Day Twenty-Eight: Point of View #BYBin30

It can be difficult to choose a point of view to use in your book. If you have gotten this far in the challenge, you should already be writing your book in a particular point of view. Be careful not to alternate points of view within the story. If you find that your story isn't working for you, one way to do a major revision that can spark ideas and sometimes change the tone of your whole story is to rewrite it using a different point of view. It takes a lot of work to do this, but it can be surprising how a story can be changed completely with just this one difference.

Here are how the different points of view work:

First person: This is the point of view that speaks in "I." When using first person, you are writing the book as if it is the main character telling the story. This limits you to only what your main character sees, smells, hears, tastes, notices and thinks, but it can also feel more natural to write. One of the dangers is that you might fall into the trap of telling the story instead of showing the story more easily. It is becoming increasingly common to see first person point of view used in Young Adult novels.

Second person: This is the point of view that speaks to the reader using "you." In fiction, this can be really awkward and is not easily done well. Even when done well, many readers will find it uncomfortable to read in fiction. It is seen more often in how-to books and other non-fiction books.

Third person: This is the point of view that speak in "she," "they," "it," "him," "he" and "her." It can be used as a way to show more than one perspective within the book. In third person omniscient, you can show the story through multiple characters' perspectives, but this isn't always the best method for third person as you can sometimes confuse your readers when you write the story from the perspective of too many characters. It can leave your reader not knowing which of the characters to root for or connect with. It can be done well, but not easily. A better idea is to use third person limited, which limits you to the perspective of one to three of your characters. This works in that you can show more of the story to your readers, by using different perspectives, often broken up by different chapters, than when using first person, but you won't risk confusing your readers too much as when using third person omniscient.

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Winner!

It's time to announce this week's give-away winner of the Write About Life Tile Coaster. The winner was chosen from the active participants of the challenge. Must be a signed-up member to qualify. The winner was chosen by a random number generator. (Winner may choose alternate colors of this item, including a version with photographic background.)

And the winner is:

Melissa Gijsbers Khalinksy

Congratulations, Melissa! :)