Part vi. Rethinking POV

                                    

                                          
When considering or reconsidering POV, you must address two separate issues.
                          
Vantage Point
                          
One issue is the vantage point of the story: Is this character the right lens or filter for this story? Or should the story be told from a different character's point-of-view? Is this still the right consciousness for your story?
                          
In other words, will this character's POV be interesting or compelling? Is this the right mode?
                          
Put your current POV under a microscope. Would it be better to choose a different character as the vantage point? Touching back upon author Jack Smith's suggested bullet points to consider:
                          
• Whose perspective would give us a better understanding of the human condition, the human experience, human nature, human psychology?
                          
• Whose perspective would tell us the most about the nature of human relationships? Of some social or cultural practice?
                          
If you pursue the revision of vantage point, keep in mind that you might be filtering your story through the mind of a character with a different personality, a different take on the world, and a different set of expectations.
                          
Whichever vantage point you switch to, you could run into one or more of the following issues:
                          
• Character's experience of the world.
• Maturity of thinking.
• Gender attitudes.
• Class consciousness or bias.
                          
The story material itself would surely change, probably substantially, as you recase the POV with a different character.
                          
If you're questioning your narrative perspective—or perhaps you're considering two narrative perspectives instead of one—you should decide on the best possible vantage point, or vantage points, from which to tell your story.
                          
Besides the general character issues I named above, plus more—personality, traits, sensibility, and so forth—you will have to consider the following character-specific issues related to your new character or characters:
                          
• Stake in the matter at hand: Will it be the same as your present character's? What gives this character a stake in the matter?
                          
• Knowledge of certain characters, actions, and conflicts: Will this character be as likely to know as much about these matters as your present character? Is this character an insider or an outsider?
                          
• Ability to change: What will it take to make this character change? Does this character have as much potential to change, or less, than your current POV character?
                          
• Issues of sympathy/empathy: Will this character elicit a strong emotional response from the reader? Why? What will make us care about this character?
                          
It is possible that in redoing the vantage point from which your story is told, you'll end up working with a character who has a lot more going for her. She may have a greater stake in the action, she may be more likely to change, and she may elicit more sympathy from the reader.
                          
Be open to overhauling your story in this way if you think your current POV character isn't strong enough.
                          
Narrative POV
                          
The second issue has to do with narrative mode. Whichever POV you chose in writing your first draft is probably done so instinctively. It sounded right to say "I" or "he" or "she." How did you decide what sounded right? It may have been an entirely emotive reaction and hard to account for. You might not intend to change the POV, but maybe you can do something to handle it better than it is presently handled.
                          
Should your story be told in first-, second-, or third-person POV? To rethink your POV, you must also consider what each narrative POV can deliver.