Summertime POV Class Recommendations
I’ve taken many craft classes dedicated to the topic of point of view (POV). In this blog post, I’ll share favorites you can take in July and August.
Do you struggle to determine your story’s POV? I once took a writing class with Michael Cunningham, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Hours, and asked how he selects a point of view for his stories. He responded with this advice: use the first POV that occurs to you in the first draft, and that’s the right one.
I admit I don’t always take Michael Cunningham’s advice (I’ve re-written my novel-in-progress in multiple POVs to test them all out), but I appreciate its simplicity and guidance when applied to the complex crafts of writing and storytelling. Through POV craft classes, I’ve sharpened my narratives using three advanced techniques taught by various instructors:
Identify when and where in time the narrator is telling the story (stance),
Define characters’ world views (perspective), and
Develop a flexible storyteller (psychic distance).
Here are some of my favorite teachers of POV and their upcoming and ongoing classes that cover these techniques:
Tim Weed’s two-part POV series on Psychic Distance (July 9) and Degrees of Omniscience (August 6) at GrubStreet. Tim’s a master at breaking down small portions of novels and leading fine-toothed analysis on how POV influences a story’s narrative drive. Check out his other classes, too.
Kayla Degala-Paraíso’s July 22nd class, The Art of Multiperspectivity at GrubStreet. I recently took my first class with Degala-Paraíso, and liked her polished, organized style and discussion so much that I promptly enrolled in this one. If you miss it this summer, Kayla’s teaching an encore of The Art of Multiperspectivity on October 22nd.
Jackie Cangro’s POV class, taught at GrubStreet and The Loft; check her website for the next offering and other online and on-demand classes. As an editor, instructor and writer, Jackie considers the connection between POV and character development. Jackie will be teaching master classes and moderating Choosing POVs for Your Story, a panel at the July San Francisco Writers Conference. She’s also a member of the distinguished faculty at the Stockholm Writers Festival in August.
I’m staying local this summer, so won’t be attending the Stockholm Writers Festival, but I hope to in the future. For now, between sunshine and family plans, I’m conducting some final research for my novel. This includes visits to regional farms and a family butcher shop. Check out my new batch of PNW adventure photos. Between writing classes and PNW adventures, I’ll post new pictures throughout the summer.
Find all my classes, events and submissions on my WriteGuide Calendar, and come join me in a class. See you soon!
-Wendy
