Why do you write your books using only one point of view?

by Stephanie Morrill

Stephanie writes young adult contemporary novels and is the creator of GoTeenWriters.com. Her novels include The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series (Revell) and the Ellie Sweet books (Playlist). You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and check out samples of her work on her author website.

Last Friday, I shared on my author blog that I'm releasing a novella written from Abbie Hoyt's perspective. Abbie is the younger sister of Skylar Hoyt, and when we met her in the Skylar series, she was fifteen and pregnant. The series ended after Abbie had her baby, but still in a rather open-ended way. After several years of receiving emails from readers asking about Abbie, Chris, and Owen, I found myself longing to write more of her story, and this novella is the result.

Throwing Stones will be available for free February 14th on my website. Read a description of the story here.

But why did a character as popular and ensconced in conflict as Abbie was in the Skylar series did she not get a turn to speak in the original books? Why was the whole series told from Skylar's point of view (POV)?

And the same question could apply to the Ellie Sweet books. Why is it just Ellie? Why not give her friend Lucy a chance to weigh in on things? Why not let Chase and Palmer get a turn? Here's why:

Um ... I just prefer one point of view.

Seriously, that's a big part of it. I write in first person because it fits my voice and my characters the best. Fortunately I write YA and first person present tense is widely accepted. (The Hunger Games, Twilight, Delirium, Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars, and every Sarah Dessen book on the shelf are all first person, single POV. Many of those are written in the present tense as well.)

I like how attached the reader becomes to the main character.

This can happen in third person, multi-POV books as well, but I think first person, single-POV books make it the easiest. (Many others disagree with me. That's okay.) When reading The Fault in Our Stars, I loved Hazel right away and didn't want to float into anybody else's head.

While you can write a first person narrative with multiple POV characters, you better make sure their perspective is worth hearing. The Help by Kathryn Stockett and The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver are the two best examples of this. In both books, a very big story is going on and each POV tells the same story from a unique angle. 

But the other thing that makes the multiple POVs work is that Stockett and Kingsolver are both phenomenal at character voice. The characters sound so different from each other that once you're into the story, you would know who was speaking even if the chapter wasn't labelled.

You can also write books in third person but one POV. The Uglies by Scott Westerfield is the first book that comes to mind.

I'm not trying to persuade you to (or dissuade from) write in first person or a single POV book, but here are a few negatives about writing books with a single POV:

If the reader isn't wild about your character, they will have a very hard time liking your book because they're stuck with them the entire time. That's not to say they won't read it (I had a friend who didn't bond with Katniss Everdeen but who still read all three books) but it's more of a battle then a book written with multiple POVs. (Or omniscient, but I still don't understand the mechanics of how omniscient is different than head hopping, so don't ask me questions about it!)

If the author doesn't know the character well, the story will fall flat. It's always best to know your main character, of course, but since first person single POV is like taking up residence in another person's head ... you better understand what's going on in there.

The reader can only know what the character knows. This is the biggest drawback for writers who are considering a single POV book. No glimpse inside the villain's head. No behind-the-scenes peeks. Everything has to be interpreted through the POV character, and for some writers that can feel very suffocating as they tell the story.

For most genres, it's not the norm. If you're writing for publication, this can be a big deal. Like the romance genre typically has at least two POVs - the heroine and the hero. Often it will have the main antagonist as well. This is yet another reason why it's important to have read current books in the genre you want to write.

What POV do you normally tell your stories in?

On Wednesday, Jill will post about telling stories using multiple POVs, so make sure to come back for that.

There's still time to win Nicole O'Quigley's beautiful debut, Like Moonlight at Low Tide. And don't forget that this is the last month to earn Go Teen Writers rewards points!