question about POV

bkwriter · Jul 20, 2009

I didn't know where to place this. It is said your pov Charcter must be the one that hurts the most. But what if you've never used that charcter as a pov anywhere throu out the whole novel. Is it right just to giver her one scene to herself because she would be the most crushed?

thanks

backslashbaby · Jul 21, 2009

IMHO, you'd need to have her in there more than a couple of times first. One reason is that the reader takes a little time to get into a new POV. And it takes a little while to actually empathize with a new mindset.

Viewing someone who is crushed [like through your MC's eyes] can be very effective, I think. I think of Stingo watching Sophie in Sophie's Choice, for instance.

Good luck

Toothpaste · Jul 21, 2009

I think you are misunderstanding the "rule" to the POV. It isn't that depending on each scene, the POV must be told from the person who hurts the most, but that your choice of main character and hence POV is typically the person who goes through the most in the story, who has the greatest story arc. You don't have to suddenly change POVs in a scene just because it is your main character's best friend who's heart is broken and not your main character's. It can be just as interesting showing the perspective of your main character as he watches his friend break down.

And remember "rules" in writing are more like "guidelines", nothing is written in stone.

EFCollins · Jul 21, 2009

Except the one that says "Thou shalt write". That one is written in stone. It's the eleventh commandment.

(That is just a joke, just so you know)

I'm gonna echo Toothpaste here and say you're missing the point of the rule. Omni is fine, but you don't want to hop heads so much that the story is lost because the reader can't keep up. Your PoV character should be the one who suffers the most in the book, not a scene.

blacbird · Jul 21, 2009

EFCollins said:
Your PoV character should be the one who suffers the most in the book, not a scene.

Not necessarily. A number of famous books use a POV character as an observer to tell the story of someone else, the latter character being the focus of the story. The Great Gatsby, All the King's Men, several of Joseph Conrad's best come to mind.

caw

bkwriter · Jul 21, 2009

Thanks for the advise. I think I understand now. What I'm doing is I have four main characters. Lisa, Rachel, Paul and Chris and switch between scenes. Chris and this woman Diana who he is going to break up with, she would be hurt the most but I still should do pov of Chris since I've never done Diana pov?

maestrowork · Jul 21, 2009

bkwriter said:
I didn't know where to place this. It is said your pov Charcter must be the one that hurts the most. But what if you've never used that charcter as a pov anywhere throu out the whole novel. Is it right just to giver her one scene to herself because she would be the most crushed?

thanks

?

I think you misunderstand.

The POV character is the one the story is about; and since the story is about him or her, the character must go through the most trial and tribulation because that's what drama is about. But during any particular scenes, the character that gets hurt more could be someone else, but it's not his or her story.

So the basic question is: who is the story about?

Darzian · Jul 21, 2009

What Maestro and Toothpaste said.

raburrell · Jul 21, 2009

^ Not necessarily. A first person narrator could quite easily be telling a story about someone else...

backslashbaby · Jul 21, 2009

I think what the OP is referring to is the advice for choosing which POV character to use in a scene if you are using more than one POV character and they are in a scene together. I'm sure I've heard folks say to use the one with the most to lose, the most suffering, etc.

Since Diana is not already a POV character, I'd either write her in more earlier or go with Chris.

Darzian · Jul 21, 2009

backslashbaby said:
I think what the OP is referring to is the advice for choosing which POV character to use in a scene if you are using more than one POV character and they are in a scene together. I'm sure I've heard folks say to use the one with the most to lose, the most suffering, etc.
.

Ah, in that case it is better to choose a character who undergoes a lot in the scene. Also, sometimes it's necessary to show the 'inside of the head' of a character other than the MC. Such situation can be used for that.

bkwriter · Jul 22, 2009

I think I will go with Chris. The reader will know how she is feeling I hope. I might post it in SYW after I'm done. Thanks again for the advice.

Cassidy · Jul 22, 2009

bkwriter said:
I think I will go with Chris. The reader will know how she is feeling I hope. I might post it in SYW after I'm done. Thanks again for the advice.

Makes sense. And if we know Chris well and care about him, we'll be interested in his reactions to how badly Diana is feeling... probably more interested in that than Diana's own feelings if that makes sense.

question about POV

bkwriter

backslashbaby

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Toothpaste

THE RECKLESS RESCUE is out now!

EFCollins

World Class Rambler

blacbird

bkwriter

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

Darzian

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raburrell

Treguna Makoidees Trecorum SadisDee

backslashbaby

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Darzian

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bkwriter

Cassidy

writing for kids and teens

question about POV

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THE RECKLESS RESCUE is out now!

World Class Rambler

Fear the Death Ray

To-to-to-ron-to

Treguna Makoidees Trecorum SadisDee

~~~~*~~~~

To-to-to-ron-to

writing for kids and teens

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