Eye of the Beholder: Choosing a POV

Earlier this week, I received feedback from my supervisor for the beginning of a fantasy novel I’m working on. As always, there was both praise and room for improvement. One recommendation really stuck out at me: consider changing the point of view. Of course, this advice isn’t so easy to follow after you’re more than a couple pages into the narrative. Even if the change is necessary, rewriting everything written to that point can be a chore. Makes me wonder: how does a writer choose a POV? How does he/she know it’s right before they get in too deep?

The problem: sometimes they don’t know. At least, they don’t know until they’re several, maybe even a hundred, pages into their writing.

The kind of POV you use depends on the kind of story you’re trying to write. Some of them have an obvious choice. An autobiography or semi-autobiographical piece of fiction, for example, should both be told in first person.  Others, however, have too many options for there to be an easy decision.

The decision hangs on the effects which the POV has on the story. Does the reader need to feel close to the narrator, as with first person? Or would the distance caused by third person work better? Does the reader need to see more of the big picture than what a first-person narrator can provide? Does the story justify making the reader the narrator enough to use second person?

Sometimes we know immediately which POV would be best for our story. I’ve had many stories which I knew instinctively which POV I should use. Other times, you won’t know if you’re using the wrong POV until you’ve finished the first draft. That can be a pain, but it’s a matter of telling yourself the story first in order to understand the direction in which it must go.

There are also times when you won’t know until someone else reads it. Being so close to the work, you might not know when the POV is wrong. That’s where beta readers come in. They can tell you if something is off with draft; they might not always know that it’s the POV, but they can at least give you some guidance toward understanding the problem. Again, it’s a pain to have to conduct such a thorough rewrite, but it’s a labor of love (and frustration and exhaustion and caffeine).

You might even need more than one beta reader to figure out what to do. You might be attached to first person but your first reader thinks you should consider third person. Unless you are absolutely certain, deep in your bones, that your POV choice is the right one, you might want to get a third or even fourth opinion. If multiple people think you need to change the POV, you should give it some serious thought. (I might have to take this approach with figuring out what to do with this fantasy novel.)

The important thing to remember is that, when it comes down to it, the POV is your choice. Everything about your story is your choice. There have been many examples of writers being told that a writing choice is a bad idea but the author stuck to it. In the end, they were right. In other examples, they decide against the original choice and that turned out to be right. The entire process of writing, rewriting, editing, and proofreading is long and laborious. That’s why you don’t see books that are written in one night and then immediately put on the shelves. Writing is all about trial-and-error, and that’s one of the best, most rewarding parts of the craft.

What’s been your experience with choosing POV? Do you always know which POV you need to use when you start? Or do you often decide halfway through to start all over from another perspective? Leave your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!