Apparently people don't realize I've had this rant book for about four years now and they read it all in a day or two and get very confused about what exactly my best friend and I do these days. Y'all are so cute sometimes, I swear. The short answer is, I do a lot. I have a degree, but I'm working on two others and a certification. So currently I work as a content specialist at a junior high. And I waitress on weekends. And I work retail on holidays and times when there is no school or classes and such. You'd think I'd be making bank, but I got bills and shit.

And my best friend actually has four degrees and two certifications. And he's considering going back for at least his masters, but he has no time and no reason to other than the fact he just thinks he should. Right now he works three jobs too, so that's fun. But he's active duty status, so if he gets orders, that goes to one job really quickly. I like to just say he's a professional badass. 

So I'm not lying when I say we have no time. But, we're both insomniacs and instead of bitching about it, we do stuff. You should try it sometime.

But there you have it. A lot can change over the course of a four year long project, right? And if you ever wonder where I go when I take months off or whatever, that should be a pretty big clue.

Anyway, I meant to do this rant a really long time ago, but I forgot about it from putting it off too long, but I think it's important, so let's talk about: Point Of View

I guess it's been a big deal recently that you can gauge how good an author is by what point of view they use. It goes something like: Multiple First Person Points of View is complete amature, First Person is unprofessional, Third Person Omniscient is Young Adult Publication worthy, and Third Person Limited is professional.

I'm here to tell you, that's all bullshit. There is a time and a place for everything. And you can do anything you want in your writing. All the stuff I tell you not to do or you can't do, you can do it too. And under certain circumstances, in the right place and during the right time, it will work.

Don't listen to people that tell you first person is unprofessional. If your character has a really, really strong voice and they're dying to tell their story, let them! Don't do something just because you think it's publishable. Tell a story the way it needs to be told. Sometimes the characters decide. Sometimes the setting decides. Sometimes the plot. But ultimately, you have to judge which point of view you think will help you get the story out the clearest. If you can see it perfectly through a character's eyes, do it. There are plenty of published authors that write in first person and actually have literary merit on their side.

You know what I love doing? When I finish a story, if it's something that stick with me and I just don't want to let it go, I rewrite it through a different point of view. I've been working on rewriting Wilting Holly from third person to first, and it's been a challenge, but it's worth it. (Well, I say I've been working on it. I'm halfway through and haven't touched it in about three months. I was going to post it for you guys, but then life happened).

And since we all already know the actual viewpoints (first, third, second, blah blah, right? If you don't, tell me. I'll teach you. It's my job) this rant will be more about the viewpoint of different characters. You'll see what I mean when we start.

I just thought it would be neat to do this, because pretty much all the viewpoints I see are either first person for the "chosen one" or third person limited for the "chosen one" and that can get old. And sometimes it's not so obvious who should be telling a story, so I'm here to give you some people I hardly see telling the story, because maybe it's something you want to consider. Here you go:

1. The Side Kick

This one is probably the most popular "other" in the list, but it's still a good thing to try at least once. The side kick is the one that watches the action happen to "the chosen one", usually. The easiest way to explain this is by giving you direct examples, so imagine if The Hunger Games was told from Peeta's point of view. Yes, things still happen to him. He is his own character. He faces obstacles. He has to overcome the conflict. But he's not the most popular within his society. He gets to watch Katniss become the symbol of the revolution.

Or Lord of the Rings being told from Sam's point of view. Frodo is the chosen one, but Sam's right there every step of the way. And he's one of my absolutely favorite characters in text or film. He's just. Wow.

A spectacular example is Nick Carraway from The Great Gatsby. He is watching Daisy and Gatsby's tragic lovestory unfold before his eyes, yet things still happen to him. He has his own life and his own problems, but the novel's main plot isn't necessarily centered around him.

Paper Towns is kind of this way. Q kind of thinks Margo is the center of the universe, but he has so much going on in his own life.

This is one of my absolute favorite point of views to write from, because so many interesting things can happen. While you have this one, huge cental point to the plot, your character also has their own issues. There are so many ways to build such an intense, layered plot. I love it.

I get the most credit for using this in Pretty Little Bones. Carter's telling the story of Ava, and he thinks she's the most important thing in the world, but the more he talks, the more readers realize he's got his own issues. I've had so many readers come to me with theories about his subplot and I think it's awesome. You guys know how I am about dropping clues, so you can get his whole story just through what he says about her, but so many people are really interested in this.

Someone told me she'd read it three times and found a different part of the story every time and I think she was just saying that to be nice, but the point is, this is a great way to push yourself. This is a way to practice adding extra conflicts and plots. It's a way to develop characters. It's a way to drop clues. It's a way to craft multiple stories into one. And I think that's so awesome. (And I also think PLB is a bad example, but it helped me illustrate my point).

2. An Outsider

This viewpoint fascinates me. And I've been thinking about it a lot lately. It's kind of like having a third person point of view, but I think it would be cool to make that third person a first person. Like, another character. You ever wonder what your life story would sound like if someone else told it? I do. Obviously.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about what my life would look like through the eyes of my best friend's dad. Because, he knew stuff was going on between me and my best friend before another else. Hell, I think he knew before we even knew there was something there. And I think that's why I'm fascinated with this thought and with this viewpoint: it has its biases, but it's also far enough away from the main plot that it can be fairly objective.

Like, if I were to tell the story of my best friend and me, it would look a lot like this rant book. And if I were to tell it from my best friend's POV, it would look a lot like PLB. But, what exactly would it look like from his dad's point of view? That just creeps me out in the best way possible.

He's probably notice the little things, like how he'd come home from work and we were always hanging out at his house (with no supervision, gasp). And he probably noticed the way my best friend got a little snippier when I had my little fling with another guy. And he probably noticed how I didn't come over as much when my best friend was having his fling with another girl.

And I know he knew when we started doing our "it's complicated" thing, because he kept trying to get us to admit to doing stuff and we wouldn't. So then, he just started trying to sneak in and catch us. Like, one day he took off work three hours early just to see if he could catch us making out or something. He didn't that time, but he made an entire little game out of it.

(Here's my funny story for the rant. My best friend's dad got to where he'd bribe my best friend's little brother to spy on us, and instead of actually spying on us (because he knew better), his little brother would just tell his dad made up stories to get money. Smart kid. Richest eight grader in his class.)

But think about it. He knows all these things are going on, but he doesn't have any solid proof. And there's so much other stuff he didn't even know about. Think of all the walls. All the obstacles. Put your narrator in that position and see what happens. How do they figure it out? What do they do? What in their own lives makes that complicated?

For example, it would be something like The Hunger Games being told from the point of view or someone watching it. They're rooting for Katniss. They see all these other killings going on. What do they do about it? What part do they play in this revolution?

Or maybe The Fault in Our Stars being told through the point of view of one of the parents. Someone on the outside that's actually close to the characters and can give you all the personal information as a third person narrator, but again, with their own issues and biases.

See, I like first person views simply for the biases. I like having to read through a lot of lenses and subtexts jus to get the facts. Some people don't, but I think it adds so much more to the story. I love that.

3. Epistolary

This one I got interested in after my third go of Dracula (it's a classic). It's an epistolary novel, meaning it's told through journals, news articles, documents, etc. And I may be wrong, but isn't Walker's The Color Purple also an epistolary novel? I can't remember.

Anyway, I think that's so cool. You can tell a story using the media. You can have multiple points of view. I would love to see more of these.

I've been working on one, but it's nowhere near done. And let me just tell you, it's surprisingly easy and extremely rewarding. You literally get to piece together a story through tons of different mediums. Imagine if To Kill A Mockingbird where written like that. You'd have the police reports. You'd have the newspaper articles. You could have Scout's journal. You could have Atticus's journal. I think that's awesome. If someone has written something like that, send me the link. I love these things.

I'd encourage you to try it! Do something out of the box that isn't necessarily unheard of, but not the most popular choice. Try your hand at changing your style and your voice. Push yourself to step outside your comfort zone.

And that's all I have for you. What's your favorite point of view? Have you ever tried to tell a story from a less popular character point of view? Maybe you did it through the point of view of the setting! Or the villain. What do you think about it? Do you have any other view points you think I should add? I'd be happy to! You guys know as much as I do about what makes interesting writing. I'm just the one that writes down my thoughts.

So you have to let me know what you think. I'd love to know.

Also, I had a few people bring it up that I always just talk about when I was in high school and I do that for a particular reason. Most of the people reading this are in high school and their MCs are high schoolers, so I sometimes feel that you guys can relate to high school me more. It's something you can understand, so it would make more sense to you when I'm trying to make points.

But, if you guys want me to talk more about college and work and "adulting", I'd be happy to! I just don't want to bore anyone, because it's a lot of work, bills, and responsibilities. But if it's information you want to hear, or need to know, just let me know! I'm happy to help! I'll give you some experiences for your research. I don't mind. Just tell me how I can help you.

And if you have any rants you'd like to request, fire away. I'll get to them all, eventuall, promise.

Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed. And if you have anything to add, please feel free to drop a comment or a PM or whatever. I love hearing from you guys.