If you've written a book of fiction and want your readers to keep reading, one slip of point of view hurts
a story, but several slips are fatal. How to Write Point of View is now on audible, read by Chelsea Carpenter.
Point
of view, the position of the narrator in relation to the story, is at the heart
of romance fiction. Aspire to write effective POV, and inspiration for your
romance novel will follow.
You will succeed with my "camera on the head"
technique! Put an imaginary video camera on top of your POV
character’s head and write from his or her perspective. You, the author, will unfold the story by
filtering events through "the eyes" of a character. A reader wants to
connect with the character with the most to lose in a scene. The character's
reactions are revealed. A character can observe an event and react to it. As the character's feelings are disclosed to
the reader, the author provides an emotional identification. As a writer, you do not want to switch
viewpoints midstream within a scene. Some authors keep a consistent viewpoint
within an entire chapter. In any case,
within a scene or even a chapter, the viewpoint character exposes his or her
soul so that the reader is immersed in the emotional drama of the moment. The character reacts internally. This can include reacting to another
character's joy, grief, anger, giving the reader a jolt. Keep the POV consistent by listening to your characters. Turn off all the
other voices and listen only to them. If they tell you they want to do
something insane, put that on the page. If they tell you they want to say
something outrageous, put that on the page. Are you writing a romance? If they
tell you they would rather kiss chastely than make love athletically on the
floor, give them that chaste kiss. If they tell you a chaste kiss isn’t nearly
enough, then you’d better get them down on that floor, and you can keep the
video camera in place. What do they see? We'll go from there.
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