(note: this blog is repurposed from one posted June 2, 2013, called “Walk a Mile In My Shoes”.)

As a writer, I’ve learned if a scene isn’t working, try changing the point of view (POV) in which it is written. That means to write the action from another character’s perspective; see what a character sees, hear what he hears, smell what she smells, do what the character would do; use the character’s motivations and background to filter what is happening on the page. It’s amazing how much situations can change.

I watched exactly one episode of the 1980’s TV show thirtysomething, but that episode has stayed with me. A single incident was shown over and over, but each time from a different character’s perspective. The various interpretations were wildly diverse. And eye-opening.

Law enforcement knows the same event may not be reported in the same way by eyewitnesses, which is why they prefer one-on-one interviews.

Seeing the Broadway hit Wicked reinforced my belief that POV is one of the most powerful tools in a writer’s toolkit. L. Frank Baum’s Wicked Witch of the West presented as a sympathetic character while Dorothy becomes the villain? Oh yeah. Completely.

I recently read Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series. Then my husband and I started binge-watching True Blood (the TV series based on the books). The first thing I noticed was that while the books are all written from Sookie’s POV, the TV program used multiple points of view in order to include multiple story threads. It was interesting to see how an incident in the books was changed for TV and which character’s POV was chosen for that particular story arc.

The next time a scene doesn’t hang true for you, try reimagining it from another point of view. You might just find the correct angle from which to tell your story.