Deciding on Point of View

Deciding on point of view is deciding how your story is going to be told.

Narrative story telling is conveying your creative story through a character’s eyes; from their point of view. Usually this is a character that is made for exactly that to relay the story to the reader.

Narrative view sets the mood and allows you, the reader to hear the character’s thoughts and feelings in any given scene.

The three most popular forms are: first-person, second-person, and third-person. From there you can define it even further with third person omniscient, and whether or not you’ll use multiple points of views.

An example of this:

I happily ran down the stairs. There was only twice in my life that something special happened like this. Today was a day I would not forget.

Second Person: This view is not used often. It is a tricky way to convey the story and engage the reader. But if done right creates a tight relationship between the reader and the author.

One popular series that comes to mind is the Choose Your Own Adventure - books and dvds. Below is a sample of second person:

You are standing on a wooden bridge. You stretch out your hand and touch the railing. The texture feels rough to the touch. You begin to feel the harsh wind underneath your jacket. Your teeth chatter.

This point of view is difficult to write, and very few books are found with this type of narrative.

Third Person: Allows you to explain the story through one or more characters. This view gives you the most flexibility and is the most popular.

There are a few ways to present third person. The first is limited third person which tells the story by one character and whatever he/she is experiencing, feeling, etc. A sample is found below:

The man had a throbbing headache. He knew from experience that a regular painkiller would do nothing. The only cure would be rest, and he did not have that luxury; not with his life on the line.

If you don’t like limited third person, don’t worry you have more options. Other ways to write in third person are; subjective, objective, or omniscient. They are explained below:

• Subjective: this is a narrative where the main character describes only what they sense or think. It is very similar to first person, except using the him/her method of description.

• Objective: this is where the story unfolds with the characters' actions but you’re not given privy to their thoughts. A reader isn’t able to learn what characters are thinking or perhaps concealing.

• Omniscient: my personal favourite view is all encompassing. You follow the story from a narrator who knows all the events, thoughts, and yet shows no bias towards any particular outcome. This is the most popular point of view.

  This is a view were you can tell your story through a variety of different characters. You only have to look at Dean Koontz, J.R.R. Tolkien, Anne Rice, and other writers to see this is the preferred method.

Multiple Points of View: This is where you switch from third person to first person and back again. Usually the third person is used to describe action scenes, and the first person conveys thoughts and feelings. Streams of consciousness are a good way to look at using first person.

Another method to slipping into first person, from third is telling the story through letters or notes.

Whatever point of view you choose to tell your story, a generally accepted rule is sticking to that one point of view.

For more help, a great book to get is Elements of Writing Fiction - Characters & Viewpoint (Elements of Fiction Writing) Learn how to write point of view.

Good luck and Happy Writing!