POINT OF VIEW

How do you decide what point of view you want to write? Do you want first person, where the only point of view is the one character? Maybe you prefer to have several points of view and write in third person.

Third person is best for a new writer, but it can be very confusing at times. It is easy to do a POV slip, as I like to call it. Some people call it \”head hopping\” when you go from one person\’s POV to another  without noting a change.

To me, first person is the easiest to write. You only have the POV of one character, usually the main character. You do not know what the other characters are thinking, you only know what the one character is thinking.

In first person, you have to be creative to keep from using \”I\” to begin every sentence. This is one POV, and you have to think a lot when you write, but I love it. I don\’t worry about what any other character thinks. Their thoughts are not important since we are in only one head.

There is one mistake I see in a lot of writing, no matter what the POV is. This is the hardest thing for authors to accept. It is how to refer to a parent. I hope I can explain it in simple terms, but I have seen this through all of my publishing career.

The main character\’s name is Mary. She has a mother, Louise, and a father, Bill. When Mary\’s mother is talking, the tag would be, \”Mother said.\” You never say, \”Louise said.\” Think about it this way, would you call your mother by her first name? Never, or at least I wouldn\’t. If you were in a conversation with either your mother in person or in a story, you would acknowledge her as Mother, Mama, or Mom. Never by her first name. The same goes with your father. The only time you use the parent\’s first name is in an introduction of them to a character, or explaining who they are when they enter the story. After we know what their name is, they would be called Mom or Dad, or whatever you choose to call them yourself.

If you are writing with conversations between one character and their parent, and you are using the parent\’s given name in the tag, this will show the publisher or agent that you are not well informed about writing. Constantly learn about writing.