What Point of View should a romance be written in?
This is my current dilemma as of two weeks ago. Sigh. I joined a local critique group and was encouraged to change my POV. My current manuscript is written in dual 1st person POV. For example, the opening chapter is written from my male character’s POV. Chapter two is written from my female character’s perspective.
Why did I do this? When I read books, I love getting the guy’s perspective. I love knowing what he’s thinking about the girl that’s either driving him crazy or driving him closer to her.
This can be done in either 1st or 3rd person. I personally prefer 1st person because I feel like I can get in the character’s head and drive the story vs telling it from a distance.
Then my critique group leaders suggested this book:
This book explains POV but also explains Deep POV. Never heard of that! Deep POV is writing to the point of “showing” vs “telling.” For example, “I felt….” is shallow POV and telling versus “my heart clenched at his words.”
This is harder to do in 1st person because part of you wants to write it diary-style and just TELL the reader what happened. “I liked her. I felt happy. I went after her.” BORING!!
The point of the book is to write in Deep POV, regardless of what POV you write in. The examples are fantastic and help you to be aware of how to round out a sentence so it’s not flat.
As far as writing, what IS the correct POV for a romance?
The book didn’t discuss that, nor did I find a solid answer when I Googled different articles. I even polled a Facebook writer’s group and was told what I had been thinking – Write what works for you.
For now, my manuscript will stay in 1st person. Why? It’s what I like to read and what naturally came out when I started writing. But the goal will be to write from a deep POV perspective versus shallow. I hope my readers will enjoy it!
What POV do you like to read a romance from?
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