The Place For My Writers Notes

original posting: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 09:29:48 EST

[just some thoughts looking for a peaceful discussion...join me?]

POV. You hear the letters bandied around, and there are exercises and whatnot about it. But...why bother?

Point of View.

I think I'd break down the main flavors as: third person (Omniscient, limited omniscient) or first person.

The preferred, or default, usually is third person, limited omniscient.

Third person (omniscient or limited omniscient) uses "he", "she", "they". The story (or whatever) is told from _outside_ the actors, as if one were a god/dess hovering outside the action (or perhaps just a camera floating over their shoulder).

One of the critical questions for third person is whether the narrator "knows everything" (omniscient) or the narrator is a walking camera (limited omniscient).

A related question is whether or not the narrator has access to thoughts or not.

And while we're considering the narrator, it is also important whether the narrator is a relatively neutral POV (sort of the ideal newsperson?) or has their own biases and faults. Since the third person POV ideally does not intrude much on the action, it may seem as if the narrator would normally be neutral--but it is something to consider occasionally.

First person (I, me, myself) is often assumed to be easier. After all, I know how to talk as myself, so telling a story as if I were the protagonist must be easy.

I think first person may be harder. It is difficult to remember to stay inside the one person selected as the protagonist. It is difficult to come up with good ways or reasons for the protagonist to somehow know everything (without helpful cohorts whispering secrets to them). It also is difficult to show the reader what the "I" knows, without massive monologues, ranting into mirrors, and such devices.

Tense, of course, falls into past or present (with the classic writer preferring the past tense, and modern experimentalists playing with present tense).

One could imagine a future tense story...but it would be difficult. Perhaps one of the best uses I can think of for future tense would be a story told from the POV of a dying person--with the third person future tense for the hoped for future contrasted to a few lines of present tense first person as the person dies at the end of the piece.

That's more than enough from me.

How do you decide what POV to use? When do you use different ones, and why? Do you ever write something from one POV, then redo it using another?

How do you decide what tense to write in? When would you use present tense, or past tense?

Oh, and poetically inclined folks? I realize it may not be obvious, but I think the question of POV and tense are as applicable to poetry as well as narrative. What kinds of POV does the poet use? What does tense do for (or against) you in writing your poetry?