I love figuring out where my point of view (POV) or viewpoint should be when I’m writing fiction. Who narrates the action? Is it my main character? Or is it a third-person omniscient narrator? How is my story best told?
So, how do I figure that out?
I write a paragraph or two both ways. When I do that, I can see what’s better. Here’s what I mean:
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Josh had ten marbles. He was proud of every one of them because his grandad told him he was a “collector.” That meant he had more than one of something, and he was determined to have 100 of the best marbles in this special tin can he bought at the dollar store. He’d fill it up, and everyone would just love looking at his collection. Grandpa said so.
Josh could tell that Jimmy wasn’t too impressed with the six he had. “Look, Jimmy,” he said. “This one’s blue! Grandpa says it’s ‘cobalt.'”
Jimmy shrugged. “So? It’s blue. It’s just a marble.”
Josh sighed. He closed his box and thought, He’ll be impressed when I get to 100. Nobody has 100 marbles that I know. Then, I’ll show him!”
OK, so that’s first person. We have Josh, whose grandfather got him interested in collecting marbles. But we only know what Jimmy thinks though his actions and what Josh surmises. Here’s where the fun comes in… Let’s write it again in third person and see what happens when we know what Jimmy is thinking, too:
Josh had ten marbles. He was proud of every one of them because his grandad told him he was a “collector.” That meant he had more than one of something, and he was determined to have 100 of the best marbles in this special tin can he bought at the dollar store. He’d fill it up, and everyone would just love looking at his collection. Granpa said so.Jimmy looked into the can and saw the six marbles, but they were juts marbles. Nobody played that game anymore. Bring on some video games, and then, he’d be interested. He never collected anything. Maybe it was because he didn’t have a grandfather anymore. That made Jimmy sad. He just wanted Josh to put the marbles away.
“Look, Jimmy,” Josh said. “This one’s blue! Grandpa says it’s ‘cobalt.'”
Jimmy shrugged. “So? It’s blue. It’s just a marble.” Jeez… Let’s do something fun, already.
Josh sighed. He closed his box and thought, He’ll be impressed when I get to 100. Nobody has 100 marbles that I know. Then, I’ll show him!”
Know what? I don’t really think we need to know what Jimmy’s thinking. We can already tell. We know that he’s a little jealous and a little sad because he doesn’t have a grandfather, but he’s not the main character. It’s not important to our story. This bit might be best with Single POV.
So, I’ll write a while and decide. This is clearly for younger kids, though, ages when what grandpa thinks still matters a whole lot. For that reason alone, single POV would be best.
Try this fun exercise and see what you come up with. In this case, if Jimmy’s backstory mattered, I might have chosen differently. So, think about it. If you decide on the right POV you could have a much better story.
