Point of View: Choices, Choices

So you're ready to choose what point of view to write your novel in. Easy, you think.

Ah, but it's not as straightforward as you might imagine. Because choosing different viewpoints will compel you to write entirely different novels.

Think I'm kidding? Try taking a scene you've written and changing the point of view drastically. From first person to third person omniscient. Or from omniscient to third person limited.

Oh, wait... maybe you don't know what I mean.

Let me explain.


Up Close and Personal

Point of view (also known in shorthand as POV) in a novel can mean both which character is "telling" the story, and how that character is telling the story.

If you're just starting out, it might work best to tell a story with the least leeway. This will definitely teach you how to choose which scenes to leave in or out. Or which character has to tell the story.

What viewpoint is this?

First person. Everything in first person is "I" and "me". Here's a short example:

I knew it was a bad idea the moment he said it.

"Let's jump," Jon said, pulling off his shoes.

"Maybe the water's not as deep as you thought," I replied. "And it's cold." I could see my breath if I looked out of the corner of my eye against the moonlight.

"Come on! You're just a coward."

Fine. I liked being a coward. And warm and dry when it was only fifty out. Nothing could be that exciting to see that it was worth freezing to death to see it.

"Come on!"

Jon grabbed my hand, jerked and I was in the air, breath rushing out in panic. We hit the water and something slammed into my head. Everything went black.

"...don't be dead, dammit. Rob... Rob, I'm gonna kill you if you're - oh!"

I blinked blearily, my ears still ringing enough I only heard half of what Jon was babbling.

We hear the narrator's thoughts here, and the dialogue with his friend. We don't hear the friend's thoughts. Nor do we have any idea exactly what happened, at least not at this point. Jon might blab it all out in relief, or he might not. But we can't see or know anything that happened while Rob was knocked out unless his friend tells us about it.

If this is key information we need, a scene we must see, then first person narration isn't the way to go.


Give Me Some Space

Maybe you have several things happening that the narrator you originally chose can't possibly be privy to. The hurried sex in the closet at work that her rival coworker has. She can't "be" there, so if you need it portrayed so we'll understand a plot point with it, first person point of view just isn't going to work.

In this case, you need to back up a little, allowing more leeway and distance. Third person limited point of view may be perfect for this. Here's the first person scene from above changed to third person limited:

He knew it was a bad idea the moment his best friend said it.

"Let's jump," Jon said, pulling off his shoes.

"Maybe the water's not as deep as you thought," Rob replied. "And it's cold." He watched out of the corner of his eye and saw his breath in the moonlight.

"Come on! You're just a coward."

That was alright with Rob. He preferred being warm and dry when it was only fifty out. Nothing could be that exciting to see that it was worth freezing to death to see it.

"Come on!"

Jon grabbed Rob's hand, jerked and they were in the air. Rob's breath rushed out in panic. They hit the water and something slammed into his head. Everything went black.

"...don't be dead, dammit. Rob... Rob, I'm gonna kill you if you're - oh!"

Rob blinked blearily, ears still ringing enough he only heard half of what Jon was babbling.

We're still only witnessing things through Rob's eyes, but we've changed how we hear the thoughts and write the scene from "I said", to "he said". We're still limited to only his perceptions and what he witnesses. So, if we need to know what happened when he hit his head, we either need to change the narrator to Jon, in either first or third person, or we need to back up a little more.


Playing God

If you need to see things from more than one character's viewpoint, then you need to use either omniscient or third person multiple point of view. (This is my term for using limited third person POV with more than one character as your POV character.)

I use third person multiple point of view for my stories most of the time. Why? Because I have several characters in fiction writing who are vital enough we need to know their viewpoints. This allows me to write one scene from the first POV character's perspective and the next in another's.

Third person multiple POV can be a great way to create characterization. When you're "up close and personal", you're inside you're inside your main character's head. This gives you that character's perceptions about himself.

On the other hand, seeing that same character from his best friend's viewpoint will give you a different opinion of that he's like. This can make for great mini conflict!

Perhaps your character thinks poorly of himself and feels like he can't ever do the right thing. His best friend is more objective and thinks the character's a little rough around the edges but has a heart of gold and is a great friend. You can use this contrast to tell us even more about both characters.

If you use this method, don't change viewpoints in the middle of a scene. It's liable to confuse your readers and muddle the story. I've fallen into this sloppy style in the past regularly. When I reread what I've written, it always makes me grimace that I screwed up that way. (It came out not-quite-omniscient-point-of-view.)

And shows I have several characters who could tell the scene, too.

How do you choose which one for which scene?

Your point of view character for each scene should be the one who has the most to lose or gain. Aha! Now I know why some of my scenes read poorly! How about you?

This is something you can deal with at editing time. If you aren't sure which fictional character should narrate a particular scene, try it from two or three characters' viewpoints and it should become clear.

So what's this about playing God, then?

Omniscient point of view means you can be anywhere you need to be, inside anyone's head at any time. The advantage to this is that you can show any important scenes through multiple viewpoints, and hear anyone's thoughts on anything important to the plot.

Omniscient viewpoint also lets you condense the tale because more information can be conveyed in less time and space than if you need to switch scenes to switch POV characters.

To me, the disadvantage is you're suddenly divorced from being close to your fiction writing character • (or characters). You're seeing the story from a narrator's perspective, and thus a greater distance. At this distance, you can't really get emotionally involved in any of the characters' lives.

I like getting emotionally involved with my characters - or anyone else's, for that matter. That's my favorite reason to read books. To become the characters.

But not every story is best told from limited/multiple third person point of view. When they aren't, choose the style that suits the story best.


Taking a Risk

One more style of POV deserves to be mentioned, though I've rarely seen it used for anything but short stories. That's the second person point of view.

For lack of a better example, recipes are written in second person. Without the "you". That's assumed to be there. (It's also called imperative voice.)

You add the sugar to the butter and blend until creamy. Then you add the mashed bananas...

That's second person POV.

This one's hard to pull off well. Because it's so unusual. If you don't read in this odd POV style, how can you write it easily?

I can't, and I've never tried more than a few sentences, just to experiment. I don't care for it much, but some people, looking for a challenge, might.

Just be aware you're more liable to lose readers than keep them if you take a risk like this. The writing draws too much attention to itself.


Whose Eyes Should You Use?

So how do you choose which point of view to use?

It depends on what you're trying to do with your novel. If the subject needs some distance and the presence of the narrator doesn't detract (or actually adds) to the story-line (like humor, for instance), then use first person or omniscient.

First person also works well in stories that read as eyewitness accounts. Along with omniscient, it also allows more word-play than third person limited.

However, if you want to pull your readers deeply into the conflict and lives of your main characters, make your world seem real for the duration of the book, use limited third person (one or more narrators, only heard from one at a time, remember).

I'll end with a quote from Orson Scott Card's book, Characters & Viewpoint (which is an excellent resource for creating characters and choosing viewpoints):

"Choose the simplest, clearest, least noticeable technique that will accomplish what the story requires."

For more on creating characters, see these pages:

Characters
Character
Characterization
Dialogue
Fiction Writing Character Outline
POV
Protagonist
Antagonist
Fictional Character