POV Demystified

 Let’s talk a little about point of view.  In conversation, we talk about somebody’s point of view.  “That’s his point of view.” By this we mean, that’s the way he sees things.

 In a book, when we talk about point of view, or POV, is similar.

 First, what are our options in a book?  We can have first person POV.  The book is written from one person’s point of view and that person is the narrator.  “I recognized Hazel from across the room.”  “I considered what that picture signified.” “The room smelled musty.”  All descriptions of what is happening in the book come from the first person.  Other persons can make observations in conversation.  John looked at me and said, “There are four men following us. I could hear them talking before I met you.”  John is giving us information in his dialogue. But, we the reader are getting it because the narrator, first person “I”, heard John say it.

 In my novel Murder a Cappella, I use first person.  One POV character—the protagonist, naturally.  The first person narrator doesn’t have to be the protagonist. To Kill a Mockingbird  and TheGreat Gatsby are two examples where the star of the story is not the narrator.

 The POV can be in the second person. This is rarely used, difficult, and I’m not going to discuss it here.

 Quite popular is third person.  Here, a character in the book can report on everything he or she observes or thinks.  And since there may be several persons in the story, it is possible to have several POV characters. And this is where the problems come in.  More on that in a moment.

 There is also the omnipotent POV.  In this case, some external being sees and knows everything, every action, every thought.  This being can report on any and everything.  This may seem appealing to the writer. However, it is difficult to get the reader to really identify with any of the characters in the book.  Everything is in the POV of this external being and even if the reader identifies with this being, it generally does not draw the reader into the book in the same manner that identifying with the protagonist will. 

 Let’s go back to the third person point of views. I said we could have multiple third person POV characters here. The important things to note here are: don’t have too many; and only one POV per scene. Too many and the reader can get confused.  It is difficult to have a bunch of POV characters and get the reader to really identify with your protagonist.

 Everything has to be presented as something the POV character experiences. She can’t see behind herself. She can’t be in two places at once—that is, she must be on the scene to experience what is going on. Of course, she can get reports from other people in their dialogue. That’s okay, because she is hearing the dialogue and therefore we can get the dialogue through her ears.

 On the other hand, in Cleansed by Fire, I use third person and have several POV characters. This means I must make it clear to the reader when I switch POV.  Each scene must have a single POV. Even better is to keep each chapter in a single POV.  As an example, a scene can be from the POV of Joan. The next scene begins, “Across town, Sarah was having her own problems.” The reader is immediately alerted to the fact that this next scene is in Sarah’s POV.

 It’s not difficult to stay in one person’s POV – if you pay close attention.  Here’s an example of a typical POV mistake.  The scene is in Karen’s POV.

 Karen scanned the street carefully, making certain no one was watching, then slipped in the door. Jacob was waiting inside for her. “Glad you could come,” she said. He tried to look bored and said, “I had nothing else to do. I saw Wilson make the drop yesterday.”

  You have slipped into Jacob’s POV when you say, “He tried to look bored.” He knows what he tried; Karen doesn’t.  You could avoid this by say “Karen could tell he was trying to look bored.”  Now, we are still in Karen’s POV. It’s okay for Jacob to tell Karen what he saw Wilson do. That’s not breaking POV.  Karen is hearing it and the reader knows it now because Karen does.

 Another example of how you can slip out of POV.  This scene is in Alice’s POV.

 Alice was still shaking. “I was so scared I thought I would faint.”

I almost wet my pants, Willie thought. He pulled Alice closer. “I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”

 Alice as PVO character can’t know what Willie is thinking.  I’ve shifted out of her POV and into his, if only for a moment.

 It’s easy to let those POV mistakes creep in.  Even David Baldacci, one of the top sellers today, can get caught. In his The Collectors, he has a chapter in Stone’s POV. But we see this bit.

 “Keep your eyes open,” Stone warned. “We’re undoubtedly being watched.

True to Stone’s words, the same pair of binoculars from the window across the street was trained on the group. …

Once inside, Stone suggested …

 Stone doesn’t know binoculars are watching. He believes that: “We’re undoubtedly being watched.” But he doesn’t know that.  The author is telling us.  We are in the author’s POV.

 The bottom line –

Pare POV characters to a minimum.

Only use one POV character in a scene.

Verify that everything comes to the reader through that one POV character.

 James R. Callan

www.jamesrcallan.com