Editing Your Point of View

In my blog about developmental editing, you learned that “editing” doesn’t just mean moving commas and removing repetitious sentences with a red pen. Sometimes editing – and asking the tough questions when you’re self editing – means asking tough and objective questions. For example: Is the character telling your story the right narrator? Is your point of view the best one for the job?

Character Point of View

Obviously to an extent questions like who is “right” to tell a story are subjective, but let’s look into this so you see what I mean. For example, let’s say you have a book with multiple characters, each of whom get a turn telling part of the story from their point of view. Are you using them to their best advantage? They each have specific things they know, or see, or do, and you can show them acting on those things.

In Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None characters discover certain things and tell others about those discoveries. The entire group is rarely in the same room at once and when they are, the character’s internal POV is influenced by their personality and prejudice towards the others. Which tells the reader as much about that character as it does what about might be happening. Is it better to show what is happening through the character’s POV (like finding a dead body) or of the telling of that discovery (when a character hears about it after the fact)? Or to mix those up to create not only a different rhythm to the book but also a different sense of suspense – which is what Christie does.

Having multiples narrators can provide an excellent alternative to an omniscient narrator, allowing you to trick readers with carefully laid down twists and reveals. But it can also get complicated. Are there too many characters sharing the microphone? Just because you’ve started your book with a certain idea of how many characters will tell something different doesn’t mean it will necessarily work. Do all your characters stand out as memorable, or should you think about combining a few of them in later drafts? Natalie Haynes’ Stone Blind is a perfect example of having multiple characters telling the story in different chapters. When you read this book, are the characters weighted to tell more of the story than others (as in, does one character get more chapters than any other)? Why do you think this works (or not, if you don’t think it does). If you’re planning on using multiple narrators, this is a good book to study for the technique.

Main Character Limelight: Show and Tell

Maybe the story is just the opposite- you’d like to have multiple characters giving some narration but your main character is insisting on the limelight. Well, there is a reason they’re your main character. Presumably most of the action is happening to them. But is all of the important action happening around them? Maybe those side characters have more knowledge about certain things than you think they do. When you find yourself with plot holes or questions that your main character can’t answer, look to your secondary characters. They may know what’s happening, and be able to show your readers things in ways that won’t involve long pages of explanations. Explore their stories and see if they can help show instead of tell when you find this happening in your work.

Hidden Motives

What about when the entire book is told from the point of view of one character (often, but not always, in first person)?

All the information we as readers have is the same information the main character has. This hides motives, thoughts, everything from us except what others tell our main character- because all the information coming to us is through the main character and is tinged by their thoughts, prejudices, etc. They may think one thing is happening, but it can turn out to be something else entirely. This works great for some books- romances and mysteries can frequently use this trick of hidden motives or misunderstandings to create excellent plot twists. But is it the right way forward for your story? Does your story need certain things to be hidden until the end from both the reader and the other characters, or will the reader benefit from knowing more than the characters? Or, in the case of some mystery novels using unreliable narrators, will the plot benefit from the narrator telling the reader everything while still holding back?

What’s Your Motive?

When it comes to self editing, the first step is to always put the manuscript down for awhile so that you can come back to it fresh. But if you find things in the plot catching in odd ways, or that you’re doing more telling than showing, etc. there are questions you can ask yourself about your characters and point of view:

• Is this the right character to tell this story?

• Is the point of view right?

• Are you writing from a first person POV when that may not serve your story best?

• Is it a multi-character narration, but a different character might serve the plot to tell part of your story instead of who you have telling it now?

• Do you have too many characters telling narrative and one (or more) should be cut? Remember that every character who narrates part of your story needs to be a fully fleshed out person your readers can relate to

Answering the Questions

If the answer to these questions is that you aren’t sure, or that you think you want to change things, don’t be discouraged! Revising and rewriting is all a part of the process. some authors rewrite their entire book multiple times, changing different aspects before they are sure that eveything is right. I’ve recently realized I need to look at Part 2 of my book in an entirely new (and much broader) way than I have been looking at things. This means not only rewriting but going back to do more research as well. Yes, this means more time and work on my end, but I’m convinced it is what the book needs to make it better. And that’s what I want, for it to be the best I can make it. Try looking at it that way yourself if you get annoyed or frustrated. You’ll get there in the end, and you’re book will be even better because you took the extra time and thought with it.

Are you looking for a writing, marketing coach or a developmental editor? Contact me and let’s talk about your project!