POV

A number of people have asked in social media variations on “what’s the best point of view to write a story?” The answer to that is always, “What’s best for the story?” In other words, do what the story demands. If you have to write about someone and have a very close personal insight into their thought processes, you’ll need to write first person. If you need to have a broad survey of everyone in the story, write third. In all cases of those kinds of questions (POV? Past or present?) my answer is always “Do what the story demands.” For instance, Lifepod was originally about a small boy who dies. The story screamed, “I need to be in First Person Present Tense.” No other option would have worked. Of course that story morphed into a hybrid of past-switching-to-present tense, but it was all about the story. It should always be about the story. Everything there should advance the story, even if it’s a misdirection in a mystery. Sure, make the reader think, “The butler did it,” then reveal it was the maid in a surprise ending. It advances the STORY. If describing every blade of grass in a clump of sod on the roadside advances the story . . . well, DO IT. It’s all about the story. Write it. The story will tell you.