only
his senses. He knows only what he feels, hears, smells, says, tastes, and/or thinks. He does not know what anyone else thinks unless they tell him, or he infers it from something they do or say or show via their expressions.
POV should remain constant throughout any scene. To do otherwise disorients the reader and is quite annoying. (In professional jargon it's called 'head hopping.'). Anything that disorients the reader is prone to sending him away to some other writer/story.
POV should be changed only at chapter breaks or scene breaks. Not in the middle of scenes or paragraphs. Usually, it's easier at first if the whole story is written it one POV, but not always.
When changing POV, make it obvious that the POV has changed and to whose POV it changed. Example: If Jerry was the POV character, and Sue is to be the new POV, then in the first sentence maybe say
: Sue thought, Sue heard, Sue wished, Sue tasted,
or whatever is appropriate to your story. Jerry would not have thought, wished, tasted or heard exactly what Sue did, so now we know we're in Sue's head instead of Jerry's.
When you use one character as the Point of View, that is often referred to 'Close' or 'Deep' POV because the reader is close to that character. This POV has the advantage of putting the reader inside the character's head where it's easier to achieve the reader's emotional involvement with the character. (Which, as an author, is your primary goal, right?)
Old fashioned stories will sometimes be written in another POV called 'Omniscient.' At best, this POV distances the reader from the characters. At worst, it ends up being an excuse for plain old, self-destructive 'head hopping.' With Omniscient POV the viewer stands far back and watches, sort of like a god, seeing all, knowing all, but really not caring all that much about the characters or what is happening to them. Not good for involving your reader with your story.
Head hopping with POV problems is one of the greatest faults I've seen with stories from new authors. Do your best for your great story ideas & plots. Control your POV's.
Verb Tense
Verb tense must remain constant throughout the story (except when contained within quoted dialogue, thoughts, letters, documents, etc.). If it's happening now, it stays now. If it happened sometime in the past, then it stays past. Don't mix them.
Note: Present tense tends to be fatiguing to read because it's very urgent. But if you need something urgent and it's short, (as within dialogue) then use it. But don't overdo it.
Person
First person: The 'I/we' way of telling something. 'We went to the café, where I hit on the cashier again.'
Second person: The 'You' way of telling something. 'You go to a café, and there you hit on the cashier again.' Seldom works, so don't use it if you can avoid it. Mostly you see second person in cooking recipes: '(You) break three eggs, then (you) mix them with the milk and flour. (You) roll out 1/4" thick and (you) cut into 1 inch squares.' Incidentally, much of this article is 2
nd
person because it is a case of giving directions (like a recipe).
Third Person: The 'he/him/she/her/they/it/them' way of telling something. 'They went to the café where he hit on the cashier for the hundredth time .'
Keep the 'person' of your story constant. Don't wander off into mixing. Of course, it's okay, done properly, to mix within dialog and thoughts, just as it's no problem to mix tenses within dialogue and thoughts. But beware to do it right!
So there you have it. Hope all this helps you write better and earn more favorable reader response. Isn't Literotica fun?
Write On!
Chuck Lyons.
