Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Switching POV

I've heard that it's easier for most new writers to write in third person.

Is that even possible?

Maybe you're one of those blessed people who can naturally write a novel in a third person point-of-view (POV). But I am not one of you. First person is my style. Remember that genre shift I talked about last week?

For my new genre, my new work in progress, I need to be able to write in third person.

Have you ever tried use your non-dominant hand to write a note, or even your name? That's kind of what it felt like as I tried to write in third person. My sentences, which usually pour into my mind in first person, were choppy, boring, and hard to come by.

Because of this, I've had to think a little about how to switch POVs, and I have at least one solid tip to pass on to you: Think in your dominant POV, then translate the sentence before you type it. If that doesn't work so well for you, try typing a paragraph in your dominant POV, then change the pronouns and verbs and such.

I tried this for my work in progress, and between that and thinking about the style I was going for, I was able to transition. I wouldn't say third person is easy for me yet, but that little trick helped me take my first steps into writing third person.

Any other POV suggestions? Let me know!

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