Think of a car crash. The collision occurred at 9:50 at a busy four-way intersection between a white convertible and a blue Honda. There are three people beside you and multiple others scattered around the sidewalk on all sides. You ask your friend “What did you see?” Knowing that the cars collided and one flipped over. Your friend responds “The sedan got some serious air time!” Well we know from what you saw that it was a convertible, not a sedan, and that it didn't fly in the air. Someone across the road thinks that the Honda hit them on purpose, another thinks it's the convertible's fault. How did everyone see the same crash, but have all these differing perspectives and beliefs?
Today we'll be discussing Point Of Views and kicking off my 4-week series detailing the different types of POV’s that you can write a book from. There are three main ones, First Person, Second Person and Third Person. We won’t be discussing either of these three today in depth but instead laying the foundation for the series. So kick off your shoes, get comfortable as I lay the foundation of what is a Point of View and how do you use it to your advantage to enhance the content of your novel.
Looking back to the days before Christ, when they communicated with stories, the most common way to communicate the story with the audience was to speak or read it from the third person. Third person is an outside perspective and uses pronouns like “he,” “she,” and “they.” For example – “Sarah fed the birds while her sister played with the dog.” Then once the Greeks discovered that acting like the character instead of just speaking about them was more effective and entertaining, theatre switched to First Person, which utilizes pronouns like “I,” “we,” “us” as well as the regular he/she/they pronouns.
For example – “I asked her to water the plants, but the little diva refused.” Lastly, Second Person is utilized more in everyday conversation and is usually paired with First Person. It’s a direct communication to the audience through the word “You.” Although there are three different types of Point of Views, the main choices utilized in novels are First and Third.
Now that we have the framework we can discuss how to create a POV. From the introductory example with the car crash, we can see that even though the surrounding pedestrians witnessed the same collision, they all took something different away from it. The answer seems simple, “Because they’re all different people with different personalities and experiences that create a different worldview.” To that I say – Exactly! In the same way we in the real world have different takeaways and childhoods, so do your characters. One character might look at a little girl and call her a saint, another might call her the devil incarnate. This difference creates a voice that’s distinct to the character. These voices might overlap, but your job as the writer is to make sure they don’t repeat. A thesaurus is a phenomenal tool for this. If you have a tennis ball, it’s yellow, but there are ways to say yellow that aligns with the character. “The mustard tennis ball inspired his appetite,” or “the tennis ball was so vibrant it would be lost forever if placed in a sea of sunflowers.” Get creative and really dive into what your character values and what they want. The first character wants food, the second likes flowers. These small details may seem insignificant but they’re essential. You’re not just creating a character. You’re creating a living, breathing life form with hopes, dreams, ambitions, dislikes. Does your character love paranormal films? Put it in the book! Does your character hate apple pie? Put it in the book! Without overcrowding the pages and drowning out the plot, make sure to put as many personalized details as you can into the substance of the book because it’ll make the characters feel real to the readers.
Thanks for coming in to learn! Until then you can follow any of my socials for updates on my novels and projects. As always, stay tuned, Friends!
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