

Tuesday, October 10

Day Ten: Idea to Novel Workshop: Choosing Your Point-of-View Characters

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy


Today, we’ll pick which character or characters we want to use to tell our stories.

Choose Your Point-of-View Character(s)

Odds are, the point-of-view character is going to be the protagonist, which makes choosing a point-of-view character fairly easy. But not every novel is told from a single point of view.

In mysteries or thrillers, it’s common for readers to see both sides of a tale with the protagonist and antagonist. Romances are often told from both the male and female leads. More epic tales—such as fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction—might use several characters to show various parts of the story.

To find the right point-of-view character(s) for your story, answer the following questions with your potential character(s) in mind:

1. If you don’t see that character’s point of view, what is lost?

2. Does every potential point-of-view character have her own plot or story goal?

3. How do the points of view work together to tell a larger story?

4. Which characters have the most to gain or lose?

5. Is more than one of these points of view needed?

6. If so, what do the multiple points of view allow you to accomplish?

When finished, you should have a better understand of which characters and points of view your story needs.

EXERCISE: Write down your point-of-view character(s) and explain why they make the best point of view for the novel.

Don’t forget to consider what the point-of-view character brings to the story. If the character is important enough to have part of the novel in her perspective, then she’ll directly affect plot and not be there solely to convey information to readers.

Those following along with the PYN book: Workshop Four goes into more extensive detail on the different types of point of view and their uses, and further discussions of narrative distance and filter words.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at determining your story’s theme.





  • Create compelling characters readers will love
  • Choose the right point of view for your story
  • Find the best writing process for your writing style
  • Create a solid plot from the spark of your idea
  • Craft your one-sentence pitch
  • Create your summary hook blurb
  • Develop a solid working synopsis And so much more!

Available in paperback and ebook formats.




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