Point of view

Choosing something to write about

This is a long lesson with a lot of writing. To make it worthwhile, you should think about a setting, scenario or 'world' in which you are genuinely interested.

For this lesson, don't choose any ideas where the character is completely isolated. Think of something that involves different people so we can play with point of view.

Illustration for George Orwell's 1984 showing a frightened man walking past a wall with menacing posters that say Big Brother is Watching You

(Illustration for George Orwell's 1984 by Jonathon Burton)

OPTION 1: THINK ABOUT YOUR OWN LIFE

You know yourself and your life and the people in it, so one option is to draw content and inspiration from that.

Just be mindful of how you talk about yourself and others, and what you share.

OPTION 2: FIND EXAMPLES OF CHARACTERS AND EVENTS IN IMAGES, STORIES, OR NEWS

  • If you want a starting point, try looking for an inspiration image online—anything that shows groups of people in an interesting situation with potential for seeing things from different perspectives.
  • If there is an existing story world you love—in books, movies, TV—you can build on that.
  • If you're more interested in realism, you could start with something you've noticed in the news.

Start with one of these images. (Right-click to open it in a new tab so you can refer to it whenever you want.)

A giant cat stares over a wall at some teenagers walking past in a post apocalyptic city

(By Ariduka55)

High angle shot of a group of fully dressed people floating in green water like they might have been in a plane crash

(3:14 pm, Pacific Ocean, by Alex Prager)

Someone driving at night with an oncoming truck looks in their rearview mirror and sees daylight and someone following them on foot

(Poster art by Joshua Kemble)

For the worked examples in this lesson we took inspiration from movies and TV.

Example 1: Supervillain

We were thinking about movies like The Incredibles and the Hank Scorpio episode of the Simpsons, in which you get a glimpse into the hidden logistics of being a supervillain.

Hank Scorpio gloats over Mr Bont being bisected by a laser while Homer tries to get snacks from a vending machine in the background

Example 2: Shark

We were thinking about shark attack movies like Jaws and The Shallows, which are good but completely unfair to sharks who rarely attack humans and then only by accident.

2026 UPDATE: Okay, look, this is now not entirely true given all the recent shark attacks around Sydney, though we could at least partly blame the giant fatberg stuck in Sydney's sewerage system.

Ocean Ramsey swims with a great white shark

Jot down a couple of character or situation ideas here. Nobody else needs to see them.

If you have a character or situation in mind, then let's begin.

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