Point of View

C.S. Lewis once wrote, "We read to know we're not alone." Readers turn to fiction to absorb themselves in the lives of other people, and the better you portray those other people, the more successful your fiction will be.

The point of view you use in your story defines how your readers will connect (or not connect) with the characters that draw them to fiction in the first place.

One of the most important questions to ask when starting a story:

Where can I set up my narrative camera so it is focused on a character who changes?

Who has the most compelling perspective? Who can tell the story in an interesting way? Who has all of the action centered around him or her?

That's your point of view character.

Point of view consists of two ideas:

• Who is telling the story?
• Is the story focused on a single character or multiple characters?

The following viewpoints are most frequently used in fiction:

• First Person Subjective
• First Person Objective
• First Person Collective
• Second Person
• Third Person Omniscient
• Third Person Limited Omniscient
• Third Person Limited Subjective
• Third Person Limited Objective
• Third Person Objective

"Oh, no," you say. "Do I really need to know what all of these are called?"

No, but you need to know the rules and follow them. Here is a table with a summary of the viewpoints.

First Person Subjective

This viewpoint is focused on a single character telling his or her own story.

This happens to be my favorite point of view. In it, the narrator of the story tells the story in his or her own language, full of characteristic idiosyncracies and opinions that may be unreliable.

I knew that was going to be the end of our relationship. "But just yesterday you told me you liked country line dancing," I said. She just turned away.

This point of view appears in epistolary fiction, where characters tell their own stories back and forth in letters (or journal entries). Also, it is possible to have multiple first person narrators in a longer work, moving back and forth from one perspective to another.

When to use this point of view:

• To immediately involve a reader with an interesting character.
• To write in an idiosyncratic way, using a character's own language.
• To indirectly observe another character from someone's point of view (the Watson-Holmes relationship).

There are some things to keep in mind while using this point of view:

• You can only discuss what the narrator sees and feels. That narrator has almost no plausible way to describe his own physical appearance (except by the trite mirror device), and no way to know what other characters are feeling.
• The reliability of the narrator may or may not be important in your story; choose the right character to tell the tale.
• The limitations of the average vocabulary mean that most people you select as narrators can't write as well as you can. It's hard to convince a reader that an illiterate Okie is narrating his own story. Use the character's own language. Choose a narrator capable of telling a story.
• The temptation to write in dialect is strong here. Resist it as much as possible. An extended story in dialect is annoying to readers.

First Person Objective

This viewpoint is focused on a single character telling his or her own story in a detached manner.

The narrator describes only his actions but never his feelings. It makes the narrator seem cold, detached, and mysterious.

I tied off the severed limb and waited for the police to arrive. When they finally did, I didn't bother to run.

This is probably useful only for shell-shocked victims or psychopathic criminals.

When to use this point of view:

• To portray a character who is not aware of his or her own emotions.
• To portray a character who is brusque, in a hurry, or matter-of-fact.
• To keep the narrator's motives secret until the end of the story (a murderer telling his own tale).

There are some things to keep in mind while using this point of view:

• This may get annoying fast.
• It's hard to write from someone's point of view without interjecting their opinions. You may have a hard time portraying the character well.

First Person Collective

This viewpoint is focused on a set of characters telling their own story.

Describe the thoughts, feelings, and actions of a group of people as through they were all telling a single story. This isn't used very frequently and would probably be difficult to maintain for an entire story, but sometimes it's useful.

We watched from behind the bushes as the enemy crept toward the ammo bunker.

When to use this point of view:

• To portray a group of characters acting in concert. You'd write novelizations to the Li'l Rascals in this point of view.
• To convey a sense of shared experience.
• To involve a reader by implying that he or she is part of the group of characters.

There are some things to keep in mind while using this point of view:

• You won't be able to portray dissent or invididual opinions or actions very well.
• People hardly ever do anything dramatically interesting in groups. It may be harder for a reader to empathize with a whole group of characters than with a single one.

Second Person

This viewpoint is focused on the reader who is addressed as though he or she is the central character.

This isn't used all that frequently, but I find it useful to directly involve readers with a character. On the other hand, I'm an old role-playing game player, so it's a natural form of narrative to me.

You never expected it, but suddenly you're the Secretary of Agriculture, forced to make decisions about feed and seed that affect a million farmers and their families. The pressure gets to you, and you pine for the days when you sold sacks of manure back home in Happenstance, Texas.

When to use this point of view:

• To draw a reader into close sympathy with a character.
• To write casually, flippantly.

There are some things to keep in mind while using this point of view:

• You can only describe what the one character sees, feels, and thinks. All of the others can only be observed.
• Some readers don't like to be told what they feel.
• Your character should act in a way the reader might plausibly act. Otherwise, your reader will respond to one of your statements by muttering, "No, I wouldn't do that at all." I would not invite Vincent Bugliosi to rewrite Helter Skelter in the second person viewpoint.

Third Person Omniscient

This viewpoint is focused on all of the characters as the author tells the story.

Describe what every character thinks, feels, and does. Usually, you do so by alternating perspectives by chapter or paragraph. Otherwise, the reader becomes confused.

Tom rooted through the drawer for an ice cream scoop. Why didn't Laura ever put it back where it belonged? One of these days, I'm going to have to kill her, he thought.

Laura watched Tom on the closed-circuit television camera. "Yes," she muttered, rubbing an illusory beard on her chin. "Come closer, my love. Closer to the poisoned ice cream scoop." She considered laughing manically but decided it would only be a cliche. Besides, he was in the next room.

When to use this point of view:

• To portray the perspectives of many characters in a story.
• To avoid favoring any single character (in a murder mystery, maybe).
• To provide rich detail about everyone in your story.

There are some things to keep in mind while using this point of view:

• You can describe any character from the inside (his or her emotions) or the outside (what he or she looks like, what he or she says).
• Your reader may never empathize with any of the characters.
• It is easy to confuse the reader: "Whose head am I in?" Be sure that you change viewpoints only at logical breaks such as sections or chapters.

Third Person Limited Omniscient

This viewpoint is focused on the thoughts and actions of a single character as the author tells the story.

This is the most common point of view used in fiction today, but I'm not very good at it so I seldom use it. In it, you describe the thoughts, feelings, and actions of a single character throughout the entire story. You are limited to his or her observations just as in the first person point of view, but you can use standard English instead of the character's own idiom.

By "limited," we mean that we are focused on one character.

Throughout his work among the Zxagnites, Umal knew that one day he'd have to bid farewell to those wise, furred bipeds. Shaking his head with an emotion approaching dismay, he watched their carcasses rolling up the conveyor belt to the ship. "Tag that one," he said, pointing. "Nice and fresh." Umal liked his Zxagnite juicy and lean.

When to use this point of view:

• To follow all aspects of a character: feelings, emotions, actions, dialogue.
• To portray a character more reliably than he or she could portray himself or herself in the first person.
• To tell a character's story when he or she can't tell it themselves.

There are some things to keep in mind while using this point of view:

• You can describe only one character from the inside and outside (his or her emotions and actions) and all the others from the outside (what he or she looks like, what he or she says).
• Unlike first person point of view, you use standard English, not the language of the character.
• It is easy to portray a character in such a way that the reader can judge him or her. Be careful that the words you use depict the character in the light you want to use.

Third Person Limited Subjective

This viewpoint is focused on only the thoughts of a single character as the author tells the story.

Don never understood why people whispered about him as he passed, but he assumed it was because of his astounding talent in Half-Life.

When to use this point of view:

• To focus on the thoughts of a character more than his or her actions.
• To portray a character more reliably than he or she could portray himself or herself in the first person.
• To tell a character's story when he or she can't tell it themselves.

There are some things to keep in mind while using this point of view:

• You can describe only one character from the inside (his or her emotions) and all the others from the outside (what he or she looks like, what he or she says).
• Unlike first person point of view, you use standard English, not the language of the character.
• Make sure that the thoughts you describe are pertinent to the story. Don't strive for the realism of scattered thoughts or irrelevant perspectives.

Third Person Limited Objective

This viewpoint is focused on only the actions of a single character as the author tells the story.

Karen hacked through the underbrush, clearing a path for the others.

When to use this point of view:

• To focus on the actions of a character more than his or her thoughts.
• To portray a character more reliably than he or she could portray himself or herself in the first person.
• To tell a character's story when he or she can't tell it themselves.

There are some things to keep in mind while using this point of view:

• You can describe only one character from the outside (his or her actions) and all the others from the outside (what he or she looks like, what he or she says).
• Unlike first person point of view, you use standard English, not the language of the character.
• Make sure that the actions you describe are pertinent to the story. Don't strive for the realism of scattered petty chores: "He washed the dishes. Then he went to work."

Third Person Objective

This viewpoint is focused only on the actions of all the characters as the author tells the story.

Describe only the actions of every character and none of their thoughts or feelings. Think of it like a movie or play: all the audience knows about the characters and their story is what they observe the characters doing and saying.

Jason puffed his crackpipe and peered through dusty windows. He turned toward Suzanne. "I'm not going with you." The pipe simmered.

When to use this point of view:

• To write a story with a cinematic feel.
• To involve readers in a story by forcing them to interpret the actions of your characters. "He's stroking his chin...what does that mean?"
• To detach readers from the predicament of the characters.
• To portray characters that readers might not like (two self-important men having an argument, for instance).
• To thrill readers with a sense of voyeurism.

There are some things to keep in mind while using this point of view:

• You can only describe what a reader would see if he or she were watching the scene. You cannot describe thoughts or feelings.
• Make each paragraph another "angle," like shots in a movie.
• Don't go crazy with the stage direction: "Red scratched his testicles." Try to describe what is most meaningful or expressive. Make every action say something the characters can't.

Summary

This table summarizes the common points of view and the rules for using them.

Remember above all else: stick to one viewpoint. Follow the rules you establish for yourself. Use this table to help you.