How many POVs are in a story? Does the reader POV count?

I was one of those who posted on Vince's blog about the 'black moments'.  You're right, he posed a very interesting subject.  And so have you.

For the most part, I agree with everything you said.  Although, I'm a little confused about what you meant by the reader's POV.  Sorry, I guess it went over my head!   As far as the author's POV, this is really a very biased viewpoint, because the entire story was written from the author's POV (or to put it more succinct, the 'voices in their head's POV).  IMHO, authors have to be careful not to let themselves be seen in their stories.  Too much narrative ruins a good story, and would be equivalent to watching a movie that has a narrating overvoice and just doesn't let the story 'happen' naturally.  There are certain guidelines a writer uses and one very good one is writing from the five senses: taste, smell, hearing, seeing, and touching.  If these sensories are weaved in, it is often virtually impossible to remember the author during the actual reading. (Of course, remembering the author after the book is finished IS the whole idea! LOL)

Now, as a reader, I've always been most enraptured by a novel when I can't envision the author at all - when the characters are so truly alive that I forget there was actually a writer behind them.  What I dislike is being partway through a book and to obviously see the author, maybe through inconsistences such changes of haircolor or total character deviations.  Also, I cringe when an author tries to make everything obvious. Explaining details is often good, yet can get not only tedious but just plain boring.  It's as though he/she believes their readers are on a first grade level, which greatly effects the overall enjoyment of the book.  Ironically, the better the author hides his/herself, the greater the chance of generating a steady readership.

I totally agree with what you said about the H and h's POV.  Most romances lean towards the h's.  I'd really like to see more of the H's POV - romantically, of course.  Unfortunately, not all men are romantically-inclined, some are too practical and much too physical only.  However, that's not always the case.  My husband doesn't generally like to read romances, though I consider him to be quite romantic.  So, to me, that proves that, yes, an H's POV could definitely work.

Of course this is all my opinion, and not everyone will agree with me.  As I told some of the others on the 'black moment' post, some questions generate opinions rather that actual answers.  But it's still fun to speculate and bounce these subjects around! 

My Mom has been a nurse for twenty-one years, BTW.  That's a tough job.  I appreciate all of the medical profession!

Hi Nancy:

            I think the use of the term POV to refer to the reader’s experience will prove to be very confusing because POV already has a very well established meaning. I did this in my blog and it caused an immediate confusion. Here’s another way to look at this situation.  The author creates the potential for a “reading experience” with her book. It is possible that no one will ever read it and there will be no further reading experiences for that book.  More likely a reader is going to read the book. As the reader is reading the book, the reader is creating his or her “reading experience”.  Some like to think of this as the “theater of the mind”. As such, readers are active participants in the creation of the story the author wrote. 

             I teach communication courses and one of my favorite sayings is: “You may be able to control what you say, but you cannot control what people hear.”  An author can control what she writes but she cannot control the reading experience. She has a great say in the reading experience and the better communicator she is, the more likely the reading experience is going to be like the one she intended.

             As you mentioned, when you read books at different times in your life the reading experience can vary so greatly it can seem like a different book. I am reading books now that I read 30 years ago and thought I understood then. I now know that I was in no way prepared to understand those books.

             So what is an author to do?  Learn to be the best communicator possible – write in a way that has the best chance of being interpreted as the authors intends and then “grow” a fan base. Preach to the choir and grow the choir.

               About male and female POVs, I think most romance authors do a good job of this. It is very hard to sell a first person POV romance because today’s readers want to be able to get into the mind of both the hero and heroine. In fact, it is not so much male and female POVs, it’s character POVs. Authors can change and have one POV per chapter or several in a chapter with clear breaks. Done poorly this is called “head-hopping” and it absolutely destroys the story. Nothing reminds the reader quicker that she is reading a romance than having to stop and try to figure out whose head she is in.

                This gets us to another POV type category.   Who is the main character? Whose life does the story focus on?  This is probably the heroine 99% of the time. Why? Because women are the intended readers. I don’t think there would be much interest in “The Runaway Groom” where the groom was the central focus – even though the book was a multiple POV story where the reader gets to see into the heads of both the hero and heroine.

                  I hope you see here that you can use the term  "POV" to refer to four different situations and if you do that, it makes communication almost impossible to keep clear. Now with all that said, where do you want to go from here?

                 Nancy, you might be a philosopher. Medical ethics is a hot field!   

  Thanks,

  Vince

You are so right, Nancy.  I read Alan Ginburg's "Howl" when I was a naive girl of 20 and thought it was so much gibberish.  Then I read it again at 24 and found it to be so profound that it was painful.  SO the reader's experience definitely changes the way he/she reads to tale.

For instance, I was forced to read Jane Austen's books in my last two years of college prep English.  I hated her literature and would've rather pored over a current bestseller (still like those too, however).  Now, I consider P&P to be one of my favorite romances.  Also, although I used to barely tolerate Shakespeare, I now find him, and all of the medieval/Tudor period of history, to be fascinating. 

 Don't laugh at me , but I once thought Nancy Drew books were soooo incredibly deep - LOL.  Now I see them as children's books that are all basically so dittoed that Carolyn Keene probably could've written them in her sleep.  Since they were childhood favs, they still hold a special place in my heart. However, I can't read them with the same innocent interpretation.  So what you call the 'reader's POV' actually works both ways!  

 Hi Amanda:

      Funny that you should mention Nancy Drew books.   I read three of them for the first time last year. I have great respect for authors who write good children’s books. I always enjoy the Newberry Award winners. I thought the Nancy Drew books were excellent. The relationship she had with her father was very touching. I thought how wonderful it would be to have a daughter like Nancy. She also tries to be kind to the outsider children and helps poor and disabled people in her town. She is smart and brave and the mysteries are genuinely interesting. When you think of Lewis Carroll and C. S. Lewis it is easy to be in awe of children’s literature done well. There could come a time when you outgrow your favorite children’s books only to re-appreciate them decades later. Wait and see.

Thanks,

Vince