Point of View
I thought I’d do a little craft post today. Like a tight plot, world building and a clean manuscript, POV is an element of not only getting your submission out of that slush pile, but accepted and contracted, And I personally want to give editors as few reasons as possible to reject that manuscript.
Okay, so Point of View and I hope this doesn’t come off as too preachy or my-way-is-the-right-way. Every writer is different and each writer has to find the way that works for them. I write in 3rd Person limited POV, ie from the character’s viewpoint. I only write from the POV of the hero (or heroes) and heroine. It’s their story and I want the readers invested in them. I don’t want to take away from that by throwing in the POV of the heroine’s best friend’s cousin even though she might be very interesting.
Head hopping-Throwing in too many POV’s in the same scene (Sometimes in the same paragraph) can make it hard for a reader to know whose head they’re in at the moment. Sometimes it also takes away from the reader investment and take them out of the story.
Here’s my take on POV. I think of it as stepping into the character’s skin. I only write what that character feels, thinks, sees, etc. [And yes, as I’ve grown and changed as a writer this has evolved a little and become clearer to me. (Thanks to some patient editors and finding some great articles.)] When it comes time to change POV, I try to make a definite break so that it’s easy to tell that the story is from another person’s view.
Find what works for you and give the acquiring editors as few reasons to send you that rejection as
possible.
