Prompt #21

The scariest thing about prose, to me, is deciding the point of view. I keep rewriting the first line of a short story because I can’t decide whether to say, “I fell in the pool,” “She fell in the pool, “You fell in the pool,” the “Royal WE fell in the pool.” (There’s not really a pool; this is just an example) I decided to just play around with it as an exercise and see what feels right. So, that is what we are focusing on today: Point of view! If you have no idea what I’m talking about (frankly, I needed a refresher, here’s a crash course)

In the medium of your choice, write something from your point of view of choice for 5 minutes. Then, do the same thing (same scene, theme, event, etc.) from a different POV. So, if you write a scene from character A’s point of view, do the same scene but switch to an omniscient narrator, character X’s point of view, or the point of view of the dog at their feet or the fork in their hand. Switch it up however you like, and see how the piece changes.**

Set your timer for 10 minutes and write! If you have more than 10 minutes of writing in you, repeat the exercise as many times as you like.

*** Note: this is also a useful character development exercise if there are characters in your own work that you are trying to get to know better! Write a sample scene with a few characters in it and play around until you nail their voices and perspectives:)

Share this post to write with a friend!

I’m watching Couch-ella! Aka, the Coachella live stream from the comfort of my home. Festival season is my last remaining source of serotonin, especially when I don’t have to trek to the desert myself!

I’ve been reading about linguistics lately, so this piece from about “Yeah”s, “Ya”s, and “Yea”s was fun. The piece does not cover “Yar” which is a personal fave.

I’m listening to the new Bleachers album.

How did it go? Let me know in the comments!