Writing Zoom: Point of View

Whose Story Is It? Exploring Point of View
One Zoom Session
Sat., Oct. 26, 2024, 9 am-12 pm MT

One important choice to make when writing a new story is deciding what point of view to use. Through what lens should the story be told? From what distance? You might decide on a third-person narration (employing “he,” “she,” or “they”) or a first-person narrator (employing “I”). Your point of view affects the overall voice of your work and determines what your narrative boundaries are. Sometimes, the right point of view comes naturally when you sit down to start a story. Other times, finding the right point of view is a matter of trying different ones, seeing what each allows, then choosing the one that fits best with what you hope to accomplish.

In this session, writer Jennifer Itell examines third person and the ranges available within it, from close to omniscient; first person, including first-person plural, direct address, and peripheral narrators; and second person, when “you” becomes a character. She also covers the relationship between point of view and psychic distance, a term coined by writer John Gardner to refer to the distance from which a story is being told. And along the way, Itell allows time for some freewriting exercises, to give you a chance to experiment with point of view in your own work.

Jennifer Itell is an avid reader, with a fondness for contemporary fiction and mysteries. Her short stories and essays have been published in Colorado Review, Witness, Crazyhorse, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, The Normal School, Literary Mama, and 5280.