Ten Reflections About Point of View and Voice

1.       You’re talking to yourself. Narrators do this in books, therefore if you’re talking to yourself, you’re the narrator.

2.       If you appear to be the only one talking to yourself, that must mean the story is about you. If the drooling guy on the corner is talking to himself, too, the story must also be about him. First person multiple means you share.

3.       You should never write in second person. Or be hypocritical.

4.       Maybe you should ponder not using some words that could be kind of passive. Where in all of that kind of vagueness is the character who is now hard to find because of the sort of ambiguity?

5.       When a writer uses third person limited, s/he will often give us one (and only one) character’s thoughts. “Don’t give us two,” the author thought, as Kristen simultaneously thought she agreed.

6.       Don’t refer to yourself in the third person. It’s weird.

7.       When thou choosest the omniscience of person the third, one needn’t sound antique. Exemplifying thy choice stands the Bible and literature of the century of our Lord 19^th, however thy word choice needn’t likewise exemplify.

8.       The writer SHOULD pick a character we LIKE to tell the STORY. The reader doesn’t WANT a character that gets on your NERVES –like a narrator with a NERVOUS TWITCH or a narrator who SHOUTS ALL the TIME!

9.       um, readers also don’t like, um, really boring narrators who are, um, meek and normal who, um, end up being super boring and, um, say the same stuff all the time, um, and don’t really do anything.

10.   Ultimately, there needs to be a reason why your character is in the story and why you chose that particular point of view. For an example of a point of view that works for only that perfect kind of story, check out “Orientation” by Daniel Orozco, or click here:
http://nomrad.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/orientation.pdf