Often writers will have an idea for a story, its plots, and its characters, but before their fingers hit the keyboard or their pen races across the page, they should determine how to best tell that story.

Choosing a point of view shapes how you—and your reader—experience any narrative. Imagine how different The Great Gatsby would be if told as a 1st person account by Gatsby. Or what if Gone Girl had been told through a 3rd person omniscient point of view?

In this class, we will read and discuss excerpts of published works that utilize all the points of view available to writers—even 2nd person. We will consider how point of view impacts the narrative experience of these pieces, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the various points of view, and complete writing exercises that will give us the opportunity to “try on” different perspectives as we determine which one is the best fit for our work.

TAKE THIS CLASS IF

• You feel that your novel or story’s narrator isn’t getting the job done.
• You sense that there are other ways that your novel or story could be told.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT THIS CLASS

• “Examples and discussion of the examples brought the lesson home.”
• “The writing prompts were excellent.”
• “Stephanie is such a nurturing, candid instructor.”

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR