What is My Favorite Point-of-View to Read and / or Write By Connie Vines #Round Robin Blog, Writing Tips, #Tips for Authors

 My Favorite and My Not-So-Favorite Point-of-View.

Thank you, Skye, for this month's Round Robin Topic.

Omniscient, 3rd person, or 1st Person, What are the advantages and disadvantages?

Reading:

The omniscient POV allows you to enter the heads of multiple characters, but you will act more as an observer than a reporter.

As a child (and even today), I enjoyed reading the Greek myths and Homer (author of the Iliad and the Odyssey)

The Odyssey is uniquely arranged in that the narration is split between a third-person omniscient being and a first-person narrative by Odysseus himself. The omniscient point-of-view is present in excerpts at each chapter's beginning generally.

 In terms of gods, the Greek pantheon consists of 12 deities who were said to reside at Mount Olympus: Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Dionysus, Hephaestus, Hermes, and Poseidon.

Writing:

While I might consider this POV in a Nior-type crime story (short story or novella), I do not believe it would be widely accepted in a contemporary story.

Reading:

First Person POV

In first-person narration, the narrator is a person in the story, telling it from their own point of view. The narration usually utilizes the pronoun I (or we if the narrator speaks as part of a group).

Writing:

I write in the first person when writing Young Adult contemporary and Young Adult historical novels.

I remain in the main character's point of view. At the beginning of each chapter, I may insert information using a quote, historical fact, etc. I also include an Epilogue.

Reading:

3rd Person POV

In the third-person point of view, the author narrates a story about the characters, referring to them by name or using the third-person pronouns "he," "she," and "they." The other points of view in writing are first person and second person.

Writing:

3rd Person POV

My contemporary novels (excluding YA) are written in the third person. While I may change POV (heroine/hero), I strive not to head-hop. 

First and foremost, this mode of storytelling comes most naturally to me when writing a romance. The third-person narrative is as old as time.

Third-person subjective:

From this point of view, you can get into the characters' thoughts and perspectives. It goes beyond narrating the character's thoughts by telling the reader "she thought" or "he wondered." It lets you really be in their head the way first-person POV does.

My excerpts from "Gumbo Ya Ya," An anthology for women who like their romance Cajun Style!

(Opening Teasers from my anthology)

Marrying Off Murphy

Settling into his office chair, Professor Murphy Flynn glanced at the faxed copy of the OP News. "I Want to Get Married!" the headline shouted. He upended his coffee mug when he realized the grainy photograph was of him, sending the liquid perilously close to a six-inch stack of upgraded papers.

He snagged the papers with one hand, using the other to dab at the puddle with his tie. His gaze locked on the name of the submission's editor: Sylvie Dupree. The memories hit him hard and fast, leaving Murphy to feel like he'd taken a direct blow to his solar plexus.

Love Potion No. 9

"Don't shake your finger at me, Simone Basso. I know what I'm doing," Persia Richmond said, holding a pipette to fill a crystal half-ounce atomizer with perfume. The top notes of peach blossoms, bergamot, and mid-notes of gardenia, honey, and tuberose tanalized. Meanwhile, the tuberose, the most carnal of the floral notes and the high-ticket natural essence for her fragrance compound, merged with peony and orange blossom to temper the intoxication properties. The base notes linger, while a hint of something unnamed and mysterious beguiled and skimmed across the narrow processing room, saturating her senses.

A Slice of Scandal

"Hey, now, 'dis key lime pie's like de one I serve at my restaurant. Simple to make and good to eat! Key limes perk up de mouth and makes you happy."

Producer/Director Julia Kincade focused on her monitor and adjusted her headset's mic. "Camera One, tighten that headshot." She watched as the camera feathered over the chef to capture the best angle. The camera should have loved Franklin. His height was average, his black hair was short and curly, and his skin took on a polished bronze color under the harsh camera lights, but the camera didn't like Franklin.

1-800-FORTUNE

The moon was full and huge in the sky, a brilliant iridescent orb that stared down at the earth. Enza allowed the energy to feather over her as she removed the silk cloth protecting her Tarot cards.

The tarot deck has seventy-eight cards, four suits of fourteen cards each, Swords, Cups, Wands, and Pentacles, and twenty-two cards called the major arcane—the big mysteries.

Enza's mother told her mother told her she would learn to associate cards with people. She knew this was true. Because through her travels she had met them all...

I hope you've enjoyed this month's post 😀. 

Please click on the links to each member's blog. 

(I'll be doing the same in a few minutes!)

Amazon and Barnes and Noble. also available at your favorite online vendor. 

Happy Reading, 

XOXO

Connie

Bob Rich - https://wp.me/p3Xihq-3aE

Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/

Diane Bator https://escapewithawriter.wordpress.com/

Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog

Victoria Chatham http://www.victoriachatham.com

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea

CHOOSING A POINT OF VIEW BY RITA KARNOPP

Every writer must face the question of which point of view they want to use in their novel.  First person?  Second person?  Third person?

Let’s be honest, there are several advantages and disadvantages to each.  Let’s take a look at all three and see what you think.

First Person ~ Many writers believe this is the most difficult point-of-view to write.  The reader only gets to see what’s happening through the eyes, mind, and feelings of a single character.  It’s the; I, me, my, mine, we, and us speaker.

“I confess I should have kissed him when he leaned into me.”

So what are the advantages of First Person point-of-view?

·         It draws the reader in – at a more personal level.  They relate to ‘I.’

·         They aren’t worried about what anyone else is thinking – a single point-of-view is easier to deal with.

·         It’s an easy avenue for internal voice.

·         The sneaky part is – you could surprise your reader - who’s to say the POV character is reliable?

So what are the disadvantages of First Person point-of-view?

·         It’s limited to what the first person character can see, hear, feel, touch, smell, and think.

·         You don’t get that character break because you can’t get into the minds of other characters.

·         The narrator must limit observations only from the first person POV.

Second Person ~ This is the most difficult to write because it’s the story from the narrator’s point-of-view.  It’s even the least favorite of POVs for both the reader and writer.

You wanted to make your move, but she froze when you moved in close.  You jumped back as though you’d been burned.

So the advantages of Second Person point-of-view?

·         It’s difficult to find any advantages- maybe the chance to be quirky or a stab at being different.

So the disdvantages of Second Person point-of-view?

·         It’s difficult to read and quickly lacks that personal appeal that pulls a reader in.

·         It’s rarely – if almost never – successful.

Third Person ~ Now we’re talking about the most common of viewpoints - the he, she, they, them, and it narrator.  It provides endless possibilities for limiting omniscience  knowledge, awareness, insight, and even shrewdness.  The narrator and reader are privy to telling the story.

Are you aware there’s a third person unlimited omniscient point-of-view?  I wasn’t either until I started researching information for this blog.  Yep.  This POV allows the author to enter the mind of any character and shift readers into any situation or setting.

     He wanted to kiss her, yet feared she’d reject him.  Would she think him disrespectful?

     She couldn’t keep her eyes off his full lips.  Why didn’t he take advantage of their isolation and make his move?

I’m not a fan of this style – it reeks of head-hopping to me.

The advantages of Second Person point-of-view?

·         Contrasting viewpoints will enhance and heighten your novel.

·         Shifting from one character’s POV to another gives you a breather.

·         This allows you several conflicting viewpoints and gives you the opportunity to expand the story plot.

The disadvantages of Second Person point-of-view?

·         Head-hopping can occur if you’re not distinct with every character’s POV.

·         Too much POV switching can diffuse the flow of the story. 

·         It’s easy to include too much narrative, instead of letting your characters unravel the story.

Third person limited omniscient point-of-view?  The author enters the mind of just a few characters, usually one per chapter or scene. 

I’m extremely fond of this choice, since chapter breaks provide a natural place for point-of-view switching.

Advantages of this POV?

·         It has all the advantages of third person unlimited POV.

·         You can focus on major characters’ thoughts.

Disadvantages of this POV?

·         I can’t think of any.

POINT OF VIEW by Rita Karnopp

Point of View – A pet peeve of mine – is when someone changes the point-of-view within a story.  Any description of a character, or place, or event takes on a particular perspective or point-of-view (POV)  POV may be omniscient, objective, first-person, or third-person.  Let’s look at POV and see how it works. Types of Point of View Objective Point of View With the objective point of view, the writer tells what happens without stating more than can be inferred from the story's action and dialogue. The narrator never discloses anything about what the characters think or feel, remaining a detached observer. Third Person Point of View Here the narrator does not participate in the action of the story as one of the characters, but lets us know exactly how the characters feel. We learn about the characters through this outside voice. First Person Point of View In the first person point of view, the narrator does participate in the action of the story. When reading stories in the first person, we need to realize that what the narrator is recounting might not be the objective truth. We should question the trustworthiness of the accounting. Omniscient and Limited Omniscient Points of View A narrator who knows everything about all the characters is all knowing, or omniscient. A narrator whose knowledge is limited to one character, either major or minor, has a limited omniscient point of view. As you read a piece of fiction think about these things: How does the point of view affect your responses to the characters? How is your response influenced by how much the narrator knows and how objective he or she is? First person narrators are not always trustworthy. It’s up to you to determine what is the truth and what is not. The following is one of the best POV diamgrams I’ve come across . . . From the Grossmont College, English 126: Creative Writing, Instructor: K. Sherlock
POINT OF VIEW When the story is told from a consistent perspective, that perspective is called a point of view ("p. o. v." for short). Narrative point of view derives its lexicon from the number and person of its pronouns: first person; second person; third person. Additionally, pronouns are characterized as singular or plural.
			1ST PERSON	2ND PERSON			3RD PERSON
SINGULAR			I, me, my, mine, myself	you; your; yours; yourself			he, she, it; his, her(s), its; him, her, it; himself, herself, itself
PLURAL			we, us, our, ours, ourselves	you; your; yours; yourselves			they; them; their(s); themselves
Rarely in narration is the point of view from the reader(s) (i.e., 2nd person), and even more rare is an attempt to write narration from a plural point of view. As a beginning writer, you are advised not to attempt these.
OMNISCIENCE A consistent point of view limits the range and amount of knowledge the narrator can invoke to tell the story. This is called omniscience. Depending on the narrator's relationship to the story and its characters, the degree of the narrator's intelligence may be classified as either omniscient, objective, subjective, or episodically limited.
OMNISCIENT		The narrator sees and knows all, and can describe as well as analyze the thoughts and emotions of any character. Such a narrator is a god, and has control over the chronology of the story, moving backward or forward in time to present back-story or to inform the reader of future outcomes.
OBJECTIVE		The narrator is an observer, a "fly on the wall," but cannot enter into the minds of the other characters except in a speculative way. Such a narrator is trapped by the chronology and immediacy of the story, like a reporter "on the scene" of an event transpiring.
SUBJECTIVE		A narrator of a subjective point of view (also known as "limited omniscience") knows everything about a single character only, and sees the story through the eyes of that character.
EPISODICALLY LIMITED		This narrative point of view is a hybridized version of omniscient and subjective p. o. v. The narrator is omniscient from a subjective perspective, meaning that the omniscient narrator has the power to jump from one subjective viewpoint to the next--from one character to the next--and experience the same story in different narrative episodes. (This method is used more commonly in novels than in short stories.)
There are advantages and logistical challenges to each of these kinds of intelligence. And some are, obviously, more appropriate to certain personal pronouns than others. First person narrators, for example, are by default considered subjective, and third person narrators quite often gravitate toward an omniscient or episodically limited viewpoint so as to draw closer to the feelings and internal landscapes of the characters. The most important aspect of using controlled narrative points of view is consistency. Even when the point of view switches episodically, the writer must do so with full awareness of how, when and why. Since narrators are like spirit-guides to the story, when the point of view is unstable and inconsistent, readers feel rudderless and lost in the story's emotional landscape.
The following chart presents the basic principles of the most common types of narrative point of view, as well as some comments on the advantages and disadvantages of each.
	FIRST PERSON					THIRD PERSON
OMNISCIENT	The storyteller is, both, a central ego in the story and has godlike abilities to move in and out of time, place, and character consciousness. Advantages: useful when trying to capture the perspective of fantastical characters, such as gods and ghosts. Disadvantages: the reader tires of its egotism and eventually distrusts the "objective" observations of the narrator.				The storyteller is a disconnected, disembodied voice--a floating consciousness that approximates the reader's own consciousness Advantages: allows tremendous flexibility for the writer to move through complex plots and to present comparative viewpoints; easiest to use when non-human characters are involved. Disadvantages: demands scrupulous management of verb tenses; can be hard to maintain consistently without eventually becoming somewhat impersonal to the reader; its greatest drawback is that, with so much free rein over the story and its characters, it can make for a story in want of more focus.
OBJECTIVE	The storyteller is like a reporter who is in the story, but not of the story: an invisible eyeball, self-aware but removed from the events being described. Advantages: creates a context of truth and accuracy, and puts the reader in the position of a story investigator rather than a story character. Disadvantages: can preclude the narrator from some of the more imaginative aspects of storytelling, and can be ultimately too impersonal, especially when the narrator is forced to be as objective about herself as she is about other characters.				The objective storytelling voice is best suited to third-person, since the removal of ego assures the removal of bias from the storytelling. The storyteller relays the facts as they are and does not attempt to act upon them or extrapolate on their significance. Advantages: assures a trustworthy narrator, which is especially useful when trying to create intrigue or mystery; allows the writer to focus on minute details of special interest that will speak for themselves. Disadvantages: prevents the narrator (not the reader) from creating a more subjective interpretation of the facts, which can result in a rather dispassionate and disconnected feeling in the story.
SUBJECTIVE	This is the most practical and, for most writers as well as readers, the most enjoyable way to convey a first-person point of view. The subjective experiences of the "I" are part of the storytelling, as the reader meanwhile discovers how much to trust the subjective viewpoint. Advantages: permits the storyteller to be an active part of the story, even as its protagonist; gives the reader a strong, complex, well-developed perspective with which to identify; oftentimes, it lets the writer be the narrator vicariously. Disadvantages: can create a "cage" from which the reader cannot escape in order to explore other angles and viewpoints; places responsibility on the writer to keep the internal landscape of the storyteller as interesting and compelling as the external landscape of the story, itself.				As with the first-person, subjectivity (or, limited omniscience) in the third-person narrator allows the reader to become one of the characters and compare that character's perspective with his or her own. The main difference, however, is that the third-person narrator is a "bridge" between the reader and the character. Advantages: the writer can manipulate and bias the reader in ways useful and interesting to the storytelling without concern for how the narrator, itself, will be judged or perceived. Disadvantages: the storyteller is duty-bound to remain true to the chronology of events and to maintain just the one character viewpoint during times when more flexible omniscience would permit the story to be told more completely or more quickly.
EPISODICALLY LIMITED	Except for fantasy, sci-fi and horror genres, in which the "I" can conceivably occupy the bodies of other characters, this method is not used with the first-person p. o. v.				The narrative technique is tailor made for third-person narration, in which the disembodied narrator slips in and out of the viewpoints of different characters. Preferable for longer stories and novels, where the writer can take her time to develop multiple viewpoints. Advantages: allows the writer a loophole around the restrictions of omniscient and objective storytelling; can create interesting behind-the-scenes parallels and contrasts between characters; can construct a version of the truth by way of building a consensus among different subjective viewpoints. Disadvantages: can be difficult for the writer to maintain in a balanced and useful way; can create confusion for readers and prevent them from identifying with one character as the main character or protagonist; demands scrupulous attention to transitions; should be used in conjunction with episodic shifts (in plot, setting, or chronological sequencing).