What is point of view?

Point of view , or POV, tells us who is telling the story and how they relate to the events that take place in it. When referring to “who” is telling the story, we are referring to the narrator. Our narrator can tell the story in first person, second person, third person limited, or third person omniscient points of view. It is also possible for a story to be told in more than one point of view.

So, what’s the deal with first person point of view?

First person point of view is when the narrator is directly involved in the story they are telling, usually the main character. In first person POV, the narrator is telling the events of the story from their perspective and how they experienced them.

In first person POV, the author will write using words like “I”, “my”, “us”, and “our”. This shows that the person narrating is directly involved in what is taking place in the story. This point of view is like if a friend were telling you a story about something they went through. For example, you would read a line like “I walked into the room and looked at the paintings. Allen was truly a great artist.”

What about second person?

Second person is the most uncommon point of view used in fiction writing. It is often the most difficult for an author to write in. In this point of view, we’ll see words like “you” and “yours”. Second person POV is when the narrator is speaking directly to the audience. This can be that they are speaking directly to the reader, or the story is written so that the narrator is speaking directly to another character as if they were reading the story, think a letter to another character or person.

Similar to first person, second person sees us getting the story strictly from one person’s point of view, but they may not always be the main character. They may be telling the story about the person they would consider to be the audience, i.e. another character who may be reading the story. A good example of this is if you’ve ever read or watched You. In this example, we see the narrator, Joe, speaking directly to the object(s) of his affection as if they were reading letters written by him to them or listening to messages from him. It would be something like, “You always seem to do that.”

And third person?

There are actually two third person points of view. They are: third person limited and third person omniscient. Both third person points of view mean that the narrator is an outsider to the story. They likely have no involvement in the events of the story, and will tell the story from an objective point of view. Third person POV in general (regardless of limited or omniscient) is believed to be the most common POV in fiction writing.

In both of these options, we’ll see the author using words like “he”, “she”, “they”, and even addressing characters by their name sometimes. Something that is allowed in this POV and not others, is that the narrator can know events that will be coming that the characters may not yet know about. This allows the narrator to create a unique sense of foreshadowing that we don’t get with other POV’s.

Third person limited point of view forces the narrator to tell the story with information about the thoughts and feelings of only one character, typically the main character. The narrator will be able to tell the audience things that are happening with the main character but from an outsiders view, while knowing how the main character thinks and feels.

Imagine if you were describing to someone your day, but speaking about yourself as if you were a friend. For example, instead of saying “I went to the store and they were out of apples. I was so upset!” You would say, “Vanessa went to the store and they were out of apples. She felt so upset.”

Third person omniscient is often described as “all knowing”. In this situation, the narrator is still an outsider to the events of the story and objective, but they know the feelings and thoughts of all the characters in the story. While the story will still follow a main character, the narrator has the ability to the tell the audience how the main character is feeling about a situation, but also how others in a scene may be feeling.

Think of this one as if you are telling a friend about something that happened with two or more of your other friends and you know how they felt during the situation. For example, “Vanessa and Allen went for a walk. Vanessa wanted to turn back, but she didn’t want to tell Allen and upset him. Little did she know, Allen also wanted to turn back.”

How can you choose which one to use?

There is no hard and fast rule for deciding which point of view you should use when writing a story. You may take into consideration your own preferences as a writer and which POV feels right to you. You may consider what your audience will expect from you. Along this line, you may also consider if your audience, or you, may feel that a certain point of view works better for certain genres. It’s also important to look at the story you’re trying to tell and which point of view will lend itself best to getting that story across.

How do you decide what POV to use when writing? Do you have a favorite?