Monthly Archives: October 2011

IN DEFENSE OF MULTIPLE POINTS OF VIEW. Once again, Philip Athans proves himself to be the man. If you click the link above it will take you to a post of his where he talks about the use of varying Points of View and why he thinks it is a good thing. Personally, I couldn't agree more.  Different points of view add perspective and suspense if done right.  For years I was told to stick with third person, and I have done a lot of writing from that perspective, but I love playing with first person and even second (usually for short pieces). In Alone, my work in the editing and rewriting stage of development, I kept the POV first person and the editing process has shown me how hard that can be, but I wouldn't change it. For that story it works  and to change it would alter the flow of the story and its emotional content. My ingoing 100-word challenge story has three distinct POV's and even two different tenses so far.  The hero is written from first person present tense while the other two POV's are from third person past. The switching back and forth creates a different sort of dynamic for each and adds to the tension and character of each scene. The more I write, the more I want to play with POV and tense.  There is too much you can do with both to settle for the lazy third person omniscient approach to writing every time you sit down at the desk.  Explore, grow and find what works for you. That's exactly what I'm trying to do.

Related articles

• Writing is Easy Part 5 (rjmedak.wordpress.com)
• Style Article - A POV on POVs by @krisbcullen (projectteambeta.com)
• Bad writing habits: complications ≠ complexity (viciousimagery.blogspot.com)
• Playing with Point of View (clairejdeboer.com)