This week: Whose Story is it? Point of View Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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Romance/Love Newsletter by Dawn
The viewpoint of the romance story is often an obvious one. The main character (hero) is the focus of the story and it's about how they get together with the love interest. Yet there can be others involved. Let's consider whose story is being told and the point of view we can use in a romance tale. |
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When it comes to writing a romance novel, It seems easy enough to pick the point of view for the character and story. The main character is the usual point of view for most of the novel with sometimes other people getting a say on occasion, like the love interest or the side character. After all, it is the protagonist's love story, right? Well, that can be the basis but there are a couple of things to consider.
Is it necessary to change point of view at all?
Well, it may or may not be needed. That depends on the character, story and how you want to write things. It can be easier if you stick to the one point of view, not having to worry about the details involved in making a change without losing or confusing the readers. On the one hand, that means you can keep to the view, emotions and struggles of just the protagonist as they struggle their way to find or accept love/romance. The downside can be that there is limitation to the viewpoint. There are things it might help for the reader to know before the protagonist does. Have to go over the story well when rewriting and editing too, in order to make sure there are no slip-ups with the single pov method.
Changing point of view can help in a story. Next is the options to consider. Again, there is one that is going to be a little more obvious with this genre. That is the love interest or romantic partner secondary character. How much we get to see from them can vary from small sections to get little details about the MC to the reader or it could be much bigger. For example, I often write what I decided to call (might be an official term for it and might not) dual point of view or dual main character romance novels. Not just romance as it works for other genres as well too. With this, large portions of the novel are told through one character (protagonist) and others parts are done through the love interest but it's a more even split. It can be tricky because it's easy to mix up who you are writing in the moment and even if you do some changing, you have to stay consistent. Know whose view you are using and not try to show something they wouldn't know. Takes work and some editing but I enjoy writing this way.
Then there are side characters who might be of help that can get some paragraphs or event a couple of chapters, depending their importance and what they bring to the table. This can be a variety of people so there are many options if you want to add a little bit of change in view for the story. You could use a friend, a family member that knows something, maybe even a rival or an ex and even a villain/antagonist depending on the type of story. So many options. The trick is being careful not to slip too often and if you're doing just a couple of short paragraphs in the middle of a chapter/story to make sure the reader knows there is a change in viewpoint. And it has to make sense for the story. If the friend point of view gives important information a couple of times that helps but it also can feel out of place or random for very little bits to have the different viewpoint while the rest goes to just the one. Helps to keep the reader in mind and consider how they might be see the story, though you can do it anyways just know some reviews may come back that pinpoint an issue with head hopping and the such.
Either way, there are some options for point of view beyond just the single character protagonist telling the story of their romance/love. How you handle the technical side, well that is for another newsletter. For now, just consider:
Whose story are we really telling when it comes to romance?
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In romance, whose story are we telling? Is it the MC, the couple, or are even more involved? What do you write?
Comment by Monty 
Always a conflict some times only in the mind.
Comment by Bikerider 
Thank you for highlighting my story, My Cabin in the Woods, in your May 31st Romance/Love newsletter.
Conflicts I've used in romance stories include: the lovers are of different religions and their parents are the antagonists: one of the characters has recently ended a relationship and the jilted character becomes the antagonist by trying to break up the couple, and a relationship that begins in a professional setting and neither character wants to lose their job. The boss and policy become the antagonist.
Comment by BIG BAD WOLF is Howling 
Not a romance, but a weird friendship story.
In a world where werewolves and vampires, shall we say, enslave humans, I have a story about a human named John, and his Werewolf master, Robert. John plans to lead an escape of the human slaves, but at the same time, doesn't want any harm to come to Robert or his family - there's complicated reasons, but a certain level of mutual respect is among them.
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Romance/Love: November 16, 2022 Issue [#11656]
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