Point of View

Think of the lens of a camera. What, who, and where you see is the point of view as defined by the narrator. The narrator can be a character or an omnipotent being who knows all about the story. There are three different points of view in story telling:

• First Person
• Second Person
• Third Person

First Person

First person narration involves one of the characters telling the story. Using “I” marks this and includes first person pronouns. The benefit is you can delve into the mind of the character and gain intimacy, but the character’s knowledge and perspective limits you.

Second Person

Structured around the “You” pronoun, this type of point of view sucks the reader into the action. You’re the main character, as the reader is being addressed and told what you are doing. This structure is popular in choose your own adventure books where you, the reader, choose what happens next. Mostly used in short fiction, this POV is no frequently employed for novels.

Third Person

When the pronouns “He”, “She”, or “They” are used, you are writing in third person. Used for Omniscient or Limited narration. In Omniscient narration, the narrator knows everything about the character’s thoughts and emotions and tells the story from this perspective. When limited narration is used, the narrator only knows their own thoughts and emotions.