DearEditor - Page 218

Which POV Is Best for Fiction Starring Talking Animals?

Dear Editor…

Main charac & plot w/talking animals. Secondary: humans. 1st or 3rd ltd?

Trudy

Dear Trudy…

You’re feeling to the point today, aren’t you? Well I’m feeling in the mood to fill in the blanks. The way I figure it, you’re asking which point of view is the better choice for a piece of fiction starring talking animals. Third person POV is probably more common for novels with animal protagonists, but that didn’t stop Elise Broach from choosing first person for Masterpiece, her lovely novel about a beetle who creates fine art. Compare that with Charlotte’s Web, wherein E. B. White used third person to legendary success. Ultimately, your story and style can’t be dictated by others’ choices, so you need to sort out which feels most natural for you to write and which offers you the most promising storytelling options. That calls for experimenting. Write one chapter in third person, then rewrite it in first. If you don’t feel an immediate affinity for one choice, keep writing chapters in both POVs until you find that you look forward to working on one more than the other.

Happy writing!
The Editor

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