Note: After all the excitement of launching my new book Writing Archetypal Character Arcs last month, I’m giving myself a little break this week from the usual post and podcast. Instead, I am sharing a fast tip that I hope you will enjoy and find useful! I will be back next week with a brand new […]
July 25, 2022 by 87 Comments CharactersHow to Structure Stories With Multiple Main Characters?
One of the most common questions I’m asked is how to structure stories with multiple main characters. If you have two (or more) characters who are equally important to the story and receive equal POV time, how should you balance them when structuring your novel? At its core, story structure is a simple equation: one […]
June 15, 2020 by 37 Comments Point of ViewDoes Your Story Really Need That Extra POV Character?
[I’m taking a quick break this week to deal with some personal stuff (no worries—everything’s good!), so decided to share a short post some of you may remember from the e-letter years ago.] Sooner or later, most authors find the constraints of POV frustrating. It can be difficult to observe the strictures of a tight […]
March 16, 2020 by 62 Comments Point of View5 Questions About How to Balance Multiple POVs in Your Story
The opportunities and pitfalls offered by multiple POVs are both the joy and the bane of the writer’s life. On the one hand, using multiple points of view to tell a story seems like it makes the job so much easier. No limits—woohoo! But on the other hand, once you start trying to juggle multiple […]
February 4, 2019 by 122 Comments Point of View10 Advantages of Writing a Single-POV Story (What I Learned Writing Wayfarer)
Multiple-POV story versus single-POV story? Which is the right choice for you? The answer depends on many factors, since every story is different. Knowing which approach to POV to choose isn’t difficult once you know how to choose. My just-released historical-superhero/gaslamp-fantasy novel Wayfarer was the first ever single-POV story I’ve written. For years now, I’ve consistently been minimizing the […]
May 7, 2018 by 56 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 64: POV Problems
POV. Writers can’t live without it. It influences every aspect of story, right down to word choice. But in all frankness, sometimes POV can be a little hard for us to live with as well. The vastness and the complexity of the topic makes it all too easy for authors to accidentally stumble into POV problems. […]
September 4, 2017 by 43 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 62: Head-Hopping POV
You know you’ve moved beyond recreational storytelling to serious writing the moment you discover you’re hopelessly confused about POV. Other than perhaps show vs. tell, no fundamental principle of fiction dogs writers more than creating a solid narrative—which often begins by understanding how to avoid head-hopping. It happens to all of us: we energetically send […]
August 18, 2017 by 24 Comments Point of ViewMultiple Narrators? How to Choose the Right POV
If you’re writing a multiple point of view novel—whether you’ve got two POV characters or an ensemble cast of POVs—it’s critical you know how to choose the right POV character’s perspective for each scene in your story. This may seem like a no-brainer, something that happens instinctively as you write, but I often see stories […]
June 30, 2017 by 33 Comments Point of View6 Questions to Help You Choose the Right POV
Stories are defined by their narrators. Narrating characters implicitly tell us whose story this is. More than that, they determine which facets of plot and theme will be emphasized. How do they do this? By also determining which elements will be eliminated or sidelined. In short, figuring out how to choose the right POV for your […]
April 17, 2016 by 123 Comments Point of ViewEverything You Need to Know About Writing a 3rd-Person POV
Chances are good you’re using a third-person POV (or Point of View) in your story right now. If not, then you likely used it in the past or will give it a try in the future. It’s a nearly universal writing technique and the most popular of all the POV choices. But are you using […]
