You down with POV? Yeah, you know me.
When I first started reading, almost everything was in the third person. Perhaps it was the genre, perhaps it was just the time period. Whatever the reason, that’s just what I grew up with, and when I took the first tentative steps in my writing journey, it was in the third person. For the entire time I’ve been writing, that’s been the default, and as a result, it’s what I’m most comfortable writing.
However…
When I started writing my second book, something felt off. I couldn’t put my finger on it. It just lacked something. It took me awhile to figure out that the POV wasn’t serving the story.
I had, without thinking, just done what I’ve always done: writing in third person past tense.
But (without giving away any spoilers since the project is still in early stages) that’s not what this particular narrative needs. This is a story about someone having their entire worldview turned on its head, re-evaluating their choices, and grappling with the direction their life will take. Third person seemed too remote to make the emotional beats feel genuine.
So, I shifted to the first person present, and in my opinion the story vastly improved.
It’s been a challenge to find my footing in the first person present, but it’s one that I am (so far) enjoying. Not just because there’s novelty to it, but because it’s forcing me to think differently about writing. It’s make me think about how the character would describe things. It’s more inner monologuing. It’s a different approach to the relationships in the story.
I think it’s helping me become a better, well-rounded author. I guess whether that’s true remains to be seen, since I don’t have a final product yet. I’m eager to see how it all turns out.
This experience was a lesson that sometimes the story we want to tell calls for us to step out of our comfort zone, to take a big swing, and maybe do a little bit of growing. But that’s what all art is supposed to do, isn’t it? Challenge us, show us a different perspective? Books, poems, short stories, graphic novels, etc. are great ways for both writers and readers to step into someone else’s shoes, to expand their world. It’s an amazing gift we can all partake in.