StoryCraft Novel Challenge Day 21: It’s time to get a little perspective.

There is nothing worse than writing an entire draft of a book then realizing that the perspective is wrong and having to go back and fix every sentence. It’s time-consuming and frustrating, even if it is inevitable at some point.

While we can’t necessarily always head this off, doing some introspection around our perspective can help us avoid it. If this is your first book, then it’s even more important to think about which perspective you want to write in and what feels the most natural for you.

Perspective or point-of-view is the lens through which the reader experiences your characters. There are a few main options which are the most common:

First-person - I/me/mine, showcases the actual thoughts of the protagonist

Third-person limited - he/she/they, allows for more physicality and movement

Third-person omniscient - he/she/they, allows you to move at the will of the narrator

There are pros and cons to each perspective, so ultimately, the choice will be yours. Something to ask yourself is what kind of reader experience you want to provide. If you need to showcase a story that features thoughts and memories of a single protagonist, then first-person might be the best choice.

If you have multiple POV protagonists or a lot of physical action, then third-person limited could serve your reader the better experience. Using a narrator allows you a lot more freedom in terms of what you can show, but it is the most distant perspective from your characters, so it can be harder to make that connection. 

This is also a great time to look at your comp books. If they all have a first-person POV, then that could be a sign that readers connect most with that style. Alternatively, if you write more freely in one POV over another, then go with what works. Don’t try to force a style that doesn’t make sense for you as a writer.

We can’t always avoid the dreaded rewrite, but a little bit of forethought can absolutely help us out. Tomorrow, we’ll be discussing the second aspect of this choice, tense.

Don’t forget, our online course StoryCraft: Writing Your Novel is currently in Beta. Save $150 with SCBETA .

Share your progress and connect with other writers using hashtag #StoryCraftNovelChallenge.

Happy Writing,

Jess and Theo