From a Certain Point of View

Point of view (PoV) may seem a trivial aspect of writing, but sometimes it can play a pivotal role in telling your story. It's not uncommon to know which character is going to be the main character of your story, but have you considered which PoV you will use? Sometimes, certain points of view have an advantage over the others.

There are four main point of view types; first-person, second-person, third-person, and

fourth-person. So which one do you choose?

Well, there are two major things to consider when deciding which point of view to use. How close do you want your readers to feel to your characters? And how much information do you want the reader to know?

First Person – In the first-person PoV, the reader gets inside the character's head. It can feel like you're right there with the character and---depending on which tense you use---can lend a sense of urgency to the story. The down-side to this PoV is that the information is limited. The reader will only be able to see the world through the eyes of the character who is doing the narrating.

Second Person – Second-person PoV is rare, as its main protagonist is you. As an example, the text may go something like, “You open the door and peer in. The room beyond is dark and you get the uneasy feeling someone is watching you.” It creates a great intimacy between the characters and the reader, but can be hard to do well. Unless writing a “Choose Your Own Adventure” story, most authors avoid this PoV. This doesn't mean you have to!

Third Person – The most common PoV is third-person, and there's a good reason. It allows as broad, or as limited, a view of the world as the author wishes to share; it is no longer filtered through the lens of a specific character's view. The reader is distanced somewhat from the characters by this, but different sub-types (limited subjective, multiple subjective, objective, omniscient) let you decide just how distant.

Fourth-Person – Yes! Fourth-person is a thing! A newer style of writing, it is written similarly to first-person, but uses the pronoun we instead of I, with the main character actually being a group of people in place of a singular character, or separate characters.

If you're still uncertain which PoV is best for your story, don't be afraid to try several! Write a paragraph in one point of view, then rewrite it, changing the point of view. Don't forget to watch for tense changes and be sure to make the verbs agree with whichever tense you're using.