How To Fanfiction (Tips for new writers)

Tip 11: How to handle POV

Tip 11: Point of view

As a writer you are most familiar with your own characters, so switching pov's around comes natural to oneself.

It also keeps the story interesting and playful and familiarizes the readers with every quirk and thought of all of your main characters.

But switching around too much puts the story at danger of being confusing to the reader, so here's a couple of things to look out for:

Why do I switch?

Most of my own stories are primarily written from the point of view of two different characters, since most of them are love stories - a genre that most fan fiction writers will be familiar with.

The first thing I look out for is usually from whom's perspective the scene would be more interesting.

For instance, I wrote a scene where the mother of the female lead came to visit, while the male lead, who had not yet gotten to know the mother, was with the female lead. So, I wrote it from the male lead's point of view, since he didn't know the mother yet. That way the reader could get to know the mother together with the male lead and through said male lead's eyes.

Another example could be a kissing scene; here you have to think about whose point of view would be the most interesting. If we take my example from earlier, ask yourself - Is it the male lead's feelings about the girl or the female lead's feelings about the guy, that interest the reader most?

When do I switch?

In most cases you don't switch in the middle of a scene, unless you want to heavily emphasize the thoughts of a certain character when, lets say, the mood of the scene switches. For instance, sometimes there's a plot twist, a big reveal of some sorts and the feelings of another character become really relevant - in that case it would be appropriate to switch the point of view.

But usually you only switch point of view when there's a change of scene/scenery/situation/time. (but keep in mind that there doesn't have to be a point of view change with every scene change!)

Personally I never switch more than 2 times unless it's a special situation, because I feel otherwise the chapter will get confusing or too fast-paced. But that really depends on your writing style.

How do I switch?

A last thing would be how to indicate that the point of view changed, so that it doesn't confuse the reader.

Many Wattpad writers do that by writing the infamous [character name] POV but I personally don't like that since I feel like it puts distance between me (the reader) and the story.

- again, this is one of those things I'm guilty of having done myself, but this is all part of a learning process and I don't want to tell you it's false at all! Rather I want to give you options on what else to do.

You can indicate a pov switch by separating paragraphs with something like ___ or *** or you can simply put the name of the character at the beginning of each new point of view.

That way, as the story progresses the reader will know to prepare for a new perspective as soon as they see a *** after a certain paragraph.

I usually indicate which character's point of view it is by starting the new pov with something like "Bobby didn't know how to feel..." - I mention the character by name to make sure it's clear from the start.

Here it is important to establish a tone for each character's perspective. Each of your character's will have different personalities, so make sure to emphasize those differing personalities in your writing style.

For example, let's say you're writing a good old opposites attract romance story - one character is rather rude and brash and one is an absolute angel. Those personality traits will become evident in their point of views. So, as soon as the reader sees a bunch of cuss words and disrespectful commenting on e.g other character's behavior they will understand "ah yes it's that character" even without a name having been written.

To sum up my points: A pov switch occurs because a certain character's thoughts and feelings matter the most. It usually occurs with a change of scene, but not necessarily every change of scene. When switching a pov, make sure to indicate through tone and paragraph separation whose perspective the reader is seeing now.