Friday Fun-day Writing Prompt: A New Perspective

OK, it’s technically Saturday now, but better late than never, right? Considering everything I’ve been bogged down with lately, I’m just glad to have a writing prompt to bring you. This writing prompt follows up on a topic I discussed earlier this week: perspective.

In the aforementioned post, I talked about choosing a POV. For this exercise, I want to focus mainly on POV still but am going to expand it a little to include perspective overall. (A quick note on POV vs. perspective: POV is the narrative voice, as in first-person, second-person, or third-person narration with many subcategories in between; perspective is more about which character specifically we see the story through, whether that’s in first person or in third person limited.)

Today’s exercise is aimed at helping you choose a POV/perspective for a current work-in-progress. It involves a fair amount of rewriting, but it’s worth it to discover how you should tell your story.

As usual, the prompt itself is simple. Take the first few pages of your latest WIP–five, eight, ten, whatever you think you need to get a good feel for your work–and entirely rewrite it in a new POV or perspective. So, if you’re currently using first person, try third person limited, and vice versa. If you’re currently telling the story through your hero’s eyes, try rewriting it from his/her best friend’s perspective. If you’re really daring, you can try second person or third person omniscient. (The latter is a true beast. I’ve tried it before, and it is not my cup of tea.)

Try to not just switch out “I” for “he/she” or vice versa. Instead, really consider how changing the POV will change the story and your writing. What would these events look through the eyes of a bystander rather than your protagonist’s, or even through another main character’s view? How close should readers get to your characters’ minds if you’re using third person? How would another character tell the story differently from your hero? The possibilities are endless, and this change isn’t as simple as the prompt makes it seem.

Once you’ve finished, read both this new version and the original. Which do you like better? Depending on how you react, you’ll learn one of three things:

1. You had it right the first time;
2. This new perspective works much better;
3. Neither version works for you, so you need to try something else.

No matter what the outcome, you’ll gain some valuable insight into your work. Either your concerns will be put to rest or they will be justified. I’m planning to use this exercise on the WIP I submitted for my most recent Master’s program feedback session. Who knows, my personal tutor might be right; I might be working in the wrong POV.

How did this exercise work out for you? Did you learn something new about your WIP? Your writing style overall? Did you find out that you particularly like or dislike a certain POV? Share your experiences with this writing prompt in the comments below!