Point of View
When we refer to “point of view,” we’re talking about the perspective from which the story is told. Unlike what was common in classic literature, readers no longer are comfortable with jumping back and forth, in and out of the minds of different characters. Each scene or chapter should have a single character’s perspective—like a person holding a video camera, able to capture sight and sound from only one vantage point, describing moments in sequence as they happen.
In this example, we’re reading the minds of both Janet and Billy:
Janet reached for Billy’s hand, wanting to comfort him. Billy jerked back, not sure of her intentions.
How might we describe this, using only Janet’s perspective?
Janet reached for Billy’s hand, wanting to comfort him. Billy jerked back. What was wrong? Didn’t he trust her?
Point of Focus
The person holding the camera is the stationary point of view. When the camera is pointed in a different direction, we have a change in “point of focus” upon what the viewer sees and hears. Whenever the point of focus shifts, we want a new paragraph.
In the next example, we have Janet reaching out, Billy jerking back, Janet speaking, and Billy’s reaction.
Janet reached for Billy’s hand, wanting to comfort him. Billy jerked back. “It’s okay,” Janet said. “I want to help.” Billy didn’t look convinced. What was wrong? Didn’t he trust her?
Each of those points of focus work best in their own paragraph.
Janet reached for Billy’s hand, wanting to comfort him.
Billy jerked back.
“It’s okay,” Janet said. “I want to help.”
Billy didn’t look convinced. What was wrong? Didn’t he trust her?
Point in Time
The camera is incapable of recording the past. It cannot record the future. For your story to be true-to-life, it must describe the events in sequence, moment-by-moment, as they happen. Remain in the current sense of time until it’s necessary to transition to a past or future time.
In the next example, we have a past event and a current condition with Grampa.
Grampa wrapped Timmy in his arms and hugged him tight. He has a special love for all his grandchildren.
With the present-tense “has,” we know Grampa has a special love for his grandchildren now, but that information isn’t part of the present point in time. Instead of “has,” we need “had” to describe the condition at the moment when Grampa hugged Timmy.
Grampa wrapped Timmy in his arms and hugged him tight. He had a special love for all his grandchildren.
To time travel to a previous situation, we use the past-perfect “had” verb. The first use of “had” takes readers to the earlier time. We don’t want “had” in subsequent sentences.
Lisa thought about the playgrounds when she was a child. They had been so much more fun. She had jumped onto the merry-go-round when it was already spinning. She had hit the ground hard when the kids on the other end of the teeter-totter jumped off. She had paid no attention to her mom’s pleas to be careful.
