Narrative Perspective: Keys to Nailing POV, Tense, and Narrative Distance in Fiction Writing

When you start writing a story, there are a ton of decisions you need to make -- what tense you'll write in, what POV you'll choose, and how the narrative voice will interact with the characters and events on the page.

These decisions can be daunting, and they're something a lot of writers struggle with without knowing what's wrong or how to talk about them. In this guide, we go deep into the nitty gritty of perspective, from the pros and cons of different types of POV to the grammar of verb tenses and the magical power of narrative distance to hook a reader.