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Learning How to Write: Point of View for Children's Books!
By: Lisa Brunel

Point of view would be one of the most important aspects when learning how to write a children's book, whether you are creating a picture book for emerging readers or chapter books for older children. If you do not choose the correct point of view of the character or the correct viewpoint, you could completely lose your readers. Also, if the language and overall voice does not match that of the point of view of your character your story as a whole will fail to reach the reader.

Point of view in fiction is simply refereed to as the voice your readers will hear speaking to them as they read. This could be a specific character in the story or a know-it-all narrator who can report on anything from any angle.

When learning to write for young readers, it is best to stick with the voice of the central character that the readers are more likely to connect with. Learning how to write for older children allows more freedom and creativity to play with point of view, including the option of combining multiple viewpoints within a single story. Older readers are also more capable of following omniscient narrators who tell the story from various characters perspectives from one scene to another.

Picking a Point of View Character

There are several factors to consider when determining which character or narrator should be telling your story:

1. Is there one particular character the intended reader is more likely to connect with?

2. Who is in the best position to tell the story based on their knowledge of the people and events happening?

3. Would an omniscient narrator make the story easier or more difficult to follow?

4. Are there multiple characters who could share the storyline without it becoming confusing?

Younger readers tend to prefer stories told in first person where a character is telling a rather straight forward story about their own life, but this is not always the best way to tackle the story. Some stories can be better off told from the perspective of someone not directly linked or involved in the action of the story.

Picking a Point of View

First person stories use the word "I" and tell the story directly from the mouth of one main character. All details of the story must come from what that one character knows or thinks, so you cannot go into the heads of other characters.

Second person stories narrate from an objective narrator who has limited access to a particular character's point of view. So, you are essentially still telling the story from the perspective of one character but the language uses "she/he" so the story is told with more detachment from the characters.

Those stories with a lot of characters and action could be better told from a third person omniscient, which is a narrator who knows everything about everybody and can enter any character's head at any time.

Intended Readers

It is tempting to mix different point of views when first learning how to write, switching from one scene or chapter to another. This is appropriate for older readers, but many beginning readers will have a difficult time following those switches and knowing who is speaking to them.

This is why it is extremely important to know who your intended reader is before you start and keep them in mind at all times as you are learning how to write for children.

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