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You have an idea, your plot is sort-of mapped out, you have your characters in your head, and it’s time to start writing… But what point of view should you choose to write your story in? There are pros and cons to each point of view, and what you choose for your story may depend on what you’re trying to accomplish.
What is Point of View?
Point of view (POV) is simply the viewpoint from which no your story is told. Think about it as the voice that is engaging your reader. It also determines what kind of pronouns we use, whether that is I, my, me, or you, your, or yours. Before I get into explaining the pros and cons of each POV, let’s quickly review each one.
1st person: This point of view puts the reader into your world through the eyes of your protagonist. The narrator of your story is also your protagonist, so the reader knows only what the character knows. The pronouns used in 1st person include I, me, we, us, and my.
2nd person: This point of view is used when the writer is speaking directly to the reader, so the pronouns you, your, and yours are used. This is used a lot in fanfiction when the author wants to put the reader into the story as a character. It’s also used in those choose-your-own-adventure fanfictions.
3rd person: This is where the narrator exists outside of the story. Pronouns used in this point of view are they, their, theirs, s/he, his/hers. Remember that the author and the narrator aren’t always necessarily the same thing, so the voice of the narrator in your stories can differ piece to piece if you’d like. There are three different kinds of 3rd person: limited, objective, and omniscient.
3rd person limited: This variant of 3rd person is called limited because the narrator is only limited to the mind of one character. It is told in the 3rd person, but like the 1st person, the reader and the narrator know only what the main character knows.
3rd person objective: In this point of view, the narrator is objective. In other words there are no opinions involved on behalf of the narrator, they are just spitting straight facts to the reader.
3rd person omniscient: Many compare the narrators of this point of view to God. This narrator knows all and sees all, regardless of who the main protagonist is. They can relate to all the thoughts and feelings of each character in a scene.
At this point, I encourage you to look at something you’ve written or something you recently read. Try to identify what point of view the author is writing from, and ask yourself what benefits it may have for the story. How does the point of view affect your experience as a reader? If you’re reading your own work, how might the story be different if the point of view changed?
How to Choose Point of View: Pros & Cons
1st person POV:
“When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping.” -— Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games
The way your story is told in 1st person can go one of two ways, either your protagonist is telling the story (1st person central), or a sideline character is telling your protagonist’s story (1st person peripheral). Most choose 1st person central for their fictions, but if you want a challenge, try 1st person peripheral (Think The Great Gatsby). Regardless of which of these you choose, using the 1st person point of view is a great way to create intimacy between your readers and your characters. If understanding the world through your character's eyes is a central part of your story, then it’s a pretty good idea to use 1st person.
The Hunger Games is written with the 1st person POV. As a result, the reader gets a deep understanding about what life is like in District 12 for Katniss Everdeen right away. At first she goes about her normal day, explaining the world around her as the chapter goes on. The reader also begins to understand the severity of her responsibilities, and how she feels she is accountable for the well being of her family. It raises the emotional stakes of the story, so when Katniss goes past the point of no return by offering herself for tribute in place of her sister, the reader not only understands why she does this but also helps them emphasize with her situation. It only takes a few pages to become close with the character, so when the first conflict happens at the end of the first chapter, the reader is already rooting for her. So, in sum, if your story is character driven and your protagonist’s inner change or development is central to the narrative, 1st person is the way to go.
One con of 1st person POV is that the reader cannot know about anything that happens outside the main character’s knowledge. If something in your 1st person narrative happens outside of the character’s knowledge, then they will have to learn about it through the means of other characters, dialogue, or events, and never from the narrator. For example, say in a romance fanfiction the main protagonist is being cheated on. She doesn’t know and the reader doesn’t know, but when her friends start acting weird around her and changing the subject every time she brings up her boyfriend, that will give the reader and the character a clue that something isn’t quite right. From there the reader can make their own assumptions and predictions, which builds tension and drama up to the point where she finds out she’s being cheated on.
If you’re planning to include many characters that you’d like to develop beyond what is possible from your protagonist’s point of view, it’s probably a good idea to forgo the 1st person. Additionally, if your story relies partly on dramatic irony (when the reader knows something the character doesn't) for tension, it’s also probably not a good idea to use 1st person.
2nd person POV:
“You have friends who actually care about you and speak the language of the inner self. You have avoided them of late. Your soul is as disheveled as your apartment, and until you can clean it up a little you don't want to invite anyone inside.” ― Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City
The 2nd person can give your readers an interesting lens to see your story through. It’s relatively rare when it comes to literary fiction, but in fanfiction, it’s a popular choice for those who wish to put their readers into the story. Your biggest goal as an author who is writing in the 2nd person is to make the reader forget that they’re reading in the second person. They should feel like they’re a part of the story. Part of this comes from the level of your description. The reader is used to making their own assumptions of things in a first or third person point of view, but because the reader is actually a character here, it’s your job as the writer to bring them into the world of your fiction and make them feel like they’re really experiencing it.
Another thing that can be done to level up the second person POV is to make sure that the reader knows who they are in the context of the story. It may feel awkward to tell the reader what they look like or what their personality is, but don’t forget that they’re a character in this POV, and should be treated like any other character you develop. Tell the reader what they like, don’t like, their reactions to certain characters and events, what they’re wearing or where they are, really the possibilities are endless here.
Third person POV:
The third person is easily the most popular point of view, and it’s what most people default to when beginning a new story. There are several reasons to use the third person:
- When you need to give the reader information outside of the main character’s knowledge
- If you have a lot of characters/subplots that you’re interested in developing
- You want to be flexible with your narrative, observing the story from multiple POVs
- You want to build suspense with dramatic irony
- You want to give the reader information which no characters are aware of
There are probably more reasons, but this is what I could think of off the top of my head. In my experience, many fanfictions are written using the 3rd person omniscient point of view. Writers who use this point of view tend to do something called head hopping. Because the 3rd person omniscient narrator knows all and sees all, they are able to hop from character to character, revealing their thoughts and feelings in a scene.
The unfortunate thing about head hopping is that if it happens too many times in a scene, it will disengage and confuse your reader. I was reading a wonderful fanfiction the other day, and the writing was smooth and engaging because this author really had a knack for description that brought me into the story. However, I had a hard time following the thoughts and feelings of any one character. This particular scene was only written with 2 characters, but the author head-hopped so much I had trouble following along with who was thinking and feeling which things. I had to go back and re-read frequently to understand.
So, my tip for the 3rd person omniscient is to choose one character to focus on in each scene. Choose the character in that scene who has the most to lose or the highest stakes in the situation, because that is what will interest readers the most. If you must switch to another character’s perspective in a scene, make sure there is a clear transition. For example, if the other character is across the room, you might write something along the lines of “Across the room from character 1, character 2 was standing and talking to…” This gives the reader a clear transition that says, okay, we’re focusing on character 2 now.
My last thought for the 3rd person, limited, objective, and omniscient, is to be careful about what information you choose to include. In the 3rd person you see everything, so even though you are able to include information doesn’t necessarily mean that you should. This all goes back to making sure you understand the purpose of your scene. For example, if you’re writing a scene that is fast moving and has a lot of action, you won’t include a long allegorical description of the sky. You could, but that would defeat the point of having a fast moving scene.
Wrapping up
Point of view can change the whole timbre of your story. 1st person is good for a reader to have a close relationship with your protagonist. 2nd person is used to put the reader into your story in the character. Lastly, 3rd person is used for those writers who like to have flexibility between characters and subplots, but be careful not to choose inappropriate information for the scene or head hop too often. If you’re struggling with a POV or you’d like to try something different, the best thing you can do is to read texts that are in that POV. It’ll give you a good idea of how other writers are handling it, and you’ll learn tons of new strategies as well.
As always, I wish you happy writing and I’ll see you again next time!
