POINT OF VIEW

Good Day!

We are very fussy when it comes to our points of view. No fiddle faddling around, just keep your big feet off my point of view. But I don't blame anyone who asks for clarification. "Where did you get that idea?" or, "Who told you?" If I can't or won't make myself clear then it's my fault when I'm misunderstood.

Point of view in fiction is a tool. We use point of view characters to tell our stories and to see and think about our stories. Non point of view characters only get to let us know what they see or think when they open their mouths--or through body-language.

Some stories are told with a single point of view. This has obvious benefits in that it's easy to control a mysterious element, or to hide anything when only one character is revealed. Many books are written in dual or multiple point of view. This increases the potential slip-up factors by however many heads we're in during the process.

Confession time. I'm a curious soul and I want to know what is on this mind or that mind. For me, the heroine and heroine deserve to be "heard" and not just "overheard." Where I go with point of view from there depends on whether I want to be in other heads and believe readers will want to be in those heads, too.

A golden rule of fiction is that the writer doesn't cheat. Or the writer doesn't lie, perhaps. A point of view character does not mislead the reader. This doesn't mean the character can't be complex, sometimes oblique, or unpredictable. We're like that, we characters:)

But it is a foul if we allow a character, in his or her own mind, to deliberately send readers in the wrong direction--unless we telegraph those readers that the character is being sneaky. The only way to do the latter is through the sneaky character thinking they're being sneaky.

This is a topic that could take hours and sooner or later bore everyone to tears. But it is an area that opens up a chance for questioning whose mind we truly want to stroll around and whether there are some we would just as soon only speculate about.

The tenses we use and those we prefer to read is another integral part of storytelling and reading. When I'm older and have more time, we'll "attack" that.

Happy Monday,

Stella

What are your thoughts on point of view?

Who are the must point of view characters for you?

Are there any character types you have no interest in hearing from?