Day Thirteen: A Change of Perspective

Do not put statements in the negative form.
And don't start sentences with a conjunction.
If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a
great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.
De-accession euphemisms.
If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.
~William Safire, "Great Rules of Writing"

The idea for today's exercise comes from creative writing teachers worldwide, but the prompts come from writer/blogger Maxine Thompson.  (except for number 5 which is mine and entirely self-serving). 

Exercises:
1. Write a story about a five-year-old boy who is lost at the zoo. Tell the story from his point  of view in first person.  In the second draft, tell it from his mother?s point of view in third person. Tell the story from an omniscient point of view.

2. Tell the story of the last day of a murderer on death row. Tell it in first person, second person and third person and see how the story changes up.

3. Tell the story of a baby being born. Tell it in the baby's point of  
view, in the mother's point of view and in the father?s point of
view. You can tell it in first or third person for all three points
of views.

4. Tell the point of  view of a person who lived in the same house      
 in the nineteenth century, the twentieth century, then the                 
 twenty-first century.

5. Take a piece you've already written and experiment with at least one different POV.


Here's a good breakdown of POV from author Vickie Britton.