Thursday, March 19, 2015

Book Ponderings: Point of View



I recently finished a young adult novel that I found fascinating and exciting. At the end, I discovered the third person omniscient narrator was actually telling a story from her past. I'm not a huge fan of this point of view, because being a character driven reader, I feel it doesn't allow me to get to know the characters as much as I would like. It serves its purpose: you can know everything that is going on--even those things the characters might not be aware of yet. This book was very plot driven, but after the point of view discovery it seemed the story would have been even more powerful and fulfilling if told from a third person limited or first person point of view.

My feelings on this subject definitely make our writing group interesting. Point of view is something I tend to focus on a great deal because hopping from head to head doesn't feel right. But other members disagree. They see tremendous value in using a point of view that knows all, sees all, and tells all.

Do you have a preference when you read or write?

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