When authors talk about Point of View (usually abbreviated as POV), we mean whose head are we in as we write the scene. Are we seeing things unfold from the heroine’s perspective? The hero’s? A secondary character? Writers hear all kinds of rules about POV, too. The most popular is write the scene from the POV of the character who has the most at stake.
That’s not how I choose whose head to be in when I write a scene because I don’t always know which character has the most at stake when I start a scene, and let’s face it, not all scenes have something at stake. At least not in the way that I interpret that.
So how do I decide which POV to write?
There are a few factors that can be quantified. Balance is a big one. If the two previous scenes are in the heroine’s POV, I’m going to lean toward doing the next in the hero’s head. If he cooperates. And considering the trouble my characters cause me all the time, it’s not a sure thing that he will.
The other factor I consider is the need for secrecy. 
Some information needs to be kept away from the reader even after one of the characters knows it. In that case, if I have a scene that’s going to be skirting close to what I don’t want revealed, I’ll write in the other character’s point of view.
Sometimes I just go on instinct.
But the biggest consideration for me is which character is talking the scene in my head.
I hear my characters–their dialogue, their inner thoughts–and if I’m hearing my heroine run through a scene for me, I’m most likely to write it in her POV.
This doesn’t always work. In the story I’m working on now, I started the second scene of the third chapter in my hero’s head because I was seeing the later part of it through his eyes and because it would be more difficult technically to write the scene in my heroine’s POV.
The scene started out fine and then sputtered to a halt last Friday. I spent Saturday not getting anything accomplished, and the instant I turned out the lights and got into bed that night, I knew the problem was because I was in the wrong POV. I had to write the scene from my heroine’s perspective. I restarted the scene on Sunday and was tearing up the pages fast and furious all day and on Monday during my lunch hour at the Evil Day Job (EDJ), too. And then Monday evening I was stuck.
At first, I thought it was because I couldn’t remember where I was going with what I wrote hours earlier. I left off mid-scene, but not necessarily a good stopping point. I didn’t have much choice since the EDJ expects me to be back at my desk when lunch is over. I spent last night trying to figure out what I thought I was going to do and came up with no answers. I finally cut the last little bit I wrote with the intention of starting over today, saved the file, and went to bed.
And as soon as I turned out the light and got under the blankets, I realized I needed to switch to my hero’s POV. I even immediately knew the place where I needed to transition from her head to his.
Why didn’t I get this information hours earlier when I could have done something with it? Sigh.
But with this new epiphany, I cut what I had, rewrote it from my hero’s POV and finished the chapter. Yea!
Hi Patti
Thank you for the great post on PointOfView. I really related to it.
Thanks for sharing,
Have a Happy Halloween!
Love & Best Wishes,
Rob
xoxo
I love how you explain what goes into your writing. I can just hear you telling you characters to be quiet so you can get some sleep.
Thank you for your POV post, Patti. It's a tricky subject, and an approach that works for one writer might cause another to mess up.
As a reader, I tend to notice POV only when the writer is mishandling it. For instance, she might jump between two or more characters POVs in one scene, usually unnecessarily.
As both a reader and a writer, I feel most comfortable when the writer confines herself to one POV per scene. If it's time to switch the POV, it's time for a new scene.
Another problem is when the writer spends too much space presenting the story from the POVs of characters who might be essential to the plot, but in themselves don't interest me. This means there's less space to spend on presenting the story from the POV of characters who in themselves DO interest me. The solution to this problem should be pretty obvious.
Keep up the good work!
hmmm–
You know Patti, it occurs to me that the moment you get stuck in a scene you should climb into bed and turn out the lights. lol. Something about turning the lights off in the real life seems to turn the lights ON for your muse.
You should probably climb into bed with your clothes on though, that way you can hop out of bed again and get cracking as soon as that pesky muse reveals the solution to you!
Hi Rob,
I'm glad you liked it and I hope you had an outstanding Halloween!
Patti
Joyce,
If only my characters ever listening to me!
Patti
Mary Anne,
Every writer does things his/her own way and whichever way works for them is the right one. As a non-plotter who was told pantsing wasn't the right way to do it, I hope that everyone who reads how I do things realizes they should ignore what doesn't fit their style.
I'm not a big fan of headhopping within a scene either. I've done it twice for very specific reasons, but it almost hurt me to write it that way.
I've read romances where I've been more interested in the secondary couple than the primary h/h, but I think that's more personal taste than anything the authors did wrong. Some characters just don't chime bells as loudly as others do.
Patti
Trish,
I actually do that sometimes, go lie down and think about the story. It doesn't always work when I want it to.
Patti