What Point of View is For You?

By Maureen L. Bonatch 

We all have different reasons for choosing the types of book that

Some of my daughter's books and her TBR list.

we like to read. Perhaps the reason is just that you love a good story, no matter what the genre or what point of view (POV) it’s written in. I’ve written, and read, in third person POV as well as first person POV. 

I must admit that my favorite is usually first person POV. 

Many people have told me that they don’t care for first person POV for various reasons. Perhaps it’s because they’re only getting one person’s perception of how the story unfolds. They want to see what the hero thinks, or they're frustrated by the limits first person places on revealing things to the reader since we learn them with the heroine or hero. 

I’ve found that one of the main reasons I love first person POV goes a little deeper.

Save Your Penny

You may have heard the old idiom, “a penny for your thoughts”. Well, I’ve always been interested in what other people are thinking or how their mind works. I spend too much time observing others and analyzing what they are thinking, and why. The mysteries of the mind completely fascinate me. Hence why I spent many years working as a psychiatric nurse, and perhaps one reason why I started writing novels in first person POV.

I often think I know why someone does what they do, or what prompted them to act in a certain way, but I’ll never know for sure. It’s difficult enough to determine our own motives sometimes, let alone others. 

But when you’re writing, or reading, a story in first person you can examine and explore someone else’s thought process. 

Any book provides you with a chance to explore an exotic adventure, or another place, and escape, but with first person it just feels so much more intimate to me. It’s almost as if you’re discovering the secret intricacies of the mind. Therefore, the stories I write in first person usually intertwine the story with the character’s emotional struggles.

It Takes Two POV

The books I write in third person POV are usually more fun and

sexy. Perhaps that’s because most of us view other’s lives through rose-colored glasses. Always thinking perhaps their grass is always greener and their lives are fuller since we don’t have the entire story.

We see what they want us to see as we look on in their story. Sometimes that’s enough. 

What About You? Do You Have a Favorite Point of View?

Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in small town Pennsylvania and her love of the four seasons—hockey, biking, sweat pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. Find Maureen on her website, Facebook& Twitter