So whose POV is this? Tricia McGill

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Most authors use third or first person Point of View in their books these days. These seem to be the preferred views by editors. I’m not sure how other authors decide which route to take, but as far as I am concerned it’s usually chosen for me by my characters. Most of my books are written in third person. In Leah in Love, Leah told me firmly that it was her story and she would tell it in her own inimitable way, and that was the most fun to write as I just went where she led. And boy did she lead me on a merry chase. My current book began life as third person POV but when I reached about page 70 it hit me that it just wasn’t working and so it became changed to first person POV. Another case of the character telling me she wished to tell it as it happened.

Most reading this know, of course, what POV in a novel is, but just in case you aren’t sure, the four main POVs are:

First Person: When “I” am telling the story, relating my experiences, feelings, and no one else’s.

Second Person: The story is told to you. This one is uncommon in fiction.

Third Person—limited: Common in commercial fiction, where the character/s relate their experiences. This one creates hurdles for writers (myself included) as we can easily be accused of head-hopping by critics who despise such chopping and changing. A fault I had to overcome early on, as I tended to jump from one character to another.

Third Person—omniscient: Still about “he” or “she” where the narrator can delve into all the character’s thoughts.

https://thewritepractice.com/point-of-view-guide/

One of my first literary favourites was Wuthering Heights. I must have raved on about it at my place of work because one Christmas the lovely woman in charge of our workroom gave me a beautiful bound and boxed copy, which I still treasure. The edition of the book I possess was published in 1953. I have trouble reading it now as the print is so small that I need a magnifying glass.

I had no idea about point of view in those days and just enjoyed the story as told by two of the characters. We never got into either Cathy or Heathcliff’s head and I later came to realise how special this was, considering it was the only full-length novel written by Emily, who for most part led a sheltered and secluded life. Sadly, she never lived to hold her published book in her hands, as she died in the winter of 1848 of tuberculosis, a disease that had already taken her sisters Maria and Elizabeth and would later take Anne. In Bonamy Dobrée’s introduction, he calls the book ‘Sheer creative genius’.

I quote from his assessment: “What may seem nearly as astonishing when considering a first novel, written before much had been said about the craft of fiction, is that Emily Bronte seems to have been acutely alive to the problem of presenting her material, of making her vision tell upon the page. She must certainly have pondered the technical side of novel writing, and it surely was deliberately that she chose the two narrators as vehicles for her tale.”

There have been a few movie adaptations of Wuthering Heights and I saw one of the originals in my youth that starred Sir Laurence Olivier as the tragic Heathcliff and Merle Oberon as Cathy. Despite the story being told by Mr. Lockwood the new tenant at The Grange and taken up by the all-seeing servant Nelly, it was so magnificently written that we know the feelings of every character without going into their point of view. I doubt very much if I could achieve anything remotely as creatively special as this.

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P...O...V... by J. S. Marlo

J. S. Marlo BWL Author Page

Way back when I was writing free stories for fun, someone mentioned POV and told me I would need to start paying attention to it if I ever decided to become a real author. To be honest, I didn’t think I would ever become a real author—whatever real meant—but most importantly, I had no idea what POV stood for. Prepositions Or Verbs? Pickles Or Veggies? I had to ask what POV meant. The answer was Point Of View, which didn’t enlighten me at all. For my defense, I write in my second language, but when I tried to translate the answer in French, it didn’t help. So, I begged for the lengthy explanation-for-dummies.

For each scene I write, I was told I needed to step into my hero’s or heroine’s body/mind. I could only see what my heroine saw, so unless she was an alien with eyes behind her head, I couldn’t see the guy behind her clenching or unclenching his fists or ogling her. I could only hear what she heard, so unless she was the Bionic Woman (it was a TV show back when I was many many years younger), she couldn’t hear the other side of a phone conversation someone else was having...then again the man at the other end of the line with the woman beside me at the drug store two days ago was so loud, I overheard everything he said, and I wish I hadn’t. I could only taste what she ate, so I couldn’t say the dish of the guy at the other end of the table was too salty, though if he spitted it out or grimaced, I could venture he didn’t like it for some reason. Obviously my other characters could touch objects my heroine could see, but unless she also touched it, I couldn’t say the guy felt it  was rough, or soft, or clammy, unless he said so. I could only smell something she smelled, and I could only write down her inner thoughts...unless she was a psychic who could read other’s people mind.

It made sense and that sounded easy until I started paying attention to it. If my heroine walked into a room in the dark, a room in which she had never been, I couldn’t describe the room, until she bumped her toes on something and patted the object to figure out what it was. I couldn’t say someone was hiding in the closet with a knife until that someone jumped on her and stabbed her, which meant if I wanted that detail known, I had to write another scene before that one in which the killer stepped into that room and hid in the closet. I couldn't say if my hero liked the kiss if I was in my Heroine’s POV, but I couldn't tell if she enjoyed it if I was in my hero’s POV, though I do tend to write most of my love scenes in my heroine’s POV. In other words, I was forced to think before I wrote, which I ended up finding fascinating.

Before I start writing a scene, I need to determine whose character’s body/mind I’m stepping into. More than once I’ve written the same scene twice, once from one character’s POV and the other from a different character’s POV, then read both aloud to determine which one made greater impact. Two of my novels feature deaf heroines, so it was interesting writing in their POVs. Noises couldn’t startle them. They couldn’t hear snowmobiles, or steps, or voices, or birds singing in the trees, or explosions, but they could feel vibrations. I usually write around 45% in my heroine’s POV, 45% in my hero’s POV, and the last 10% through other character’s POVs. I write romantic suspense, so I like to step into my antagonist’s mind and/or some secondary character’s mind a few times through the story.

When it comes to POV, it seems different publishers have different requirements. Some have very strict rules, like 60% heroine/40% hero/0% other character, while others are more flexible. I’m lucky my publishers are flexible.

As a reader, or a writer, or both, how do you feel about POVs? Do you like stepping into the mind of the antagonist a few times? Or a secondary character? Or do you prefer staying into the heroine’s or hero’s mind the entire story?

Let me know, I’m curious.

JS

 J. S. Marlo's Website

 

Whose's Story is it Anyway? by Connie Vines

point of view (POV)

• noun
• a particular attitude or way of considering a matter.
• "I'm trying to get Matthew to change his point of view"
• synonyms: opinion, view, belief, attitude, feeling, sentiment, thoughts; 
• More (in fictional writing) the narrator's position in relation to the story being told.

It’s almost impossible not to have committed to a POV by the end of the first paragraph.

Since I write in multiple genres, my point of view seems to remain the same within a specific genre. 
My YA/Teen/Tween stories and novels are told in the first person.  For me this is the most personal for the reader--meaning a reader is intimately involved in the story and steps into the main character’s mind.  The reader experiences emotions intensely, because he/she becomes the character.  And since few YA/Teens/Tweens are familiar with a ‘none-tech’ world, this is the best way to expose them to history/a new setting, etc. 

The single POV helps the story unfold in a way to allow the reader to understands life from an 1890 character.  No reaching for a cell phone, or grabbing a pizza for dinner!

When I write in first person, I do not change point of view of view.  I rely on dialogue or the main character’s observations to keep the reader aware of changes in plot etc.

The opening from my current release, Tanayia: Whisper upon the Water, Native American/First People Series, Book 1

1880, Apacheria, Season of Ripened Berries

Isolated bands of colored clay on white limestone remained where the sagebrush was stripped from Mother Earth by sudden storms and surface waters. Desolate. Bleak.  A land made of barren rocks and twisted paths that reached out into silence.

A world of hunger and hardship.  This is my world.  I am Tanayia.  I was born thirteen years ago.  My people and call ourselves “Nde” this means 
“The People”. The white man calls us Apache. 


Second person point of view is far more challenging for me. I find if an author uses second person in literature, he/she does so to engage the audience more and to make them part of the story and action or possibly make a thematic point about the characters. Second person is much more common in nonfiction, especially self-help books and business writing.

Benefits: Speak directly to/about the reader, teach him or her something.

Examples

• "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go." (Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Random House, 1990).

• Think back to when you were a kid and read Choose Your Own Adventure books. Weren’t those fun? You got to be the main character and decide where the story went. Well, those were all in 2nd person.


Third person point of view. Third person is most often used in novels. Many readers prefer third person because it is so popular. It can work from the omniscient viewpoint of the author telling the story even to informing the reader what the character or different characters are thinking. While I’ve read many novels using this viewpoint, I find myself not quite as involved with the characters themselves.

I write my Contemporary/ Romantic Suspense/ Paranormal in third person in a character’s limited viewpoint. Here a character tells their story through their own viewpoint and senses. It tells what they say, see, hear, feel or taste, and even what they think. Different characters’ viewpoints can be used, but a clear demarcation is used to show when the narrative switches from one character to another. I like this method because it remains very intimate to the reader, but allows easy change between characters, too, unlike first or second voice.

Opening scene: Lynx, Rodeo Romance, Book 1

Charlene hadn’t told Rachel that she’d fixed her up with a cowboy, much less Lynx Maddox, the “Wild Cat” of the rodeo circuit.  Rachel signed.  She should have known.  After all, Charlene only dated men who wore booth and Stetsons.

Rachel Scott cringed at the very thought even as her gaze took in the breadth of Lynx Maddox’s chest, his broad shoulders, and dark green eyes that scanned her with blatant masculine approval.

A snippet from: Brede, Rodeo Romance, Book 2

Brede couldn’t seem to stop watching and worrying about Kate.  Even though she was trying to hide behind the menu, he sensed her tension.  He had to grip the edge of the table to keep from taking the menu out of her hands and looking into those wide green eyes again, just to catch a glimpse of whatever it was he saw when she looked at him.  But he wasn’t going to do anything rash.  Not now, not ever.  He wasn’t going to take her back to the ranch—not even if Caldwell retired and it meant eating peanut butter sandwiches from here to eternity.

He might gnaw his tongue off trying to keep silent, but he wasn’t going to ask her to say.


For a change of pace: Here Today, Zombie Tomorrow, A Sassy & Fun Fantasy

Since her sister was contemplating the contents of a tin filled with Danish cookies, Meredith found herself cataloging the events that led up to her ‘accident’.

A charter member of the SoCal Arts Association, she’d been participating in the annual Zombie Walk Festival in Long Beach when it ‘happened’. . .



What point of view is your favorite?  Do you enjoy reading a novel with multiple points of view?

Music, Dance, and Food are the heart of a culture.

One way to slip into a main character's world is to taste a food that is part of his/her every day life.
Since rationing was instituted on Indian Reservations during the 1800s, fry bread became a staple of Native American life.

Here is a way to sample one of Tanayia's meals that is still a part of everyday life for many Native Americans.

Quick and Easy Native American recipes for Fry Bread.  

When I operate a Fry Bread stand during my school visitations or Native American Culture classes, I take liberties and offer a short-cut version.  I top the hot bread with either powdered sugar or honey.
Open 1 can of large biscuits from you grocery's cold case.  (Do not use flaky-type or Southern with butter.)  Pat the biscuit dough to form a small pancake, poke a hole in the center with your index finger.

 Heat oil (I like a good grade vegetable oil).  Fry a few seconds until golden brown.  Turn with cooking thongs.  Cook second side, remove to drain on paper towels.  Toss into a paper bag willed with 1/2 a cup of powdered sugar and shake.  Place on a paper plate and enjoy while still warm!

During Powwow, however, I used the tried-and-true recipe with the option of a Navajo Taco offering beef instead of lamb.

What You'll Need: a large bowl

1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups​ all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3/4 cup water

Directions:
In a medium bowl, mix together the salt, baking powder, and flour.
Mix in the oil and water.
Form the dough into a ball and pat between hands until you have the size you like (pancake size) not quite as thin as tortilla.. Poke a hole in the center of each flattened circles with your index finger.
Fill a large frying pan with about 3/4-inch of shortening or lard and heat the oil.
Fry the breads for a few seconds on each side until they are golden brown.
Set the breads on a paper towel to remove excess oil.
When warm, the breads can be covered in powdered sugar, like a powdered doughnut. Do this by placing the fried bread in a bag filled with a 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. Give the bag a quick shake to cover the bread with sugar and remove the bread.

Or top with cooked beef (or chili), lettuce, onion, tomatoes, your favorite taco items.

Happy Reading,
Connie

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