Writing Fundamentals: Point of View

Apologies for skipping April! My work life staged a coup and I lost. Sorry but gotta pay the bills somehow.

Thanks for your patience, and I’m excited to get back to it! We’ve already covered tension, dialogue, and character development, so this month we’re tackling another fundamental: Point of View. It’s one of the most powerful tools in a thriller writer’s kit. It’s the difference between riding shotgun inside an unreliable narrator’s skull, withholding key info through third person limited, or dropping clues the protagonist can’t see from an omniscient POV

Recommended Reading (Optional)

Before the meet up, read some of these short stories. Each uses POV in a distinct and memorable way.

“Victory Lap ” (2009) by George Saunders — shifting close third across three characters during an attempted abduction

“The Husband Stitch ” (2014) by Carmen Maria Machado — first-person with direct address to the reader

“Cat Person ” (2017) by Kristen Roupenian — deep close third saturated with the protagonist’s anxious interpretation

One heads-up: “The Husband Stitch” contains some explicit sexual content, and “Cat Person” has an uncomfortable sex scene. Nothing gratuitous, but worth flagging so nobody’s caught off guard.

Agenda

• 7 - 7:15 Show up and park. Get settled. Catch up.

• 7:15 - 7:45 Discuss the following questions:

How do you decide on POV when you start a story, instinct or deliberate choice? How does your POV choice shape your ability to build and control suspense? Were there any examples from the recommended readings that stood out? Why?

• 7:45 - 8:05 (ish) Writing prompt 1.

• 8:05 - 8:15 Short break. Get another beverage or share your writing with others.

• 8:15 - 8:35 (ish) Writing prompt 2.

• 8:35 - Debrief

How were the prompts? Get any ideas for a story?Can you use tonight’s POV techniques in your work in progress? What topic would you like to cover in next month’s meet up?