Is Deep POV Always the Best Choice?
It’s time for another post as a Resident Writing Coach over at Writers Helping Writers, where we’re digging into point of view and whether a deeper POV is always better.
Word Choice: What Does It Mean for Our Writing?
We’ve discussed POV and voice, but what does the term “word choice” mean, how does it affect our writing, and what goes into choosing the right words?
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What Do Readers Want from a Story’s POV?
Our story is—in many respects—what our story’s POV tells readers it is. So what do we want readers to get out of our story and chosen POV?
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Is Our Story’s Point of View Really What We Think It Is?
Third-person POV ranges from the most distant to the deepest perspectives, so how can we tell where our story falls on the POV spectrum to avoid problems?
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Storytelling Verb Tenses: Past, Present, and “Literary” Past Tense
Most stories are written in literary past tense. What does that term mean, and if different from normal past tense, how is literary past tense different?
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Character Internalization: To Italicize or Not to Italicize?
A common question in writing forums asks when we should italicize a character’s thoughts. How should we format our characters’ internalizations?
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Writing Craft: How Point-of-View Affects Dialogue
We often want to share both characters’ reactions during dialogue. How can we do so without causing point-of-view, head-hopping, or attribution issues?
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What’s the Right Way to Include Multiple POVs? — Guest: Kassandra Lamb
Some stories benefit from multiple points of view, but only if we follow a few do’s and don’ts. Here’s how to write multiple POVs right.
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Why Is Head Hopping Considered Lazy Writing?
Several writing craft issues tend to be hallmarks of what’s called “lazy writing.” The practice of head hopping is usually considered lazy writing, but we might not understand why it earns that label. Let’s learn more and see how we can avoid head hopping and the “lazy writing” trap.
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Story Structure: What’s the Purpose…for Readers?
Ever wonder how many writing “rules” have a reason beyond “because I said so”? Story structure exists not just because it makes our story stronger, but also because the story beats help communicate with readers–and understanding how can help us write and revise our story.
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