My neighbors to the east and west of me talk to me about chickens. Not the price of them or how many breeds there are. They talk about the sound of them and their eggs: “I love the soft sound of the chickens clucking!” and “I just know those chickens are attracting vermin!” These conversations are directed at the house across the street where eight chickens live. The across-the-street neighbor has offered eggs to the East and West neighbors. West is delighted to accept the eggs, because they remind West of growing up near a farm, watching the animals and hearing the chickens’ voices. East refuses the eggs, believing this will encourage keeping dirty chickens, and perhaps attracting rats. East grew up in the city, hating pigeon droppings on the windowsills and seeing rats in the garbage bins behind their building.
Each of these neighbors tells their story using the I point of view, but they also have depth beyond their POV. They have perspective, which is their world view, their lived experience and system of beliefs. West brings a world view that includes interacting with farm animals and welcoming the chance to benefit from them. East has a world view that fears wild animals as carriers of dangerous diseases and inviting unwanted pests.
West and East don’t see eye to eye about chickens and a good deal of other things. Neighbors can be like that. They, just like characters with differing perspectives add dimension and complexity to a story. Neighbors and characters give us a chance to understand that even when sharing proximity equal values are not shared. These differences can be a primary source of tension or simply added currents that help inform the main character and the plot. Perspective is what’s working behind the eyes of every character. It’s the why behind opinions that are often followed by actions. West accepts fresh eggs; East buys store bought. What your characters do is plot, why they do it is perspective. No matter what kind of eggs they choose, are the eggs hard boiled or over easy?
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