Before You Submit: Point of View Goal

Do you have a draft of your novel or short story and are thinking of submitting to an agent, publisher or writing contest? My series called Before You Submit might help. The series contains hints and tips I’ve learned from professionals in the publishing industry that I’d like to share.

See Before You Submit:Likeable Characters for the first blog in this series and an introduction the benefits of submitting even if you get a rejection letter.

This week I’ll give you questions to ask yourself for each scene in your novel when you are thinking about your Point of View (POV) character. The POV may be the same throughout the novel, change per scene, or change within a scene. However you structure your novel, the following questions can help ensure you POV character is active and interesting.

What is the goal of the scene POV?
What hinders the goal?
How is the goal important to the overall story?
How does the goal move the story forward?
What happens if the POV character doesn’t succeed?

By answering the questions you might surprise yourself and come up with new ideas for your plot. You may find areas where you can deepen the character, intensify the action, or dare I say it, cut a scene.

Thanks for reading . . .