WRITING ADVICE ®
through one point of view or another. My first novel
(self-published) was written in the first person, my
second novel (traditionally published) used the not
particularly common first-person omniscient, and
for my third novel (self-published), I wrote in the
third person. With each of these books, I explored
other options for point of view during the drafting
and editing process before settling on the right
approach for that particular story.
It can be helpful to think about what experience
you are trying to create for the reader. For example,
the second person often will catch the reader off
guard. The first person almost always will auto-
matically bring readers intimately into the story
you are writing. On the other hand, the third person
will often create distance between your reader and
the characters, while allowing you to potentially
communicate a great deal more information.
Depending on your writing community and your
genre, you may feel pressure to write from a
certain point of view. As self-published writers,
we get a lot of control over how we structure ourSassafras Lowrey writes fiction and nonfiction
and was the recipient of the 2013 Lambda
Literary Award for emerging LGBTQ writers.work and our stories. Reading within a genre you
are writing or aspire to be writing in should be
an active part of your research and writing life.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with not
knowing before you start writing which point of
view you want your novel to have. I encourage
writers to play with the point of view while draft-
ing, too. Select a chapter or a short scene from
your current work in progress and try to rewrite
it from a different point of view. Shifting perspec-
tive by reworking a scene can really help you learn
more about your characters. It also gives you the
opportunity to see the story from a new perspec-
tive. If you’re looking to shake up your writing
practice, or if you’re feeling a bit stuck on a book,
experimenting with point of view can be a great
way to break yourself out of writer’s block. ■PUBLISHING
IN THE PALM
OF YOUR HAND.
GET THE
PW APP
TODAY