I stopped writing my book because I couldn’t tell what point of view (POV) it should be in. I put my pen down—I didn’t want to move forward until the POV was decided.
So I didn’t write for a month, and when I picked up my pen again, I realized it wasn’t my decision. It was my characters’.
Picking a POV isn’t always about making a conscious decision based on what you think is best for the book. It has to be about what actually works for the book when you’re writing it. Sure, you can lay out the definitions of every type of POV out there and then try to apply your story to each one to see what logically sticks. But the point is that your characters will end up making one POV really easy for you and the other ones very difficult.
And if you think you’re the only one facing this conundrum, just know that as the owner of an editing business, I’ve had authors submit their manuscripts to me with the caveat that they still didn’t know what POV their book should be in—even though it was finished! It’s not uncommon.
So how do you decide when all is said and done (literally)?
You don’t. Let it decide for itself.
When you’re writing, allow yourself to go in and out of any POV you want. Sounds crazy, right? Isn’t that going to make a huge mess? It might, but (1) it’s pretty easy to clean up and (2) you’ll find at some point that a particular POV is the one you’re writing the most and the one you’re most comfortable with; it will happen naturally.
As for me, my personal preference is third-person omniscient, although third-person limited is a close second. Most important, though, is getting into deep POV, a challenging but extraordinarily rewarding task. Let’s dig into it.
Why third-person POV?
There are many cases in which a different POV is more appropriate, but I have found that seeing various characters’ perspectives creates a well-rounded experience that is more satisfying for the reader. Seeing the misunderstandings, interpretations, and thought processes of multiple important characters can help greatly with faceted character development, high suspense, and eliminating easy-to-predict endings—and those characters whose thoughts the reader can’t see have just as much impact for the very reason of not revealing too much of them.
How much should the POV show?
The third-person omniscient strategy I just mentioned is one I used in my most recent release, Locke and Keye, in which all main characters’ thoughts are accessible (third-person omniscient), except the most important character of them all. This creates suspense around what that main character’s motives are, which of the other characters’ understandings of him are correct and which aren’t, and it makes him a wild card.
If you are looking to focus on one character, though, then third-person limited can achieve a movie-style feel with a great opportunity to dig deep into the psychology, life, and experiences of the chosen main character. Be careful not to stray into other characters’ thoughts and feelings—it’s all too easy to share things the main character couldn’t possibly know.
How do I achieve Deep POV?
This is an amazing achievement that should not be taken lightly. It doesn’t happen automatically, but the work it requires is very much worth the time and effort. Deep POV is when the character’s voice is so strong that the author is nowhere to be seen, even in the narration. Everything is 100% in the character’s voice, no exceptions, no breaks.
I find it’s easier to achieve Deep POV in third-person limited because as an author, I’m focused on only one character in depth. Getting into one character’s mind and staying in it lightens the difficulty level significantly, though Deep POV is never actually easy. Heavily engaging, this technique requires the author to think entirely from the character’s POV and realize that:
- The character only knows so much about others around them and about the world itself.
- The character has their own personality that has to be consistent and emphasized throughout the book.
- The character’s interpretation of events and people must be tainted by their own past and experiences, so getting a clear vision of all of that is mandatory.
- The character’s speech pattern has to be unique, and their line of thought and psychology has to be consistent throughout the narration.
- Any explanations must be believably described from the character’s POV in a way they would truly think, not because the authors want to explain or describe something.
This is far from impossible to do from third-person omniscient, but seeing this in depth from multiple POVs is a difficult task. Getting into character with utterly different characters in front of you who have totally different backgrounds is a feat in and of itself since you have to do the same analysis as mentioned above with all main characters.
The easiest POV for Deep POV is first-person since the “I”/”me” POV is the only one that should have thoughts and feelings the reader can directly know about, meaning it’s easier to catch any errors in jumping POVs.
As its name suggests, Deep POV gets readers deeply involved in your characters and makes them hard to forget. It brings them to life in a way that envelops the whole book, allowing readers to recall feelings associated with the book far more vividly. I hope these tips and ideas have helped clarify the process of choosing a POV as well as the complexities of Deep POV and how to achieve it.
Suggested reading for excellent Deep POV:
- Room by Emma Donoghue
- The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
- We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Another great resource for more details:
http://www.well-storied.com/blog/how-to-write-in-deep-pov
Christie Stratos is an award-winning writer who holds a degree in English Literature. She is the author of Anatomy of a Darkened Heart and Locke and Keye, the first two books in the Dark Victoriana Collection. Christie has had short stories and poetry published in Ginosko Literary Journal, Andromedae Review, 99Fiction, and various anthologies. An avid reader of all genres and world literature, Christie reads everything from bestsellers to classics to indies.About
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About Anatomy of a Darkened Heart 
Abigail Delilah is the firstborn of three Whitestone children – and she is the most regretted.
But is it really her fault?
She can’t help that the revelation of Father’s wretched secret coincides with her birth. She can’t help the fear she feels during Mother’s psychological – and physical – assaults. As the shadows grow stronger over her soul and the noose of pain tightens around her neck, Abigail will find out which is stronger: her family’s wicked assumptions about her or her true self.