What's Your View Point?

Every book is told from a certain POV (Point of View). In other words, who is telling the story? A narrator, the protagonist, the villain, etc. Is it told in first person or third person narrative? I wrote Book One in the Stelladaur Series in 3rd person but when I began Book Two I subconsciously switched to 1st person. It's so weird because just as Reilly goes through a portal at the end of Finding Tir Na Nog (no, I'm not giving away the ending!!) he emerges in the first scene of Fallen Angel with a metamorphosis he wasn't expecting. Nor was I. It was like Reilly suddenly told me to step back and just let him tell the story. I didn't argue. I always try to trust my characters. I trust they know the best process for telling their story. After all, it's their story, not mine.

But POV isn't just about who is telling the story. It's also about considering each of your characters' view points--their emotions, feelings, responses, etc.--in such a way that you could actually write the story from their own POV. Get to know your characters well enough that if you write something contrary to what they would actually say or do, it will jump right out at you and scream, "What are you talking about? I'm the one who doesn't give a rip about the other guy, remember?" OR "Excuse me, but I think you have me confused with so-and-so. I would never eat a hamburger. I'm a vegetarian!" Even though you won't write everything you know about your characters, you still have to know them better than anyone else. Likewise, even though you won't share everything about yourself with most people, you must know yourself better than anyone else does. Tell your own story and be true to it.

Here's a great link to learn more about POV: http://www.fictionfactor.com/articles/pov.html