There are various options when it comes to choosing the right Point of View (POV) for your romance story and they each have benefits and drawbacks.

• The Omniscient narrator was popular 100 years ago.
• First Person is favoured for a deep connection between the reader and main character.
• But Limited Third Person is the most common.

But why?
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The most obvious reason is, romances are about two people falling in love (no matter how many demons, villains or past traumas they have to battle along the way), and therefore it makes sense to get into the hero’s and heroine’s heads, so readers can understand both of their desires and doubts. We love to experience the push and pull of a blooming romance. Feel the flutter of realisation, the denial of compatibility and the accidental touches.  

The benefits of using Third Person Limited POV include: 

#1 The ability to spend time in the heads of the hero and heroine during each scene, enables the author to show two different perspectives of the same situation. 

They may be working towards a common goal, but have different approaches, or they may want different things out of life (initially). Seeing these conflicts build and unravel best laid plans, creates glorious expectations in the reader. Not to mention sheer terror that neither party will make the concessions it will take to come together in the end.

#2 Immersing readers in one character at a time, provides them adequate time to really get to know each one and care enough about them to spend eighty-odd thousand words following their journey.

The author has the scope to fully explore what the character thinks about their situation, what they desire and are motivated by, as well as what troubles and frightens them.

It also forces the author to come up with active and interesting ways to show what the non-POV character is thinking and feeling.

#3 It is easier to connect with a character when you are privy to their thoughts and feelings.

This can be especially beneficial when it comes to showing a hero’s vulnerability. Seeing as men tend to be less about verbalising and more about taking action, getting inside their heads reveals layers to their disposition.
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Someone who might come across as obstinate or antagonistic from an outside view, can be more sympathetic when readers know why the character is acting that way. 

There are a few things that can trip you up when writing in Limited Third Person POV including: 

#1 Head hopping can occur when authors don’t fully understand the limitations of writing in this POV, or when they aren’t sure who has the most to lose at a particular moment and therefore, swap from the hero to the heroine’s POV too often.

While there is no hard and fast rule, a good guide is to only change POV once during a chapter (depending on its length).

#2 Showing the same scene, two ways. Having two POV characters isn’t an excuse to show a whole scene from the hero’s perspective and then relive it through the heroine’s perspective.

Reliving time leaves readers feeling like they’re in Groundhog Day, so stick to having each character show a different moment in time.

#3 Narrative distance is one of the arguments against this POV; however, going into Deep POV, solves this perceived problem. Deep POV silences the narrative voice and lets readers experience only what the POV character can see, hear, taste, feel or know.

This kind of immersion in a characters heart and mind is deeply emotive, but can also be tiring. It’s all right to go deep and then pull back, so you get the best of both worlds.

#4 Being able to fully step into the heart and mind of two different characters, and potentially a character of a different sex to yourself, can be challenging.
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It requires authors to spend equal time and energy developing both POV characters. Understanding where they came from, what motivates them, how they think and speak. Strive to create more than a cookie-cutter love interest and truly flesh them out.

When writing a romance story, Limited Third Person POV provides the perfect opportunity to reveal the heart’s desire for the hero and heroine equally. It creates the perfect environment for readers to develop a close enough relationship to care about what happens to both of them. To laugh with their joy and cry for their sorrow. To bite their nails in anticipation and hide their eyes from uncertainty. To fall in love with your characters and story as much as you do.

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This article was originally published on the Romance Writers of Australia blog in June 2022. 

The purpose of these exercises is to explore how it feels to write using Third Person Limited Point of View (POV).
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This POV option restricts you to one character’s heart and mind at a time, which gives readers time to engage deeply with that character’s desires and struggles. 

Choose one character whose POV you will explore. Ideally, it will be the character with the most to lose in the scene, so you can fully immerse readers in the emotional drama.

Write a scene showing only what this one character can see, hear and know. Use third person pronouns, i.e. he, him, she, her and they.

Check emotional labels
When describing how other characters feel, make sure the POV character doesn’t make assumptions by saying they are angry, sad, annoyed, etc. because they can’t possibly know what is going on in someone else's head or heart. Instead, show what the other characters are doing and have the POV character make assumptions about how they feel.

No – Bob knew Jenny was sad.
Yes – Jenny’s lower lip twitched, tears welled in her eyes and she sniffed. Bob handed her a tissue.

Check POV descriptions
Remember, the POV character shouldn’t describe how they look because they can’t see themselves (unless they’re looking at a reflection). Instead, describe how they feel.

No – Bob blushed.
Yes – Bob felt his cheeks heat, mortified at being caught in the act.
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Check for head hopping
Make sure you haven’t inadvertently written what another character feels/thinks.
Also, check that you don’t change to another POV character too often. Try to stay in one character’s head for a significant part of a chapter.

Take a look at what you’ve learnt about limiting your view to one character and how this compares to other POVs you have tried.
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Once you have completed this exercise, leave a comment below to share your experience and how it has helped your writing craft or story. 

Are you tired of struggling through your novel alone? Book a Storytelling Clarity chat with Sandy Vaile and get clear about your next best steps. 

Are you sometimes bamboozled by all of the choices and subtleties of story Point of View (POV)?

You’re not alone. POV is one of the most common errors in fiction manuscripts and even after reading explanations, authors are often still unclear. Should they choose first person, second person, limited third person or omniscient? Which one is right for their story? The mind boggles.

Today we’re going to explore the difference between Point of View and Perspective and the whole reason behind applying them to fiction. I’m not going to go into the different types of POV or how to use them, but will:

• Make a case for why it’s important to get them right; and
• How they can affect your story. 

In the early 19th century the omniscient POV was common place and was used by many of the great literary masters, i.e. Charles Dickens and Leo Tolstoy, but by the end of the same century it had become frowned upon and called intrusive. By the early 20th century novelists were even swapping between multiple POV in the same book. In the 22st century Deep POV has become increasingly popular, particularly in the romance-based genres.

My point is that the popularity of different POV changes over time, is different in each genre and is often more a judgement call than rule. So do yourself a favour and relax in relation to choosing what’s right for your story.

Some of the rubbish I’ve heard:

• “You should never use the omniscient POV.” Well, J.K. Rowling is doing it well and making a killing from it.
• “Don’t mix different types of POV in the same novel.” Nobody told Jodi Piccoult this when she alternated between first and third person in “Plain Truth”.
• “First person POV is only for Young Adult or Romance stories.” Apparently Conan Doyle didn’t know this when he published the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. 

POV is the vantage point of the narrator
​(who is telling the story).

It might be a single character, multiple characters, someone who isn’t even in the story or an all-seeing narrator. The type of POV you choose will determine how much the narrator can see/know and how close to the action they get.

For example:

• In the first person POV an individual character tells the story, but can only see, hear, feel, touch, taste and know what that characters does. The reader is brought right into the mind of this character and experiences the world as they do.
• In the third person limited POV a narrator is telling the story looking at an individual character. Again, the reader can only experience the world through that character.
• In the third person omniscient POV, the narrator is a God-like being who sees, hears and knows everything about every character in the story. This adds a certain distance from the action because the narrator is sitting above the story looking at everything at once, rather than going deep inside one character.   

When a writer breaks POV (starts letting the reader see/know things the narrator couldn’t possibly see/know) it distracts the reader from what’s important in the story and tends to prevent them from having a close association with the narrator.

Perspective is how the narrator and characters view and experiences the story world.

The character’s perspective will determine how they view their surroundings, react to situations, process information and make choices about actions to take. Everything that makes up a person, e.g. their past experiences, upbringing and influences, will all affect how the POV narrator experiences and reacts within the story.

For example:

• Even though the reader will only experience the story through the POV narrator, all of the characters will have their own perspective of what is going on in the story world, which is affected by their own past experiences and beliefs.
• A character’s attitude towards others will be influenced by past interactions with them, things they’ve heard about them and stereotypical beliefs.
• The things they notice in their environment will depend on their interests and knowledge, e.g. a plumber might notice a leaking tap, a detective might notice blood on a kitchen knife, a house-proud person might be annoyed by the tilting picture on the wall.
• The way a character reacts to a situation will depend on their temperament, past experiences and beliefs. A straight-laced Sunday School teacher isn’t going to react to an abusive drunk in the street, the same way as a teenager who is beaten by his drunk father on a daily basis.  

​When a writer doesn’t delve deep enough into their character profiles, it can cause them to feel two dimensional to the reader. The result is characters who lack motivation to drive their actions, which makes the story fall flat. 

So, every time a character moves through you story world, put yourself in their shoes and consider their perspective. As you plan a scene, think about what they would see and know, why they would behave a certain way and what is causing them to make choices and take actions. Each one will have a a different perspective.

Then, when you come to write the scene, think about who the POV narrator is and what they can realistically see, hear, feel, taste and know. Stay within these boundaries as you write, which means that some characters will only ever been seen from an external view and others the reader might get to experience up close and personal.
 
Although Point of View and perspective and interrelated, they are different aspects that work together to keep the reader’s attention focused on the important parts of the story and strengthen their understanding of the characters in play. It’s important to write within the boundaries of your chosen POV, to keep readers focused on the right information, and within each character's perspective, to keep readers engaged. 

The most important rule to remember with POV is, be consistent.  

This article was originally published in the Hearts Talk magazine, September 2021 edition. 

By Sandy Vaile

​I used to think Deep Third-person Point of View (DPOV) was one of those tricky sixth-sense kind of concepts that only the Dalai Lama understood.

Have you ever had feedback that says ‘author intrusion’ or ‘lacks emotional punch’? Have you heard DPOV mentioned in literary circles, but figured it was only for writers of erotic stories? Did you see DPOV fly past at a workshop, but weren’t able to catch hold of it? Then breathe easy, because I’m here to reassure you that DPOV is something already lurking on your pages, you just have to learn to identify and make the most of it.

Deep POV is a relatively recent concept (the last couple of decades), but it is all the rage, particularly in romance literature.

Clearing up any confusion
First up I want to promise that you don’t have to learn a new POV. Unfortunately, I don’t have the space to discuss the pros and cons of the different POVs, so I’m going to assume you understand how to write in third person POV, as most romance stories are told.

When you’re writing in the third-person subjective (showing the story through one character at a time), DPOV is simply a way of bringing the reader even closer to your character, which will result in a strong emotional response. And that’s a good thing!

So what is it?
Rather than telling the reader the story, DPOV is a way of moving them closer to the POV character, and using her senses so the reader can experience it through her. Pretend for a moment that you’re watching your POV character ¾ let’s call her Alice ¾ through the lens of a movie camera. Alice is strolling through a lush, tropical garden, reaching out to touch a bright orange Bird of Paradise flower.

Now zoom the camera in so that you are sitting on Alice’s shoulder, where you can better see the textures of the plants and the vivid blue centre of the flower. But you still haven’t reached DPOV.
It’s time to put the camera down and use your magic powers ¾ otherwise known as an imagination ¾ to transport yourself into Alice’s mind. Now you can feel the prickle of the grass under her bare feet, see the waxy texture of the stiff, orange flower, hear the musical lilt of the nearby creek flowing through the gorge, smell the damp moss on the stones, and when she licks her lips, taste the remnants of the chocolate she has been sucking.

Do you see what DPOV has achieved? Rather than watching Alice’s life unfold, you are experiencing it as she does.

Why bother?
Ideally you don’t want readers to notice how cleverly you’ve used the language, because you want them to be so engaged with your character, that they are completely immersed in her thoughts and sensations. The danger of not fully engaging the reader, is that they won’t feel emotionally invested in the story, and are more likely to walk away from it.

​Getting into your character’s head
It’s important to know your character intimately, so you will know how she thinks, feels and acts. You can do this by understanding what she thinks and feels, and why, where she came from and where she’s going, and events and persons who have influenced her. The deeper your character development, the more likely you are to be able to experience the world the way your character would.

If each of us entered the same lounge room, we would experience it differently because of the influences of our life experiences, hopes and fears. A seamstress might notice the crooked seam on the curtains, a horse-rider might notice the jodhpurs hung over a chair, a gardener would marvel at the delicate blooms on the window sill, etc.

Remember that your characters are likely to have their own speech patterns, phobias, ideas about social etiquette, etc. All of these things will add layers to your character, but their flaws especially will help readers relate to and sympathise with them.

When to use DPOV
It can feel a bit scary when you first start to explore DPOV, because it almost feels like you’re slipping into first person, but you’re not. You’re still using ‘he’ and ‘she’, but you’re getting rid of the narrator as much as possible, and just leaving the fabulous story and charming characters.

It’s not appropriate to use DPOV all the time, just as you can’t always show instead of tell. There are times when you just need to drive the story forwards, like explaining the relationship between characters, or showing a big-picture scene. But only take that route if you can’t deliver the information another way, like through dialogue or interactions. Once you get used to using DPOV, you’ll be surprised at how it will affect everything you write. One of the huge benefits is making your writing more direct, because you will get rid of superfluous filter words.

As you can imagine, it would be exhausting to feel every emotion your character feels about everything from a cup of tea to the neighbour’s new car, but you can still use DPOV by incorporating your character’s senses. Let your reader see, hear, smell, touch and taste the environment as your character interacts with it.

Let’s talk tactics
DPOV makes your words work harder. Not only are they telling a story, but everyone is chosen carefully to layer in character development, emotions, tone, themes and attitude.
For example, instead of: Bob decided that this dawn signalled a new start for him.
Dig deeper: Bob threw open the door and sucked in a lungful of crisp mountain air. It was the     best air he’d ever breathed. No city fumes or skyscrapers blocking the sun, and best of all, no          Jenny strangling him with impossible rules and requirements.
So, do you have to use italics when you’re in a character’s head? If the character wants to break from third-person POV and think ‘I did this’, then yes, but the beauty of DPOV is that this is hardly ever necessary, and that helps the story to flow.

Don’t pre-empt actions and feelings, just show them happening.
Instead of: Sally’s skin began to prickle, and she wondered when the snarling dog would attack.
Try: Sally’s skin prickled. The snarling dog stalked closer, muscles bunch, haunches lowered, ready to launch at her.

Steer clear of passive voice, which is telling the reader that something is being done to someone, rather than by your character.
Instead of: Her face was stroked.
Try: He stroked her face.

Drawing on your own experiences and emotions can be helpful to really immerse yourself in the world of your character. The situation your character is in may be different, but you’ll be able to draw on the details you remember of a time, place or event, and the emotions they evoked for you.
[Top Secret: I find “The Emotional Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression” by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, a very helpful tool when I run out of different ways to show similar emotional responses.]

Many romance writers alternate between the hero and heroine’s POVs. If you do this, keep in mind that you want to experiencing the story through the character who has the most to lose, or will be most affected at that time. While you are in a character’s head, remember that you can only view the world as he/she genuinely would.

Using a lot of dialogue tags is another reminder that the reader is being told a story. Sure, they are necessary sometimes, but don’t overdo them. Quite often you can use language and movements that the reader associates with that character.

One of the most helpful things I learnt was to banish any distancing words, because they immediately let the reader know they are being told a story, rather than just letting them experience it. They also make your writing less direct, which provides yet another opportunity for your reader to wonder if there is still a piece of cake in the fridge, and put your book down.

Here are some examples of distancing words: saw, watched, thought, wondered, felt, seemed, looked, almost, noticed, realised, decided, heard.
Instead of: Alice felt sad at leaving her sister, Liz, behind.
Try experiencing it through her: Alice blinked furiously to stymie her tears, and waved as Liz raced along the train platform. It was only for a year, and Liz was old enough to fend for herself now. She hoped.

The second example uses DPOV to let the reader experience what Alice’s emotions feel like, with the added bonus of providing more insight into her hopes and fears.
Instead of: Alice heard footsteps behind her and turned to survey the dark alley.
Try: There it was again; a muffled footstep. Alice whirled around and glared into the dark mouth of the alley, heart thumping a staccato beat.

DPOV is all about weaving a character’s senses and emotions through the narrative. By inviting your reader right into the minds and hearts of your characters, you will allow them to experience the characters’ hopes and fears, exhilarating first kisses and heart-wrenching losses. For a little while the reader will be completely immersed in the story, and remember it long after he/she puts the book down.
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I hope I have demystified DPOV and made you feel comfortable using it.