A Practice-Based Research Approach to Selecting Point of View in a Young Adult Fantasy Fiction Novel

Julia OConnor presents a practice-based research approach to selecting point of view for a Young Adult fantasy novel.

Abstract

This article presents a practice-based research approach to selecting point of view (POV) for a Young Adult (YA) fantasy novel. Recognising that POV selection is project-specific and that theoretical frameworks alone are insufficient, this research moved beyond prescriptive models to discover a point of view appropriate to the overall poetics of the novel.

I experimented with different POVs to explore which option best supported a vision for a novel that invited empathy and imagination through three elements: the ‘narrative self’, the ‘self in the story’, and the ‘gap between the two’. I ultimately found a close third-person POV  to be most appropriate, but the research process highlighted the pressures of multiple other influences such as personal preferences and abilities, genre conventions, and authorial intentions. The article concludes with reflections on the usefulness and feasibility of taking a project-specific approach to POV selection.