A Writer’s Guide to Viewpoints
Most of us know that there are three major viewpoints from which stories are told:
First Person – “I tell my own story with the pronoun ‘I’ because I’m just so damn awesome.”
Second Person – “You are a character in this story, and you can’t do anything about it. If it makes you uncomfortable, tough shit.”
Third Person – “He muttered himself and pulled the blankets over his head, wishing this asshole would stop narrating his life.”
Those are the three viewpoints, and that’s all there is to it. Just pick your favorite, and you’re ready to go. Right?
Well. Not exactly.
You see, my fellow scribblers, there are actually multiple sub categories of each viewpoint – beyond even the “Third Person Omniscient” or “Third Person Subjective.”
To be specific:
First Person:
First Person Informant
First Person Reminiscent
Unreliable
Second Person:
Reader as Character
I Substitute
Third Person:
Objective
Limited
Multiple Selective Omniscience
Omniscient
This might seem overwhelming, but fear not! Each perspective is fairly easy to break down, and ultimately, apply to your own work and understanding of literature. This post will elucidate each.
So let’s take charge of our narratives and delve in, like the active protagonists we are.
Keep reading
I swear I’ve learned more about writing in one day of having a writeblr than I did in 3 years of English classes.
Fantastic post!
As a tutor and hopeful future professor, this is a huge compliment! Thank you! <3
