Pov? For most people in a profession that provides a work related vehicle, this acronym refers to a Personally Owned Vehicle. That’s not what we’re discussing.
To writers of course, this means Point Of View.
I own a few of the “how to write” books. I know a lot about writing, but I’m always interested in learning more.
Seriously.
I think if Writer’s Digest wrote to me and told me they were getting rid of 1000 books in their warehouse and did I want them, my answer of course would be “Yes!”
One of the first articles on writing that I read stated your first obvious question when planning your book is, “First or third person?”
Huh?
No, that’s not really a question at all. The obvious answer is your book is going to be third person.
Why?
Second hand is remarkably difficult to pull off. It would be very satisfying to the reader (“You raise the key, staring at it…”), but the impossibility of it is suspension of disbelief in that book would be incredibly fragile. The first time you write something that the reader would actually NOT do will break the book.
Wait, now that I’m writing this, I just figured out how to do it. I HATE it when I blog! Too many good ideas!
Argh.
Getting back to my digressed point (Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike “Catcher in the Rye”?), the problem with first person books is you have to make a protagonist that everyone can relate to right off the bat. They’ve got to have vulnerabilities that the reader understands.
First person books tend to be much less popular with readers, so you’ve REALLY got to write something good for them to enjoy!
So, the obvious question is third person.
Solved. You can continue planning your book.
