I realized in class on Tuesday through our In-Class Exercise how important the point of view is for a story. My two writings of the same childhood memory were so incredibly different when written in two different point of views. It made me re-think how I was writing my fictions story, but I think I like the tense it is written in so far.
In reading the chapter entitled “Call Me Ishmael” in Writing Fiction, I came across a very valid point that I have never really thought about before. When deciding what point of view to use for your piece of writing, you are also deciding to whom your story is being told. A story could be speaking to another character or group of characters in the story, and we ourselves are just overhearing what is going on. This could add complexity to a story seeing as how the reader may have a sense of mystery when reading a story in which he/she is simply overhearing what is going on. He/she may wonder at times if all the information is coming across or if something is being left a secret that he/she must figure out.
A story though, could also be written as a sort of diary, where it is being spoken to “the self.” This type of story would involve a large amount of intimacy between the character and the reader since the reader knows everything about the character speaking. Overheard thoughts, though are called interior monologues. Interior monologues allow the reader to follow a character’s thoughts in the exact sequence that he/she thinks them.
