#135: Mastering Point of View and Voice: Expert Tips From Gabriela Pereira Of DIY MFA

Fiction Writing Made Easy

Savannah Gilbo

Education, Fiction, Writing Tips, Arts, Bestseller, Writing, How To, Author, Writing Community, Books, Novel, How To Write Fiction, Writing Fiction, Writer, How To Write A Book

4.9 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 26 March 2024

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“You, the writer, have a bigger sphere of knowledge. You know more things than the narrator necessarily knows.” - Gabriela Pereira

In today’s episode, I ask Gabriela Pereira of DIY MFA for her thoughts on some of the most commonly asked questions I get about point of view and voice—and she shares some of her favorite tips and strategies for mastering POV and voice in your writing. Here’s a preview of what’s included:

[1:51] What's Gabriela’s advice for writers trying to choose the "right" point of view for their book?

[05:01] 3 Tips from Gabriela for mastering POV and voice in your writing.

[15:27] Using an omniscient third-person narrator may feel easier than a limited third-person but this isn’t necessarily true. We discuss how to utilize third-party omniscient without feeling dated.

[21:10] We talk about voice and Gabriela shares why she hates when people say "Find your voice".

[38:20] The takeaway from this conversation is the importance of approaching the editing process systematically. For instance, beginning with the big picture before focusing on minor sentence-level adjustments, ultimately leads to a better editing process. It is valuable to also maintain consistency in voice and POV, making sure that the writer's voice shines through for clarity and coherence of the story.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Writing is hard. Getting honest feedback shouldn't be.
0:03.2	If you're looking for a way to get honest and safe feedback on your unpublished manuscript,
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0:15.0	and then after those readers have read your manuscript and editor curates a comprehensive report of insights and suggestions for your next draft, all in 30 days or less.
0:24.0	And the best part, they've agreed to give you my lovely listeners 15% off the price of a
0:28.8	manuscript report during the month of March.
0:31.4	So to claim your discount and to get honest
0:33.4	and save feedback on your unpublished manuscript,
0:35.9	go to Savannah Gilboo.com forward slash the spun yarn
0:39.1	and use code Savannah Gilboe at checkout.
0:41.7	So the thing with point of view, like the most important thing
0:45.3	to understand, to really wrap your head
0:47.4	around what point of view is and how it works,
0:50.1	is you have to understand that it's all about sphere of knowledge.
0:54.0	So like the narrator, the entity that's telling the story,
0:58.2	has a certain sphere of knowledge.
1:00.2	You, the writer, have a bigger sphere of knowledge.
1:03.0	You know more things than the narrator necessarily knows,
1:05.6	because you need to know all of those things
1:07.0	like who your character's third grade teacher was
1:09.2	and all of that stuff,
	...

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