Hi Hamaniacs!
In this installment in my Writing Tips series to help all of us libertarians write better fiction as a way to influence culture, this installment shines a light on “point of view” or POV. This is something that every writer struggles with including the famous ones. The reason is because the writer is essentially every one of his or her characters and it’s easy to “jump” into the heads of every character on the page and get lost into which character’s POV the chapter or scene is in. But for the reader who doesn’t have the intimate creative relationship with the characters, this causes confusion. Here are a few of my top tips to help you keep the POV in your stories focused.
TIP #1
Stick to 1 POV character per chapter and no more than 3 POV characters per book. Switching POVs makes it hard to connect with the character. The reader naturally attempts to put themselves in the shoes of the POV character, and switching POV breaks the emotional bond.
TIP #2
Do NOT have an objective outside narrator. The POV character is your narrator!!!! Therefore, the descriptive language you use to describe a scene should be done from the perspective of the POV character. Here’s an example that will illustrate the point; the same scene with three different characters as the POV narrator.
Example Scene: Dinner at a steakhouse.
Narrator is a neutral observer.
The waiter brought the steak to the table. It was cooked medium rare and served on a silver platter. John, who was seated at the table, opened his eyes wide at the sight of it.
Narrator is POV character John who is a cowboy.
The waiter brought John a steak that smelled of sweet hickory with glistening marbling found only in magnificent steers. His eyes grew wide and his mouth salivated.
Narrator is POV character Tom who is a vegetarian.
The waiter brought Tom a steak that smelled of burnt flesh and looked like it had come from a healthy cow murdered in the prime of its life. His eyes squeezed shut and his mouth gagged on vomit.
Same exact scene but described differently depending on who the POV character is. Your characters are “real” people. They have subjective political and philosophical opinions about the world that colors their view of the world. That should come through in the writing. If your narrator is just some objective third party describing the cold objective facts of the scene, then it lacks emotion, tells the reader nothing about the character and is BORING!
In liberty,
Tyrone the Porcupine Hobo