Point of view, POV, is one of those things that you might not even think about until you sit down to write. Then it’s, “Do I begin the story with ‘I’ or ‘She/he’?” The reason why POV is so important is because it is an element that will define your story; what you reveal and how you reveal it. It is something that must remain consistent or you will have trouble publishing. Here are some explanations and examples to help you figure out which POV you should choose:
Third person omniscient: This POV is most commonly used in literature (think Jane Austen, Charles Dickens…) and gives the writer the most control in terms of revealing multiple characters’ thoughts and what actions are going on outside of one character. You can even vary the depth of what you reveal; how far you go inside the mind of a character. This POV can also be subjective, as the narrator can align with some characters over others because of how they describe characters and events.
“He himself was a very old man with shaggy white hair which grew over most of his face as well as on his head, and they liked him almost at once. But on the first evening when he came to meet them at the front door he was so odd-looking that Lucy (who was the youngest) was a little afraid of him, and Edmund (who was the next youngest) wanted to laugh and had to keep on pretending he was blowing his nose to hide it.”
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
This example gives you insight into what both Lucy and Edmund feel. With third person omniscient, the narrator can choose what to reveal, and he chooses to show us what Lucy and Edmund are thinking, but not what is going on inside the old man’s head. However, at some later point, the narrator can choose to reveal what the old man is thinking. This is up to the narrator to choose how much to reveal and how little, which is helpful for a writer who wants options.
Is it worth noting, however, that just because this is the most common POV in literature does not mean that your story has to be that POV to ever be successful. Different POVs offer different advantages and there are countless examples of successful stories that don’t use this POV.
Third person objective: This is not as common, though it’s worth noting. In this POV, the narrator observes the action without subjectivity. People like to compare this POV to a camera, but even cameras can film things subjectively by how the characters are situated in the frame. The most well-known example of third person objective is Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants.”
‘What should we drink?’ the girl asked. She had taken off her hat and put it on the table.
‘It’s pretty hot,’ the man said.
‘Let’s drink beer.’
‘Dos cervezas,’ the man said into the curtain.
‘Big ones?’ a woman asked from the doorway.
‘Yes. Two big ones.’
The woman brought two glasses of beer and two felt pads. She put the felt pads and the beer glass on the table and looked at the man and the girl. The girl was looking off at the line of hills.
They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry.
Unlike the example from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which describes the characters in a way that makes you like them, this example from Hemingway is objective, with no sympathies attached to any character. The description is matter-of-fact, but compelling. The reader may decide which character to prefer, but there are no adjectives to convince them one way or the other, only action. Because of this, this POV can be challenging for writers, but when done well, is engaging.
Third person limited: This POV uses third person to reveal one character’s POV. Some people describe this POV as the same as first person, except replace “I” with “He/She.” However, I believe this POV is a bit more freeing than first person. While you can travel very far inside the character’s head, you are not limited to seeing and describing everything like that character would. You can also switch to other characters if necessary. I’ve been told you can change between characters once per chapter, which I ended up doing with two of my beginning chapters.
“He accused me of being Dumbledore’s man through and through.”
“How very rude of him.”
“I told him I was.”
Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. Fawkes the phoenix let out a low, soft, musical cry. To Harry’s intense embarrassment, he suddenly realized that Dumbledore’s bright blue eyes looked rather watery, and stared hastily at his own knee. When Dumbledore spoke, however, his voice was quite steady.
“I am very touched, Harry.”Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling
This example demonstrates the elements of third person limited: we can see and hear Dumbledore, we can see and hear Fawkes; but, we cannot know what they are thinking directly. We can only guess their thoughts and feelings by their words and actions. Harry, on the other hand, feels “intense embarrassment.” Throughout her books, J.K Rowling cleverly shows us scenes where Harry is not physically present by having him mentally connected with Voldemort, which allows us to see through Harry’s eyes what Voldemort is planning, and the pensieve device, which allows us to see memories from other characters that occurred before Harry’s birth. Some books switch between characters every chapter or every few, which can be a great way to get inside different characters’ heads; yet, on the other hand, switching constantly can make it hard for the reader to really settle into the narrative. You, the writer, must find a way to strike an effective balance.
Second person: This is the rarest type of POV, though it can be effective in the right circumstances. The narrator addresses the subject as “You,” as if writing a letter, though the “You” does not have to be specific to one person; it can be general.
“First, try to be something, anything, else. A movie star/astronaut. A movie star/ missionary. A movie star/kindergarten teacher. President of the World. Fail miserably. It is best if you fail at an early age – say, 14. Early, critical disillusionment is necessary so that at 15 you can write long haiku sequences about thwarted desire.”
“How to Become a Writer Or, Have You Earned This Cliche?” by Lorrie Moore
This example sheds some light on what contexts second person is useful. The writing is engaging, humorous, and immediate. The use of second person allows us to place ourselves as protagonists of the story, which makes it easy for our imaginations to experience a narrative as someone other than ourselves. However, I imagine this POV is quite challenging to write in novel form and probably won’t work for most stories, such as the “Hero” story, though now that I’ve said that, someone should prove me wrong. Though second person novels are rare, it has been done (Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney).
First person: This POV is easy to grasp for most people. It is told from one character’s perspective and uses “I” and “me.”
“The count of three,” he says. We stand, our backs pressed together, our empty hands locked tight. “Hold them out. I want everyone to see,” he says. I spread out my fingers, and the dark berries glisten in the sun. I give Peeta’s hand one last squeeze as a signal, as a good-bye, and we begin counting. “One.” Maybe I’m wrong. “Two.” Maybe they don’t care if we both die. “Three!” It’s too late to change my mind.
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
In this example, we are in Katniss’s head and see everything as she does, and we also get her inner thoughts in direct, short phrases (without needing italics!). The advantage of first person POV (vs. third person limited) is that you have more opportunities for characterization of your protagonist–through the adjectives your character uses to describe the world around him or her. In addition, though arguably, the reader is even more inside your character’s mind than with third person limited. However, choose your narrating character wisely, because switching between characters in first person can make the story lose its momentum. Novels have done this before, but I will say without hesitation that switching characters in third person limited is much easier.
My take: The reality is, you won’t know for sure which POV you should use until you start writing. When I started my novel, I thought I wanted to write in third person omniscient because all the classics are, right? I thought it would give me the most control. But after a few chapters, it was very apparent that I wanted to write from inside Locke’s head. It took me a few more chapters to realize that my POV was third person limited, but fixing those beginning mistakes was not too hard. Of course, even after I knew which POV I wanted, I still had hiccups. For third person limited or first person, you can only write what your character would know or notice, and especially in the beginning, I might have had a sentence where my character’s back was turned, yet I had described the action of another character. Making those mistakes is really common for a new writer, so cut yourself some slack when you edit later.
POV, like it or not, is very important to editors. As much as us creatives would like to jump in and out of character’s heads as much as we please, and even if the reader doesn’t notice it, the editors do. And perhaps the reader would notice that something in your writing felt wrong or frustrated them, but they might not be able to pinpoint exactly what. In reality, adhering to one POV will make your writing much stronger, more consistent, and will help it flow better.
There are exceptions of course. There is the switching once per chapter rule that I mentioned with third person limited, something that I took advantage of with two of my beginning chapters (but only two). If you think about the first few chapters of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the POV is all over the place, which might explain why it took J.K. Rowling ten years to get published. It goes to show that rules can be broken, even as a new writer, as long as you are willing to fight for your creative choices and wait for someone to take a chance on your work.
I hope this post was helpful 🙂 Let me know what you think by scrolling up to the title of this article, clicking on “Leave a Comment” next to my name, and filling out the “Speak Your Mind” box below the article.
