The Story Works Guide to Writing Point of View: How to harness the power of POV and write amazing narratives.

by Alida Winternheimer

Point of view is the most important element of story craft for any writer to understand. A story's point of view is the first thing a reader encounters, whether aware of it or not, and it defines the story. That means the wise writer will learn to control her story's point of view from word one. Fortunately for wise writers everywhere, author, writing coach, and renowned editor Alida Winternheimer takes a hands-on approach to this behemoth of story craft. In The Story Works Guide to Writing Point of View, she breaks the whole into manageable parts and delves deep, providing loads of examples that make the abstract concrete and the intangible tangible. In each chapter, Alida provides you with exercises designed to guide you to mastery. You'll come away from reading this book with an understanding of point of view and how it functions in any story, but most importantly, how it functions in your stories. "Those of you who agonize over point of view decisions have in front of you the definitive guide to point of view you've always wanted. Not only will Alida teach you how to improve your handle on first and third person and every variation between, but you'll also find that her lessons take some of the fear and pain out of the writing process by helping you understand why to make certain choices, how to avoid common pitfalls in point of view, and how to use your strengths to your advantage. For the other type of writer, those driven by instincts, Alida will educate and inform you. You don't know what you don't know, after all. Here's your master class. A great freedom comes from knowing your options. Even if you continue crafting stories based on your instincts, you'll now do so with a well of wisdom at your fingertips." --M.G. Herron Author of The Auriga Project

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

Published May 30, 2017

Reviews

[Eustacia Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was (and am) so excited about this book! I really liked the first one, and since I still can't afford to hire Alida a second time, this is the closest that I can get to learning more from her. Like with the previous book, this is a review copy.

Like the title says, this second guide in the story works series is all about point of view (POV). This story is a very thorough guide of the basics - what is point of view (hint: it's not just the narrator), what are the types of point of view and which point of view you should choose. It sounds short when I sum it up in one sentence, but it's actually a very hefty book because Alida goes into immense detail. And at the end, she goes through some common mistakes writers make with point of view and how they can fix it. And like the previous book, this one has lots of examples and exercises so that you can use this book as a textbook of sorts.

So I won't go into too much detail but basically, POV consists of:

1. Person (Is it "I", "He/She", "You", "They","We" - the later few are very rare though)
2. Tense (past or present)
3. Number (is it a single POV or are there multiple or perhaps even an omniscient narrator?)
4. Distance (are you close to the POV character or are you a bit more distant)

What I liked about this book is that each chapter is very focused, so you can go back and focus on things that you don't quite grasp. While I normally read everything once through, for non-fiction (and especially books that I want to use as references), having the chapters be very focused makes it easier for me to go back and find information, instead of having to go through the entire book to piece together the same thing.

I would recommend this book to all authors who are looking to improve their craft. If you're a beginning writer, this is a very good and solid introduction to point of view. If you're an experienced writer, this is a good referesher with exercises that might help you work out a story problem.

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from Alida in exchange for a free and honest review. I've also hired her as an editor once and was very happy with her services.

This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile

[Monica T. Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read many books on the craft of writing. Several have addressed the facets of point of view. But I haven't found a book that so directly and thoroughly addresses the role of the narrator in point of view as this. I realized while reading that I had very little understanding of the narrator and how to use it. I will have to read this again (and do the exercises!) to fully absorb the lessons on how to use your narrator.
The book discusses the differences in the various points of view and how to use each to its fullest with examples and exercises. Even if you think you understand point of view, you'll learn something (and probably a lot!) from this book.

[Mary Ellen Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a thorough, well-written, well-organized guide to how point of view should be considered when writing fiction. It is as useful to the writer as was Alida's previous work on character, which if you have not read you should. Both books are similarly organized topically by chapter each with examples and exercises.

Alida makes fine distinctions thus clarifying terminology that is often muddled by misuse on the part of other writers and editors. She delves into each element of point of view explaining not only how to construct a point of view but also why and when that point of view is the best choice. She gives clear definitions, examples to illustrate, exercises to practice and pitfalls to avoid for each point of view.

This book gives the novice writer a better understanding of how to effectively craft point of view in their writing and the experienced writer new ways to examine their own use of narrative constructs. This book will help every writer to better understand and practice the craft of writing fiction.

I felt some of the examples were a bit lengthy and found myself having difficulty focusing once I felt I had gotten the point. I found the last chapter on how to fix problems a bit unnecessary since I felt like most of the information had already been adequately covered in earlier chapters. Others may find the length of the examples and the final chapter useful. That said, it is hardly criticism since one would always prefer too much information to not enough when purchasing such a book.

I look forward to the next book in Alida's series. Her work helps other writers become better at the craft of writing fiction no matter what medium she uses to convey the information. If you are a writer I highly recommend you purchase this book and the previous one on character as well as subscribing to her podcast and follow her blog.

[TM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical, great exercises, easy to understand

On the face of it, this should be a quick read. But if you stop to do the exercises, you'll take a few days longer and get way more than a few days' value from spending that extra time. Love the chapter summaries, glossary, and examples!

[A.M. Bochnak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another book I only read select chapters. Overall it looked good should you need improvement with POV.