Point of view is all a matter of perspective. Are these his feet or my feet?
Is this her tummy, or my tummy. Okay. No contest. I vote for MY tummy.
When I first started writing, I was told never to write for an editor in first person. Why? No one seemed to know for sure. The most I could figure out is that editors seemed to think that two main characters couldn’t be fleshed out emotionally if we only “saw” into one of their heads. I was too nervous to speak up then, but now? I say bulltwackle.
I believe that once a writer moves beyond describing how a character feels happy (sad, greedy, shrewd), she/he can then learn how one character discerns happiness (sadness, greediness, shrewdness) in another.
We do it all the time in real life. Rarely does a person walk up and say, “Guess what! I’m happy!!” But looking at someone’s smile, hearing laughter, seeing how they bounce on their toes, noticing the glow in their eyes—it all tells us. First person can portray that same thing.
In an informal writing class that used writing prompts, several of us struggled. After a few minutes, the teacher suggested we write the same scene in first person. It was so much easier! And more emotional, too. I was surprised. The exercise taught me that when a scene gives trouble, try writing it in first person and then switch it back to third. Just be sure to edit well! There’s nothing worse than lots of “she saids,” “he saids,” and then an “I said” thrown in.
I read a lot of books now written in first person so editors must not hate it so much anymore, huh? 😉 That’s a good thing because it means that we can choose which POV style suits us best. Choice is always a good thing.
Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.
Dee
Only a Good Man Will Do: Seriously ambitious man seeks woman to encourage his goals, support his (hopeful) position as Headmaster of Westover Academy, and be purer than Caesar’s wife. Good luck with that!
Naval Maneuvers: When a woman requires an earth-shattering crush of pleasure to carry her away, she can’t do better than to call on the US Navy. Sorry, Marines!
to be published because no editor wanted first person point of view. Now of course, that’s not the case—lots of erotic romances are in first person, and a good many other genre books are, too. Times change, opinions change.
us to stretch since another character’s emotions have to be revealed through the POV of the focus character. That’s not always easy.