and add the best of the links to the library. Not all links are good, so only the top three should make the Library.

I think my problem that is confusing is that I have changed mine within the chapter. I have one main character and the majority of his story is told from his perspective, but there are things or dialogue that it is important to look inside the other characters thoughts. Someone told me that I need to put some break between the paragraphs to signify the change.

ebyss wrote:I think my problem that is confusing is that I have changed mine within the chapter. I have one main character and the majority of his story is told from his perspective, but there are things or dialogue that it is important to look inside the other characters thoughts. Someone told me that I need to put some break between the paragraphs to signify the change.

You can do that or you might even want to start a new chapter, depending on the significance of the POV change. I would also ask myself if the POV change is actually necessary. For example, characters can express completely different interpretations of a situation by showing disagreement through dialog or their reactions to the situation . . . and no POV change was needed.

Yikes, not the POV dilema!

My first book had a bunch of POVs because the action took place at a lot of different locations. And they all wanted to be heard from.

I've since tried to tune out the characters that whine for their own POV. They complain, try blackmail, all sorts of nasty things but in my NIP, I only have two POVs.

The thing, in my opinion, about changing POVs, is to make sure the reader knows you've changed. The first sentence of a new POV should be something like;

Monika watched through the window as Mike trimmed his toenails. Damn he had sexy feet.'

Okay, that was two sentences. But you get the drift. The reader knows we've jumped to Monika's POV and we're experiencing the world through her and her thoughts.

My two cents, Mike

I just finished reading a book by Loius L'Amour that was written like that. Each POV was interesting, but there were so many that I got lost in the side turns. He managed to bring them all together at the end, but it was difficult to "hang in there" through several hundred pages of distraction. And, sadly, the ending failed to justify the reading effort . . . very unlike Louis L'Amour.

I went through a Louis L'Amour phase. I think I had every book he wrote.

Yeah, people got a little confused with mine too.Once I finish my current work, I may go back and rework that one.

That makes sense, Mike. I was under the impression that you jump to a different POV by letting the reader know who is reacting to what...Glad to hear I wasn't too far off. And the "foot" example was quite hilarious!

Thanks!

hugs;

venus

That is what I did. I would start the the sentence with whoever did the thinking or whatever.

Charles loved to discuss everything bike related. He has been an avid bike rider since second grade. "I love bikes."
Rose looked at Charles and smiled, feigning interest. She wished he would shut-up about bikes.

Not a great example, but something like that. Is this what you were talking about?

Yes. But switching POV every paragraph would be tedious.

If you start one POV, stick with it for half the scene anyway. You can get all you need in with observation by the POV character.

Rose watched Charles crane his neck as the shapely brunette rode by. "Charles."

Charles stood and pointed. "Hey, that was a cyclomatic 4330 with the variable sprockets."

Bikes. Rose took a sip of her latte and rolled her eyes at the girl behind the counter.

The girl grinned and shrugged as Charles groped for his wallet. still watching the bike.The gooberhead. All he cared about was bikes. If he'd just look at a pretty girl for the sake of looking at the girl she could feel justified in her jealousy. How did one compete with a bike.

You keep going in one POV until you have a reason to switch. Going back and forth trying to get in every though will make you and the reader crazy. Give us what one person is thinking at a time.

But above all, have fun with it, Mike

LOL. That was great. You took two sentences of mine and changed it to a tiny story.

Nice!!

NaClmine wrote:

Garmar wrote:Here is a fairly thoroughly covered article about Third Person POV. There are several different modes to this POV that can be used.

Thid Person Omniscient is the most flexible of them all because you can switch between thoughts and feeling of all your characters.

gar

Gar, you should add a topic to the Reference Links Library called "POV" and attach your "Third Person POV" link from the post above. As time goes on, it is important to "mine" such gems from all the posts that members offer and add the best of the links to the library. Not all links are good, so only the top three should make the Library.

Done.

Thanks, Saulty.

Venus:

Want to see conversational changes in POV done well? MC has a story in the writing challenges that does that, and it's easy to understand (once you realize what's going on) and it's good.


https://review-group.forumotion.com/cw-challenge-2-f30/6-9-9-6-t75.htm


I think changing up the POV really depends on how well you believe you are as a writer. The better your skill as a writer, the more you can get away with