Exploring Point of View

Point of view is one of the first things writers learn about creative writing, yet it’s also one of the hardest things to master. It involves at a minimum: choosing the right POV for your story, making sure you don’t break the guidelines of that POV and inadvertently take readers out of the narrative, but also experimenting with POV to better serve your story … It’s a lot to consider and in this issue, we explore it all. 

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Articles include:

+ All About Omniscience: Using an omniscient POV adds perspective and tension to a story, but using it incorrectly can feel contrived and leave readers bored. This article offers tips for employing it skillfully. By Jordan Rosenfeld

+ Plotting with an Unreliable Narrator: Introducing an untrustworthy storyteller into your plot can open up avenues to surprise your readers. Here are five ways to put this strategy to work. By Jane K. Cleland

+ Through the Eyes of the Beast: Including nonhuman POVs in your novel can shed light on the world in new and interesting ways. This article offers advice for what to consider when writing unusual POVs. By Sarah J. Sover

+ Double Duty: Showing Character Development Through Dialogue: Expanding the idea of POV to include not just how a story is told, but how a character views and experiences the world, and how that can develop and change over the course of a story, this article offers five tips for using dialogue to aid POV. By Aigner Loren Wilson

+ Is it Memoir, Personal Essay, or Prescriptive? Understanding how POV differs in these types of personal narratives is crucial to telling the most powerful and effective version of your story. William Kenower helps writers determine which is best for their goals. By William Kenower

+ WD Interview: Marlon James: Following Black Leopard, Red Wolf, the highly anticipated second novel of Marlon James’s Dark Star Trilogy, Moon Witch, Spider King, releases in February 2022. In this interview, James talks about creating the mythology behind his “African Game of Thrones” and much more. By Jera Brown

+ WD 29th Annual Self-Published Book Award Announcement: Announcing the winners for each genre category and featuring a profile of the Grand Prize Winner, Zenda M. Walker for her children’s picture book, Know Your Hairitage: Zara’s Wash Day. By Michael Woodson

+ New Column Alert! “All Ages” will bring regular coverage to topic of writing for children and young adults—writing that we believe can and should be enjoyed by adults as well. Rotating between picture books, middle grade, and YA writing, this column will cover both craft and publishing topics for this field. The inaugural column covers the details and importance of effective picture book page turns. By Ryan Van Cleave

This issue also includes articles on how using beta readers can give writers a different point of view of their own work, best tips for interviewing from WD Editor-at-Large Tyler Moss, and debut novelist Amanda Jayatissa talks about how writing her sometimes unlikeable narrator in My Sweet Girl allowed her to see the world differently. Plus, all of your favorite columns: Meet the Agent, Funny You Should Ask, Publishing Insights, All About the Pitch, Level Up Your Writing (Life), and the second installment of our new world-building column from Managing Editor, Moriah Richard. 

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