Let's Write. (Writing Tips and Tricks)

Point of view

Point of view.

We all know what point of view (POV) is, but we often use the same one everytime we write. For example, I always use the third person limited omniscient. Why? Because I like it and that's mostly how my creativity wants to write. 
But changing your point of view changes a lot of things, it changes how you can show, explain and tell things, give you different types of "vibes" for your story and also can give you a bigger range of creative possibility.

So what are the types of point of view, what are they and what they can bring? (don't worry, I just picked those more common, because there's a lot of POV) Here you go, my friend. 

First person (use of "I"):  This point of view can give you access to the main character's feelings and thought, what she or he sees and gives an intimate narrative making what you write sincere and kind of a direct monologue between the character and the reader (because as much as we would like to talk to characters as readers, we can't answer what is said by the main character to make it a dialogue). It's essentially a window on the main character's essence (His/her reactions, fears, dreams, needs, wants. His/her moods and what kind of person he/she is.)

Witness (Someone on the sidelines, explaining what he/she sees and knows): This point of view isn't used much in novels, most often it's used for biography, plays, documentaries. It's a point of view that gives you the chance to say a lot of description to compensate for the fact that the POV isn't exactly in the heart of the action. It's less of a personal writing, more of a investigating writing, lots of details, lots of hypothesis and questions.

Third person limited (use of "she" and "he"  but inside one's head): This point of view is used a lot (and it's my favorite I think) in fiction. It not only does it gives the reader the main character's thought and feeling like the First person POV, but it's an outside point of view, meaning it gives the writer the chance to write a clearer image of things outside of the main character's head. Like the surroundings (what people are doing even if the main character doesn't see or notice it), what the main character looks like (facial expression, ticks they might have, habits they might have that they don't know about...) and also a much better chance to explain action scenes because this point of view is like an outside camera with a second camera inside the main character's head that record everything too. Pretty cool, huh?

Third person Omniscient (use of "she" and "he" and inside everyone's head): This point of view is very much like the third person limited, except, there's no limitation, some people call it the God point of view. The narrator is in everyone's head and it gives the writer almost every right to everyone's fears, dreams, thoughts, memories and so much more. Like the last POV we just covered, it's great for a description of surroundings, what characters look like and lots of advantages to writing action scenes but this one offers everyone's mind in bonus. 

Third person editorial omniscient (Use "she" and "she", only what is heard or seen is told): This one is a thing, yeah, you might not know this one, but it's used in script writing and plays mostly. Basically, it's a point of view where your reader is the audience and sees and hear what is going on, there are no other details. It's less of a personal POV, but it's a good option for those who love to write mysteries and/or description, plus it's something different!

Let's say you write a scene from the Third point of view. You write from the POV of a mother looking her baby boy exploring a garden; you write about how his eyes open and take in the view, now his hands grab the grass and the surrounding and how he laughs. But what if you were to write that same scene, but in the first person point of view, as the baby. Yeah, that changes a lot of things; you can write the internal voice of the baby, thoughts, reactions, feelings, the cold feeling of the grass on his hands and legs and first, the feeling of the soft grass on his hands, the surprise when he sees an ant and so much more.

Ok now, let's say you're writing in the First point of view, a scene where a teenage girl is very anxiously presenting a project in class. You write about how "my hands are sweaty" and how "I keep stuttering." and how much "I'm doing this so bad". And now, write that same scene, still in the First point of view but not as the girl but as someone else in the class who's watching the girl doing her oral presentation; you can write about how the girl moves, if she does look anxious, what she looks like, what the main character thinks of the girls or the subject she's talking about, how the gir's voice is and sound, and changing who's point of view you're writing cna also change the "vibe" the story has because maybe the girl thinks she's doing horribly but in fact it's really good. You could also change point of view and go to Witness point of view, then again, that changes the narrative and what can be said about that scene.

Sometimes, when you can't get any inspiration as of what to write, you need to try to go out of your comfort zone because sometimes going out there, to that creative place you've never or hardly been to opens doors of ideas.  

How I tried changing point of view was to take a short story I wrote, I printed it and highlighted all the important things in the story (plot line, character's description, and such things) and I re-wrote that story, but with another point of view. 

It was hard at first,  remember writing 100 words in the First person POV, went to the bathroom and came back, wrote 600 more words. I had a doubt about a detail so I scrolled up to look for it and realized I was writing in third person POV and I had to re-write that. But once I was in the head of my main character, I was in, and ideas about how to say and describe things with words kept coming. 

I invite you to do the same; take something short you've written a few months ago (the older the better, so that you can get a fresh perspective on the story, change details or even the point of the story) and re-write it with a point of view you're not used to writing in. 

Until next time,
Write on my friend.
-♥- Ellie - ♥-