Last week in my Young Adult Fiction writing class, we talked about Point of View. We discussed the importance of keeping to a teen voice and having teen appropriate stakes. And then we looked at developing the setting, adding details and how to keep the action going, and the one thing that I noticed is that everybody does it differently. And that is what is great about writing. Yes, there are the basics, but each person makes the story their own. Usually, YA is written first-person (present or past tense) or third-person limited, but not always. And in our class we decided that whatever POV a writer chooses, they simply need to do it with purpose. With authority.
When I was writing my memoir, Back on the Court, I wrote the first draft in first-person present-tense. It felt right to me. (It took me about eight years, but it felt right). I liked the immediacy, the way a reader would be in my head, feeling what I was dealing with at the time, and hopefully relating to it in a way that could be helpful for them if they were struggling in life. And then one day I had an instructor from one of my classes tell me that they thought my book should be written in past-tense, so I spent probably four months switching it to past-tense, and making many changes to the story as I did. When I was all done with the transition to past-tense, I decided that I didn’t like it, but I did like many of the edits and changes that happened during the process.
I spent another several months switching my manuscript back to present-tense. And though I wouldn’t recommend this lengthy road to a finished manuscript, just know that every step along the way is a step in the right direction, even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time. In the end, what is important is to get your pen moving, find the Point of View that works best for you and best for your character, and keep on writing!
For more information on POV go to DEFINITION of POV
WRITING PROMPT: Write a scene from two different Points of View. (If you need a prompt for your scene, use the photo above)
