Guest Post: Kim Falconer on “Narrative Point Of View” Plus A Giveaway!
Introducing Kim Falconer:
Kim probably needs no introductions for many of you, but I am going to introduce her anyway, for those of you who may not have met her before. 😉
I was privileged to meet Kim at Worldcon (Aussiecon 4) in Melbourne in 2010 and since then we have become friends-in-writing and fellow Supernatural Underground authors. Kim writes urban fantasy, paranormal romance, YA and epic science fantasy novels.
You can find out more about her at AvaSykes.com, the 11th House Blog, and on FaceBook and Twitter. She posts here at the Supernatural Underground on the 16th of every month and runs Save the Day Writer’s Community on Facebook and GoodVibeAstrology.com.
Kim’s latest release is the urban fantasy novel The Blood In The Beginning, which I know has a bearing on her topic choice of Narrative Point of View. So please join me in welcoming her to “..on Anything, Really” today.
The book giveaway details will follow the post.
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Narrative Point Of View
by Kim Falconer
Hi Helen, and everyone here on the blog. I’m delighted to write a guest post today, offering some practical thoughts on the topic of narrative POV.
POV is short for point of view, or literally, “the position from which something is perceived.” The primary options in literature are: 1st person: I am telling this story, 2nd person: You are telling this story, 3rd person: She is telling this story.
It seems simple, but any POV you choose comes with certain constraints. Like naming a character, making a choice involves commitment. For example, if your protagonist’s name is Sally, you can’t suddenly start calling her Adele, at least, not without good reason. The same thing goes for POV.
If you’re using the first person point of view – “I hear voices,” (present tense), or “I heard voices,” (past tense) – and suddenly move to another POV –“The officer wonders what the voices mean,” (present tense) or, “The officer wondered what the voices meant,” (past tense) – you’ll need a good reason, and skill, to pull it off. It’s not generally done, or done well, unless you’re Charles Dickens or perhaps Stephen King.
Anyone who wants to brush up on POV options can duck over to Youtube and watch my 3 minute tutorial on the topic – Point of View.
Any perspective is easy to stay in, once you commit. Think of it as the angle of the camera, and keep asking,“Can they see this? Can they know this?” Sticking to an established POV is a skill gained with practice; realising how the POV shapes the story can be illusive.
Why does that matter? POV influences everything, from the world building to the characters, and even the hidden, or not so hidden, connection between reader and author. The choice of POV, often made unconsciously, without a second thought, carries more weight than most writers care to believe. At least, that’s how it was for me, until I saw the light.
When I wrote The Blood in the Beginning I started out with the same POV I’d always used, 3rd person limited, past tense, the she heard voices POV. Why? It was familiar. I knew how to do it, and it would allow for a wide scope of character perspectives, resulting in a larger scale story-world. It was a logical choice, because I didn’t know where the story was going yet. It gave me room to explore. I also chose it because the genre, Urban Fantasy, allows it.
That last point should probably be first. Genre fiction carries with it a level of reader expectation. Yes, you can break the rules, but no, you don’t really want to, unless you’re Gabriel García Márquez, or King, or Dickens, in which case you can do whatever you want. But publishers might be cautious about acquiring an epic fantasy written in the second person, or a smorgasbord of 1st and 3rd, so it pays to know your genre as you set out. There are exceptions to everything, like those 2nd person choose your own adventure books, but in general, I don’t recommend it.
With plenty of UF written in the 3rd person, like Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghost series, Magic Street by Orson Scott Card, Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, and Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments, I wasn’t exactly going out on a limb, doing the same. But … it didn’t work! Five chapters in and the story wasn’t developing the way I’d imagined. I struggled with why, and eventually it occurred to me.
The story didn’t need crazy amounts of scope that covered fifteen generations with thirty plus characters spanning every continent. The Blood in the Beginning tells the story of a lone gal in a tough town, a streetwise woman with strengths, fears, high hopes and the penchant of attracting supernatural trouble. I wanted the reader to be inside her head, feel what she felt, while it was happening. So, I started over, in the 1st person, and the story broke like a barracuda—fast, dangerous and hungry.
Is Ava Sykes reliable enough to tell her own story? In the end, I think she is, and I’m glad I took the risk. For the emerging and seasoned writers out there, I encourage you to experiment with POV and see how changing it allows your story to grow in new ways.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, perhaps on your favourite POV to read and write, or on how many POVs I’ve used in this short article. I’d really like to know if anyone has read a novel in the 2nd person recently.
Thank you Helen!
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The Giveaway:
Thank you, Kim. As I always say when you post on the Supernatural Underground — another great post, as always! 😉
By the way, for those of you who would like to find out more about The Blood In The Beginning, Kim has a wonderful YouTube trailer here:
The Blood in the Beginning
To celebrate the release of The Blood in the Beginning and Kim’s guest post here today, I am giving away a copy of the book to one lucky commenter.
I am sure you know the drill off by heart, but just leave a comment (on anything, really… 😉 ) and you will go in the draw to win the book.
Comments must be made here on Kim’s guest post, with one entry allowed per commenter. Entries will close on Saturday at midnight (NZ time) with the draw being made (by Random.Org Integer Generator) and posted on Sunday 24 July — go to the top of the masthead to find the result.
Well I am halfway through “The Blood in the Beggining” and really enjoying it. As a reader I usually feel more connected to a story told in the first person – which is a good thing as long as you like the protagonist. So far I am really liking Ava, so thanks!
Hi Andrew,
I’m delighted you are enjoying the journey. And I so agree. 1st person is wonderful, as long as that person is someone we can connect to. Even if they are an anti-hero, there has to be some kind of intrigue. I’m thinking of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and how he used the first person to show the same scene from different character points of view, all of who varied in likeability.
Thanks for dropping in!
It is amazing how much impact a change in perspective can have. It is an old example now, but Georgetown Heyer manages it really well in her novel “The Masqueraders”. Anyway I am looking forward to reading The Blood In The Beginning. Thank you for an interesting post 🙂
Hi Jay,
I haven’t read “The Masquerades” but it’s been on the TBR list. Does Heyer switch between 1st person POV with the siblings?
Story structure can help readers slide easily into changes with with visual cues like spacing, headers or new chapters. The first sentence of the switch needs to put us in there heads.
Thanks for your comment.
That “with with” actually just meant “with”. 🙂
I loved the Twitter interview you guys did a few weeks back. And the book sounds happening so count me in please.
Hi Sarah,
I’m glad you liked #thebloodinthebeginning Twitter-view. Helen was great, keeping the questions coming nonstop.
Good luck in the draw!
Great article! Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Kim.
It has always been absolutely mind-boggling to me how you writers do it…: keeping up with your character(s) [if > 1 & time-/universe jumping, incarnating, and so forth] and everything they’re made out of PLUS sticking to the right PoV throughout the entire story… KUDOS to you! *pulling my hair out thinking about it*… hell, I jump PoV a gazillion times a day…. (which is partly to blame on my alter ego pushing to the front of my brain, wanting to be part of the conversations, too… – but let’s better not go there…. *winks*)
I read this book not too long ago where the story was actually like 3 stories in 1… that confused the hell out of me in the beginning…. but it was fantastic once I had wrapped my brain around it 🙂 it was a totally awesome read!
(The Storyteller’s Muse by Traci Harding in case some of you were wondering…)
*haha – I am all over the place…* but not too much so that it blinded me to the fact that the text of the article slightly changed since I read it this morning (CET).
Was: “I am sure you know the drill off by heart, but leave a comment on POV or anything related to Kim’s post, “The Blood in the Beginning, or urban fantasy generally and you will go in the draw to win the book.”
Now is: “I am sure you know the drill off by heart, but just leave a comment (on anything, really… 😉 ) and you will go in the draw to win the book.”
^5’s herself for her observation skills *grins*
but enough of my blabbering….
I cannot wait to get my hands on “The Blood in the Beginning” to find out for myself what you [Kim] mean when you say you changed the PoV to 1st person (after realising that the 3rd person perspective didn’t work out)…. having read all your previous books this sure is going to be exciting azz hell!! 😉
last but not least: it’s about bloody time Ava Sykes made her entry!!
Hi Christine,
Great to see you here!
Traci Hardings “The Storyteller’s Muse” uses a parallel narrative, for anyone who hasn’t read it, so there are multiple stories unfolding throughout the book, which all meet up in the end. It’s a wonderful technique, which I enjoy reading, as well watching in films. A mini version of this is seen in flashbacks, but they don’t always work so well and can come across disjointed.
A great example of parallel narrative on screen is the CW’s Arrow (so you all know I’m a DC Comic fan girl now) where the story flows from two different beginnings, one on the island and the other five years later. It’s great storytelling.
Thanks for dropping in, Christine.
Good luck in the draw!
Hi Kim
thx for mentioning what narrative The Storyteller’s Muse is…. I could not for the life of me figure out what the style was called… – so it’s awesome you told us/me 🙂
we will have to talk about the DC fan girl though…. 😉
All the best… and now I am off getting syked!
Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater, uses first person POV which switches with nearly every chapter. Each chapter starts with the name of the character whose POV we are switching to, I’m pretty sure it is just the two main characters, Sam and Grace. I found it very effective in getting extra depth and insight when we would have found one character’s POV limiting.
Under the character’s name at the beginning Stiefvater has also put the temperature (in °c for the Australian version) to help us track the seasonal passing of time. Which I found very evocative.
I guess after reading The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, first person became my favourite perspective. I learned from that series it is easier not to reveal too much to the reader if the narrator is just as clueless! Discovering things with the main character in first person present tense is a rivetting joy!
BTW, I already have my copy of The Blood In The Beginning, I loved reading it! If my name is drawn, please give it to one of the commenters here whom hasn’t has the pleasure yet. Share the love!
Thanks Kim and Helen! Xoxo
PS, That rhino cartoon is a crackup!!
Hi Ali,
That’s a good example with Maggie Stiefvater. She’s one of my favorite authors. Have you read The Scorpio Races? She does the same thing in that book, switching back and forth between the two main characters. The visual, physical clue is there as well, with each new chapter in the 1st person POV of the character, named at the start. It really works.
And it does keep us from giving away the farm, writing in the first person. Prolongs the mystery, and allows for hair pin twists.
Thanks for your contribution here, and your generous offer.
The rhino is hilarious!