yWriter Comprehensive Help File

This document was recovered from the lost yWriter google sites page, and is still a work in progress

VIEWPOINT (POV) How do I?

? begin to understand ' Viewpoint? (POV) when writing my novel?

It?s actually quite simple. If you are writing about how you strangled a crocodile, this story is told from your (protagonist) point of view. If, on the other hand, you saw someone else do it then the story would be told from your (bystander?s) point of view.
If you describe a love scene, do you want to 'get into the woman?s head? and express her emotions? Or maybe there is a hell of an argument and you want to express anger from two points of view. Or you can even have a character called 'omniscient? and be like a play writer juggling characters on stage

? change the viewpoint character in the Scene editor window?

Open a scene. Near the bottom of the page above Scene Title you will find Viewpoint. Use drop down box to find the person you want

?create a scene without a Viewpoint character?

When you create a scene, the viewpoint character defaults to the first
character in your character list. If you want it to default to Unnamed,
create a major character 'Unnamed', then in Characters> View/Edit, drag
Unnamed to the top of the list. New scenes will now default to Unnamed as
the viewpoint character.

? know which is the viewpoint character in a scene?

If there are multiple characters in the left-hand list, the first listed will be the viewpoint character. This is indicated by the darker character icon. To promote a different character to viewpoint, simply right-click any other character in the left-hand list and click 'Set as viewpoint'. You can also change the viewpoint character on the Content tab.

? set a viewpoint character?

To set a viewpoint character for a scene, double click on the scene you want from the scene list. Near the bottom you will find the word Viewpoint. Type in the pov?s name. Or, if you like, not applicable.