Writing a Powerful POV
What the hardcore punk scene taught me about point of view in my writing. Plus: book recommendations and music to write to!
In my fiction writing workshop at Flagler College, we talk about point of view more than almost any other element of craft. That’s because point of view and all of its intricacies—not only who should tell the story, but how they should tell it—can be an elusive choice to make on the page.
Here are some questions I ask my students regularly, also known as my POV FAQs:
🔆 Is this the right character to tell this story?
🔆 Would this story benefit from a closer point of view? A more distant one?
🔆 Would this story benefit from having multiple points of view?
🔆 Does this story have room for a more experimental POV, like second person?
My students always, without fail, develop strong opinions on second-person point of view. (This, by the way, is my favorite thing about teaching writing: when students figure out what works for them as readers.) Their general feeling about second person is: “Idk, it’s kind of weird, I guess?” For some, that weirdness is exciting.
My students and I spend a lot of time discussing the context in which a second-person narrator feels effective to us as readers.
Second person can teach the reader something, like in Lorrie Moore’s story collection Self-Help, which contains stories that pose as how-to guides, like “How to Become a Writer” and “How to Be an Other Woman”.
Second person can also put the reader in an intimate position, like in Katie Cotugno’s magnificent meet-cute story “Siege Etiquette” (which you can read an excerpt from here).
Second person, with all those instances of the subject “you,” can also feel accusatory.
Lately, I’ve been listening to Michael Azerrad’s book Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991. The book was originally published in 2001, but the audiobook just came out this year, read by a cast of notable musicians (including my all-time fave, Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, who reads the chapter on The Minutemen) (RIP D. Boon) (iykyk). If you, like me, are a music history nerd, and if you, like me, find the idea of listening to 21 hours of indie rock history to be a pretty good time, you’ll love this audiobook.
But let’s get back to talking about POV! (Wow, it’s almost like you’re in my fiction workshop right now, resisting the urge to roll your 19-year-old eyes at me every time I go off on a tangent, which happens at least once every class.)
In the Our Band Could Be Your Life chapter on hardcore punk band Minor Threat (read in the audiobook by Laura Jane Grace of punk band Against Me!), Azzerad covers some interesting POV choices in the band’s lyrics.
The members of Minor Threat were constantly mocked by other bands simply because they were teenagers. They were told they weren’t “punk.” But who could be more punk than us? they thought. They’d taught themselves how to play their instruments. They were writing their own songs. Just because they weren’t New York twenty-somethings meant they weren’t punk?
That pressure led Ian MacKaye, the band’s frontman (or perhaps I should say “frontboy”), to make some powerful POV choices in the writing of his lyrics. Here’s how Azzerad describes it in the book:
“Literally every one of MacKaye’s lyrics was addressed to some unidentified second person. So the effect on the listener was simultaneously to feel accused (the singer is hollering at “you” all the time) and righteous (the “you” is easily transferred to someone in the listener’s own life).”
And what an effect that POV choice had on Minor Threat’s fans, many of whom were teens who’d experienced neglect and abuse.
Minor Threat’s legacy includes helping the straight edge movement gain traction within the punk scene, MacKaye being at the head of the battle against drugs, alcohol, and casual sex. While his bandmates weren’t upset about often being perceived as Puritans, they did have a problem with some of MacKaye’s lyrics, believing that the second-person POV was too often telling people how to live.
One account in Our Band Could Be Your Life depicts an argument over the point of view in the song “Out of Step:” “Don’t smoke / don’t drink / don’t fuck.” MacKaye argued that the first-person singular was implied in the lyrics (as in, “I don’t smoke, I don’t drink”), but here’s what happened when drummer Jeff Nelson got involved:
“Nelson, who was laying out the lyric sheet, insisted on inserting the first-person singular before each line to make clear that it was a statement about MacKaye himself, not an imperative. MacKaye, a stubborn fellow, refused. The argument got more heated[…] MacKaye bounded upstairs and kicked a hole in Nelson’s door.”
Eventually, “in a rare show of compromise,” MacKaye allowed Nelson to insert an “I” in front of the first line, but only if it was in parentheses.
It just goes to show how important the choice of point of view can be in writing. It’s a choice that can literally cause people to kick holes in each other’s doors. 🤘
Let’s Hear Your POV
I want to know: in the writing project you’re working on, what point of view are you working in? How do you know it’s the right point of view for the story you’re trying to tell?
Leave a comment telling me about it. (I promise I’ll reply.) 📣
Really Digging This
Here’s what I’ve been reading and loving lately (besides Our Band Could Be Your Life, of course).
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub — I could not have been more delighted by this novel. It was my first time reading Emma Straub’s work, which, like, how? Why did I wait so long?! I was so moved by the story of Alice, who is freshly forty and trying to figure out how to spend the rest of her life. Her interactions with her aging father had me emotional in all the best ways. I went into this novel knowing nothing about the story—I didn’t read the jacket copy or anything—so I was surprised when it took a sci-fi turn toward time travel. If you know me, you know that sci-fi really isn’t my thing, which is why I’m as flummoxed as anyone that I adored that element of this story as much as I did.
Refuse to Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts by Matt Bell — If you’re trying to write a novel, get your hands on this book immediately. It’s one of the best books about novel-writing I’ve ever read, one I wish had existed when I started writing a novel two years ago. I’m admittedly not a big fan of most writing craft books (they’re typically too all-or-nothing for my taste), but I enjoyed Matt Bell’s emphasis on rewriting as well as his affable voice and attitude. I also appreciated his encouragement of regular breaks, rest, and celebration—all components of a sustainable writing life!
It’s also worth mentioning that Matt Bell has a great newsletter, where he offers thoughtful writing prompts once a month.
TELL ME: WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN READING? 📚
Hit me with those book recs in the comments!
TODAY ONLY: FREE SHIPPING @ BOOKSHOP! 💥
Did you know that when you shop for books using the Bookshop.org links in this newsletter, you’re directly supporting Lonely Victories? Every little bit helps me keep this party going.
If you order from Bookshop today (July 13), you’ll get ~free shipping~ so don’t buy books from Jeff Bezos today! What is he even going to do with your hard-earned dollars anyway besides buy stuff to make his head shinier?
From My Writing Playlist
Here’s what I’ve had blasting in my Airpods while I reach my daily word counts. *turns on noise cancellation*
Joe Pera Talks With You (Season 1 Soundtrack) — My favorite comedian, Joe Pera, announced last week that his magnificent Adult Swim series is not being renewed for a fourth season. I am flying my flag at half mast in mourning. If you’ve seen the show, you know how puzzlingly beautiful it is, and the soundtrack is no exception. If I need to get in the zone while I write, I’ll put on all three seasons’ worth of Holland Patent Public Library’s original score for the show.
“In a Good Way” by Faye Webster — I saw Faye Webster live earlier this summer and haven’t stopped listening to her since. I usually have trouble with English-language lyrics while I write because they distract me, but Faye Webster is, for some reason, the rare exception to that rule? I think it’s because her music feels so light and breezy and atmospheric, which brings me to the next song…
“Breezin’” by George Benson — There is a state law here in Florida that dictates that this song must be played whenever the temperature rises above 92 degrees. Okay, kidding, but that’d be a much more reasonable law than all the crazy shit they’ve been passing around here lately, wouldn’t it?
WHAT’S ON YOUR WRITING PLAYLIST? 🎵
Please tell me in the comments! I’m always on the lookout for my next writing soundtrack.
Okay, now go write! Think about point of view! Don’t buy books from Jeff! Ily!
💛 Hurley
Thanks for this thoughtful post on POV. There, There by Tommy Orange blows open POV and provides a wicked set of examples too.
Write on, J
Is there anything less punk than punk rock's desire for hegemonic purity? Also, is there anything more punk rock than that? (I'd say the answer to both questions is no.)
As for POV, one of the nice things about being a poet is that we don't have to get locked into it for long periods of time (unless we're writing an epic, which doesn't happen all that much these days.)
& so far as writing soundtracks go, just the ambient background noise of whatever room I'm in. Anything else intrudes too much on the music of the words.