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Confessions of a POV Slut

By

Susan Gable

Okay, I'll admit it.  I'm a slut.

A POV slut, that is.  Geez, get your minds out of the gutter.

When I heard this issue of the Pennwriter was going to focus on POV, I just knew I had to write this article.  Okay, so what exactly is a POV slut?  A POV slut is the opposite of a POV purist.  A POV slut will change POV's within a scene, not waiting 'til the end of the scene or using an artificial scene break just to shift POV.

In a love scene, I might even switch back and forth more than once.

This method works for me.  And it works for my editor.  And that, in my writing world, is all that matters. Well, and the readers, too, but I think I'm safe to say that very few authors get letters from readers (unless said readers are also writers) taking them to task for sloppy use of POV.  Nora Roberts once said that only other romance writers ever slapped her down for the dreaded "head-hopping."

That said, I am not advocating head-hopping.  It's very distracting for the reader if they have to keep trying to figure out whose head they're in.  You want the reader to bond with your character, too, and they can't do it if you don't give them enough time with them.  Good craft is very important. 

But I'm uptight with "The Rules" people.  You know who they are.  The people who tell you it HAS TO BE DONE THIS WAY or else it's all wrong.  That you can NEVER do XYZ and sell your book.  If you've entered many writing contests, you've probably come across this person a time or two.  In romance, they say things like, "The hero and heroine must meet by page 2, or you'll never sell the book."  I'd imagine in mysteries, they probably say, "If there's no dead body by page 5, you'll never sell the book."

The POV purist says, "You MUST use ONLY one POV per scene."

Hogs' breath. (Insert your favorite oath there.)

Editors are looking for books with vividly created 3-D characters they can relate to or empathize with, or in the right case, even hate.  They are looking for plotlines that compel them to keep turning pages.

They are not looking for homogenized, sterilized, same-as-everyone-else's stories and voice.

Do you have to know the craft rules?  Yes, I'm sorry, you do have to know them before you can break them or make one choice over another.  If I didn't fully understand POV, then I wouldn't know that I'm slut, would I?  I wouldn't know when I shifted POV on purpose and when I'd accidentally slipped up.  So, make sure you read all the other informative articles in this issue and learn all about POV.

Then you can make the right choice for your story, whether it's first, second or third person, omniscient, limited third person, or whatever else is out there.

Then you can decide to be a purist or a slut.

If you choose POV slut, look me up at the PW conference.  We'll write our numbers on the bathroom walls together.

            Harlequin Superromance will release Susan Gable's first romance novel, THE BABY PLAN, in December of 2002.  The second, THE MOMMY PLAN, follows in August of 2003. Susan freely admits to knowing the POV rules and choosing to be a POV slut.  She was kidding, however, about the bathroom walls thing.  Visit her website www.susangable.com.