the novel i am writing....advice on point of view!!!!???

Question

I have started the novel out in first person from the point of view of an eighteen year old girl in high school looking back on an experience she had meeting a new guy in school and them becoming friends and falling in a child-type love.

i have already started, but the more I get into it, Im beggining to think the novel would do better in the point of view of a guy meeting a new girl in school, or of a guy who goes to his new school and befriends a girl.

what do you think? its never too late to start over, I always say, but Im not sure at all!

HELP!

yes im capable of writing in a guys point of view. trust me on this.

hmmm. I like your idea Jos, but just not for this book. it would give away a lot of mystery, and may be a little repetitive.

for other novels, it would be awesome though.

both perceptives won't work out though for this novel. i love the idea, but this is a mystery and very different.

great idea though anyway...

okay okay, ill try both perspectives.

Sparks is so amazing though because he can make it work. Im terrified that my novel may come out as a corny little love story that disney channel would go "let's make a musical out of it"
and that is the last thing I want.

High School Musical was horrible enough with a new girl at a school.

okay okay, ill try both perspectives.

Sparks is so amazing though because he can make it work. Im terrified that my novel may come out as a corny little love story that disney channel would go "let's make a musical out of it"
and that is the last thing I want.

High School Musical was horrible enough with a new girl at a school.

Answer 1

There is no reason why different chapters cannot have different POV's. That is very common today. James Patterson and many other authors do it all the time. That's kind of the point of Nicholas Sparks' books where letters go back and forth. Personally, I do it a couple different ways. Sometimes I will choose one character (usually my protagonist) to write from the first person and alternate it with chapters written from the POV of my antagonist but from the third person. Sometimes I write 2 POV's - of both the antagonist and protagonist both from the third person. Just remember the cardinal sin when writing in the first person. You cannot "know" the thoughts of the other characters in the scene because "You" are the character you are writing in the first person. That sometimes becomes a problem when you have to have other characters in the scene learn things or you need your readers to learn certain things about those characters. In that case, you have to dump first person all together and work in third. I have seen many an author break that rule and you want to jump into the book and strangle them! Once you establish a POV in a scene, you must stick with it. Another technique I use often is alternating POV from the protagonist to the antagonist (or another character) and more or less repeating the scene from their perspective. I dont repeat the entire scene usually, I just overlap part of it.

For instance, two people meet on a street corner and have an argument. Then one person stabs the other and runs away. I can have the first part of that scene at the beginning of two different chapters - each telling the argument from their perspective. Then the chapters break apart. One person's chapter focuses on their escape while the other's chapter focuses on their efforts to get help. See?

Dont change what you have done. Just play around with POV. It's more interesting that way anyway. And YES it absolutely will work with a mystery - in fact it will work exceptionally well with a mystery because you can let out little bits of the mystery through different characters. Think about it. Pax - C

Answer 2

Unless the main character has some unique way of seeing the world, i.e. smells like a werewolf or sees things other people can't, I would go third person if you are going to leave them and tell the story through others eyes at times. Also try to keep the same person's view throughout a chapter or scene even if using the omniscient technique. I was able to borrow the below book from my library and helps you make these choices.

Answer 3

It is hard to tell without a better description of the plot. If you do decide to rewrite you would not have to start form the being. You could simply edit what you have.

Another option is to write the book and include BOTH points of view. This would be a great way to show both the male and female perspectives.

Answer 4

I know that you have already said you don't want to write the book from both points of view, but let me try to convince you. *wink* books written from two points of view, switching off, are usually difficult to find, and are always treasured by readers. My favorite book is written like that. And it doesn't have to be repetitive. You could just write a chapter in one point of view, then continue the story with the other point of view in the next chapter. You don't necessarily have to tell the entire story twice. I think it would be an asset to your novel if you write it from two different points of view.

If that is ABSOLUTELY out of the question, I would say to keep it from the girl's point of view. Girls are typically (or STEREOtypically) more emotional and in touch with their feelings, so a story written from a girls point of view would be more detailed and/or interesting.

Plus, most readers of love stories are girls, so you would want to write something that they can relate to.

I hope I have helped.

Answer 5

I agree with Curious Orange that writing in the perspective of another gender would be difficult, but I much prefer the point of view of the new kid. I think it is a far easier story to get into and relate to, going to a new place and falling in 'love' with one of the inhabitants, than it is to have a normal, familiar life, and have your love suddenly appear. I prefer the boy's point of view. But, that's just my opinion as a reader.

Answer 6

the same thing happened to me.

what you should do is write a chapter or two from the girl's view and then revise the chapters for the guy's point of view.

see which you like better.

or you could do like a rebound effect, where like you write one chapter as the girl, and the next is the guy's view.




<333 Jos.

Answer 7

how about writing it in both perspectives ?

buh i guess if u're a girl, u'd portray a girl better than a boy, and the same goes for boys.

Answer 8

can you write a guy? we're really very complex. oh yes

Answer 9

lol. well, if you think that a guy would be better, I would go for it.