View the archive of my two-hour class and discover the Five Things I’ve Learned about the issue I’ve found most connected to almost early every problem on the page – and why improving the ability to see through someone else’s eyes is essential to being a good writer and a decent human being.

Hi, I’m Rebecca Makkai! I’m currently working on my sixth book, and as a teacher of creative writing I’ve guided hundreds of students. One thing comes up again and again:

It’s hard to get into someone else’s head. It’s even harder to stay there. 

That’s why I want to invite you to my upcoming two-hour class for writers, Five Things I’ve Learned about Grasping Point of View – on the Page and in the World.

When I workshop stories by other writers — talented, advanced writers! — about 95% of the time I find that the missteps in the piece can be traced back to some foundational flaw in the point of view. Nearly every problem on the page is, at least partly, a point of view problem. There’s not only the question of who is telling the story, but when, and why, and to whom, and with what rules… decisions that then affect every sentence. Why should a first-person character not remark on her own “sparkling blue eyes”? Why is it a problem when a narrator carefully defines some simple culinary terms but leaves more complicated ones alone? What are the ethics and challenges of writing from a cultural viewpoint not your own? Why does your editor keep scribbling “POV!” in the margins? 

As children, we were all encouraged to see things from someone else’s point of view, to “think how she must feel,” to walk a mile in a friend’s shoes. We only have to look around to see that these lessons sank in for some more than others. Yet even those of us who believe ourselves to have great empathy need to sharpen not only our technical skills on the page but our ability to fully imagine a life other than our own. I can’t help but note that in a world in which we struggle to understand each other, those struggles are reflected in our drafts; and I believe that improving the ability to truly see through someone else’s eyes is essential both for being a good writer and for being a decent human. 

We’ll talk about establishing depth and veracity for point of view; identifying the “ear” of the story; understanding the psychological concept of “theory of mind” and how to access a character’s interior life; writing unfamiliar points of view; and pushing ourselves to break out of tired point-of-view tropes. I’ll leave you with examples, reading recommendations, a few exercises, and some challenges and goals for both drafting and revision. 

We will all leave slightly less solipsistic than we entered.

Please join us.

-Rebecca Makkai