Writing a crime novel - mastering point of view (POV)

Getting the right point of view (POV) in a novel is one of the hardest thing for a writer to grasp. You need to ask yourself whose story is it? You might think it fairly obvious that it is the protagonist’s story but is it his (or hers) alone? Or do you need to switch to telling the story from another character’s point of view i.e. is it single point of view or multiple point of view? Is it male or female, or a mixture of both? Beware the latter though and having too many points of view because that will not only muddle the story and slow it down but it will also confuse you, and more importantly the reader.

The purpose of the crime or thriller novel is to excite and intrigue, sometimes also to scare, therefore having too many points of view, i.e. switching to different characters every so many pages or chapters can bog it down.

 

First person or third person?

Sometimes it is a matter of trial and error or rather experimentation. When I wrote IN COLD DAYLIGHT, a crime thriller, I originally wrote it in the third person. It was only when I had finished the novel that I knew it didn’t feel right. It didn’t have enough tension, so I decided to re-write it switching to first person and it worked much better. I also found the same with another thriller that of IN FOR THE KILL.

Thrillers are frequently written in the first person to give them a faster-pace.

Third person multiple point of view

Writing from third person multiple point of view opens up more possibilities. You can switch to telling the story through other characters’ eyes, showing their thoughts and emotions. However, care must be taken not to have too many characters telling the story and switching too frequently from one character to another because this will result in losing the emotional intensity of the story and irritating the reader. Just when they’ve got inside one character’s head they’re pulled away to another.

If you decide to have more than one point of view it is best to switch character viewpoint at the beginning of a new chapter or passage, and every few pages, not on the same page and not too frequently.

Are you writing from the male or female point of view?

When I first started writing I wrote from the female character's point of view but as I continued I found myself far more attracted to telling the story from the male character's point of view. When I created the flawed and rugged detective, DI Andy Horton, in the first of the Horton series, Tide of Death, I knew then that I had found my ‘voice’. Everything began to fall into place.

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