“Once you quickly and clearly establish a character’s viewpoint, you have set a baseline above which you may rise by finessing POV to your advantage. Sinking below that baseline with incessant reminders not only ignores opportunities to render your characters more vivid,” (Stephen Geez, Point of View (POV) #5: UPOVRs)
Writing Exercise: Elevating Character Viewpoint Beyond the Baseline
This exercise will sharpen your ability to establish a strong character viewpoint early and then deepen, rather than flatten, that perspective as the story progresses.
Key Techniques Illustrated by the Quotation
1. Establishing a Clear, Compelling Baseline Viewpoint – Your character’s perspective should be quickly and distinctly apparent, whether through internal thought, diction, sensory perception, or biases. A reader should immediately feel the “center of consciousness” anchoring the story.
2. Finessing POV to Add Depth Rather Than Repetition – Once that baseline is set, each new layer of perspective should enrich our understanding of the character, not simply reiterate what we already know. Strong writing refines and complicates viewpoint over time rather than rehashing the same perceptions.
3. Leveraging Subtext and Selective Revelation – A well-handled viewpoint allows room for reader inference. Avoiding unnecessary reminders of what has already been established invites readers to engage actively with the character’s perspective.
500-Word Writing Prompt
Write a short scene (500 words max) in which a character experiences a moment of realization, reversal, or contradiction in their worldview. Establish their perspective in the opening paragraphs, making it clear how they see the world. Then, instead of repeating or restating that viewpoint throughout, finesse the POV by subtly shifting, complicating, or undermining their initial stance through action, dialogue, or sensory details.
Your character might:
• Be convinced of their superiority in a situation, only to be quietly outmatched.
• Misinterpret another character’s behavior, only to recognize their mistake too late.
• Struggle to suppress an unwelcome thought or realization, even as their actions betray them.
• Experience an emotional shift (e.g., anger cooling to resignation, confidence eroding into doubt) without overtly stating it.
The key is to establish a clear starting perspective and allow it to evolve dynamically—without redundant reminders or heavy-handed exposition.
Evaluation Criteria
• Strength of Initial Baseline Viewpoint – The reader should immediately grasp the character’s lens on the world. Strong responses will achieve this through voice, specific perception, and biases, rather than direct statements like “She was always skeptical of love.”
• Evolution of POV Without Repetition – The character’s perspective should shift, deepen, or be challenged as the scene unfolds, avoiding redundancy.
• Effective Use of Subtext – The best responses will allow the reader to intuit aspects of the character’s evolving perspective rather than stating them outright.
• Economy of Language – Every sentence should add something new to the character’s perception or the scene’s momentum, rather than simply restating previous ideas.
Example of Weak Execution:
“Maya hated crowds. She always hated them. The noise, the jostling, the way people didn’t respect personal space. She grimaced as she pushed through the crowd, irritated by the noise and the jostling. It was just as she expected—too loud, too chaotic. She wished she could leave.”
(Here, Maya’s viewpoint is clear, but it never evolves. Instead, the passage redundantly reiterates her dislike of crowds rather than refining or complicating that perspective.)
Example of Strong Execution:
“Maya edged through the crowd, chin tucked, shoulders tight. The heat of a stranger’s breath near her ear made her flinch. But when she reached the far end of the station, an old woman stumbled, her bag splitting open. Coins, tissues, a yellowed photograph. No one stopped. Maya hesitated, then bent, one hand still gripping her own bag. The old woman’s eyes flicked up—brief, startled gratitude. Maya exhaled. The crowd surged again, swallowing them both.”
(This version sets up Maya’s discomfort but then refines it through action—her reaction to the old woman complicates her initial aversion. The reader sees a shift in her perspective rather than being told outright.)
Follow-Up Questions for Workshopping/Revision
1. Does the character’s initial viewpoint feel clear and specific within the first few paragraphs?
2. Does their perspective evolve over the course of the scene, or does it remain static?
3. Are there any unnecessary reiterations of the character’s viewpoint that could be replaced with action, dialogue, or subtext?
4. Where can more subtlety be introduced to let the reader infer shifts in perspective?
5. How does the final moment of the scene reflect (or complicate) the character’s initial perspective?
Recommended Reading: “The Lady with the Little Dog” by Anton Chekhov
Chekhov masterfully establishes Dmitri Gurov’s initial viewpoint—his cynicism toward women and his own emotional detachment—only to subtly undermine it through his experiences with Anna. Rather than hammering home his changes with direct statements, Chekhov lets us see Gurov’s shifting interiority through his reactions, his increasing discomfort with his own feelings, and the way he perceives the world differently as the story progresses.
Why it Works: Gurov’s perspective is clear from the outset, but Chekhov never lazily repeats it. Instead, he finesses the POV, allowing readers to experience the evolution of Gurov’s feelings rather than being told about them.
Final Notes
This exercise should take approximately two hours—one hour for drafting and one hour for refining with the evaluation criteria in mind. The goal is to develop a sharper instinct for how to establish and then elevate a character’s viewpoint, avoiding the trap of stagnation or redundancy.
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