This chapter was written by XimeraGrey

WHAT IS "POINT OF VIEW", AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

One of the key elements of storytelling is Point of View (POV). POV is the perspective from which -- and the voice in which -- the story is told.

Author Marcy Kennedy calls POV the foundation of great fiction, and describes several reasons POV is essential for writing a good book:

· Well executed point of view immerses a reader in a situation that they could never have been part of, or might never want to be part of, in real life.

· Well executed point of view builds subtext, as we are able to contrast what is happening around the character with what they think about it.

· Well executed point of view sets each character apart, as we see how they uniquely interpret the world around them. Put another way, point of view is the tool we use to create three-dimensional characters.

· Well executed point of view controls the flow of information to either create suspense or forward the plot.

Choosing the best POV for the story is critical for ensuring the story has the impact you want. This article will define the most common formal Points of View in fiction, explore head hopping and other issues, and finally discuss selecting the best POV for your story. First, a note about terminology:

· When POV is capitalized, it's referring specifically to a formal Point of View – First Person, Third Limited, Third Omniscient.

· When pov is NOT capped, it's referring to a character's perspective.

In other words, your book has a POV, and your narrator has a pov.

THE MOST COMMON POVs

The most common POVs are First Person, Third Limited, and Third Omniscient. Let's look at each and their strengths and weaknesses.

First Person

In First Person POV, the narrator tells the story directly to the reader using first person pronouns. Only 10-15% of stories that have been traditionally published in the last quarter century have been in First Person. Most of those are found in YA and Romance.

First Person is best for stories with a single narrator with a strong voice AND where the internal growth of the character is more important than the external plot. First Person Multiple – First Person POV with more than one narrator – is extremely difficult to do well, because each narrator needs to have a unique voice. A better choice for stories with multiple pov characters is Third Limited.

The ability to focus on the internal growth of the character can also easily become the POV's greatest weakness. Narrators can become too internal, rambling their inner thoughts on and on, stalling the progression of the external story. In a related challenge, some writers struggle with how to focus on anything except the pov character's thoughts and actions.

Third Limited

Third Limited is the most common POV. Approximately 85% of books that have been traditionally published since the early 1990s have been written in Third Limited. There is a reason Third Limited is so popular: flexibility. Third Limited excels in stories that:

· Have a single narrator OR multiple narrators.

· Need narrative "distance" OR need to be very, very close and immersive.

· Are strongly focused on internal character growth OR external plot.

· Any combination of the above.

In Third Limited, the narration is told from the pov of a single character, but that pov character can change at a scene or (more commonly) chapter break. In Third Limited:

· The "narrator" knows only what the pov character knows, thinks, feels, and experiences.

· The narration shows the pov character's thoughts, feelings, and experiences directly, without filters.

· The deeper the POV, the more limited the narrator is in what the pov character is aware of at that very moment. So, for example, even if the character knows the planet's political system, in deep/close Third Limited, it would be a break in POV to drop back to tell the reader about it unless the character had reason to reflect on it.

· The deeper the POV, the more the narrative is in the character's voice, rather than a neutral narrator's voice.

As mentioned, in Third Limited, you can have as many pov characters as you want, but there's a price to pay:

· The less time you spend with any one character, the less readers will relate to that character.

· The more time you spend with lots of characters, the harder people find it to relate to ANY character.

· For best results, aim for one protagonist (even if you have several main characters), and make that protagonist the pov character in about 70% of the story.

Third Omniscient

Prior to the early 1990s, Third Omniscient was the most common POV, and its rules were rather... loose. When Third Limited became popular, Third Omniscient's rules tightened to draw a clear distinction between the two.

Third Omniscient and Third Limited both use third person pronouns, but the similarity stops there. Third Omniscient is always told from one pov and one pov only: the narrator's. Third Omniscient is never in a character's pov.

The omniscient narrator has his own voice, and it's consistent through the story. The narrator knows everything about every character, and he can choose whether or not to share that information.

Third Omniscient is best for heavily plot-driven stories with lots of characters and locations. It is most commonly found in epic fantasy, though Third Limited is more popular in even that genre these days.

Third Omniscient is a difficult POV to do well, and even when done correctly has characteristics that explain why it has fallen out of favor with traditional publishers over the past quarter century.

· Third Omniscient is distant. Readers are not immersed in the character's experience because they are never in a character's pov. That makes it harder to relate (or care).

· Third Omniscient is more telling. It is literally the story being told by an unseen narrator.

Additionally, there are common mistakes that also make it challenging:

· Writers frequently believe that in Third Omniscient, they can jump into any character's thoughts and feelings. This is called head hopping, and it's incorrect (in any POV). Head hopping is not just a problem in Third Omniscient (though it's most common here), and a special section has been written to discuss it later in this article.

· Because the narrator knows all, writers often tell too much. They know everything about everyone's motives and back story and thoughts and actions and feel like they should put it all on the page for the reader. That destroys all the tension in the book.

Examples

Let's look at the same excerpt written in each POV.

First Person:

A green highway sign pocked with rusted bullet holes declared my destination was just seven miles away. My stomach roiled. I dug two loose Tums out of my jacket, chewed them up, and washed them down with a swallow from the flask in my back pocket. Probably that burrito I'd had for breakfast. Or maybe the sushi before leaving St. Louis.

Sushi. Where the hell was I going to find decent sushi in hillbilly central? Eh, don't worry about it, I told myself. I don't have to stay long. I rolled my shoulders. Probably shouldn't have come at all. Guilt and regret intertwined in my gut.

"No," I said out loud to no one in particular. "I owe her this much."

Third Limited:

A green highway sign pocked with rusted bullet holes declared his destination was just seven miles away. His stomach roiled, and he dug two loose Tums out of his jacket, chewed them up, and washed them down with a swallow from the flask he kept in his back pocket. Probably that burrito he'd had for breakfast. Or maybe the sushi before leaving St. Louis.

Sushi. Where the hell was he going to find decent sushi in hillbilly central? Don't worry about it, he told himself. You don't have to stay long. He rolled his shoulders. Probably shouldn't have come at all. Guilt and regret intertwined in his gut.

"No," he said out loud to no one in particular. "I owe her this much."

Third Omniscient:

A bus rolled down Highway 64 toward Vicksburg. It rumbled through small town after small town, sometimes stopping, sometimes not, always following a schedule set by someone who had probably never been on Highway 64 or even in Mississippi. Twice a day every day the bus traveled this route, mostly carrying people who worked in Vicksburg but couldn't afford their own cars.

Today, though, the bus carried Charm Freeman, a man who would have preferred to be on a bus to Timbuktu rather than this bus. Twice he had considered bailing at other stops and going back to St. Louis. Twice he had made himself stay on the bus. He believed he owed his sister enough to at least show up. So he soothed the flip flops in his stomach with a swig from his flask and contented himself with occasional grumbles about the crappy food he would be forced to endure during the next few interminably long days.

HEAD HOPPING AND OTHER POV ISSUES

There are several common mistakes beginning – and more advanced – writers make when trying to master POV. These arise because writers fight the POV, considering it too limiting, instead of embracing those "limitations" and letting them take the story to the next level.

Head hopping

Head hopping is dipping into more than one character's direct pov at a time. For example:

"Hi Brett," Camille said. She felt her face grow warm when he glanced her way. He looked at me! Maybe he'll ask me out, she thought.

Brett managed a grin but groaned inwardly. Who was this chick, and why was she talking to him? Didn't she know he had to get to practice? He caught sight of his friend Tony and hurried on, the girl with the weird red face quickly forgotten.

In that short scene, we know what both Camille and Brett are thinking and feeling. That is head hopping.

Many people describe Third Omniscient as being able to dip into the thoughts and feelings of any character. Well... yes and no. The narrator can give us insight into any character's thought and feelings, but those thoughts and feelings have to be filtered and presented in the narrator's voice, not presented as direct thought. For example:

"Hi Brett," Camille said. She blushed when he glanced her way and hoped he would finally notice her. But despite a polite smile, Brett hadn't really noticed her at all. His mind was firmly on the upcoming practice. He caught site of his teammate Tony and hurried on, the girl forgotten.

Can you see the difference? Same information, but no direct thoughts. The information is simply told to us by the narrator.

Too many pov characters

Head hopping occurs because writers want the reader to know the thoughts and feelings of everyone in the scene. Having too many pov characters frequently occurs for the very same reason.

Using multiple pov characters to show what's happening in scenes where the protagonist isn't present is a great reason to use more than one pov character. Using multiple pov characters so you can be sure readers know all the backstories, motivations, thoughts, and feelings of everyone in the story is NOT.

It is very important for the writer to know the thoughts, feelings, actions, and motivations of every character in their story. That doesn't mean the READER needs to know all of that information. Limiting information and controlling how it's revealed – if it's revealed at all – is critical for maintaining conflict and tension in your story.

Think about real life. In real life, you get ONE pov – your own. You have to depend on what you see and what you hear and what you infer to figure out what other people are thinking and how they feel. People tell you things – accurate and inaccurate. You make assumptions about what they're thinking and the choices they make. You get mad, you get your feelings hurt, and you make excuses. Most of the time, your interpretations are right on the money. Other times, you find out you were wrong!

In fiction, that emotion is GOLD. You bring the reader on the journey with your protagonist, and you let them feel the protagonist's curiosity and frustration and anger – and their remorse and embarrassment and shock.

Don't deprive them of that by telling too much. Trust your readers to figure things out the same way your protagonist does.

"Camera" mode

This final issue is primarily an issue in First Person and Third Limited. In those POVs, the story is being told through the eyes of a specific character. However, writers forget this when they describe settings and objects and even characters. They focus on objective details, trying to capture a scene with the clarity of a camera.

Instead, use the details to reveal more about the pov character. For example, let's say your protagonist ran away from the small town he was raised in when he was sixteen. He has returned, but he is far from happy to be back. When he sees the town square, he sees boarded up buildings, nosy people, and lack of opportunity. His sister, on the other hand, loves the town she was raised in. When she sees the town square, she sees the cute antique stores, neighbors and friends, and dreams of one day opening a business. Same town square. Different details.

Camera mode also sneaks in during action scenes. Again, remember that you are in one character's pov. We are privy only to what that character knows – not a camera's bird's eye view. Take the opportunity to strengthen the scene by focusing on the character's physical and emotional experience, rather than a bland blow-by-blow description of what's happening.

WHICH POV IS BEST FOR YOUR STORY?

There is no right or wrong choice here. But there are better and worse choices for a specific story. To determine which POV will be best for your story, answer some simple questions:

· Which is more important in your story – internal character growth or the external plot?

· Should the story be a close, immersive experience? Or should it be more distant, focusing on events and including information main characters might not even know?

· Can the story be told by a single character, or do we need multiple pov characters? Is it more plot-driven and should be told by a narrator who knows all, but isn't actually a character in the story?

To recap...

First Person POV works best with close, immersive stories with a strong focus on internal character growth that can be told by a single character.

YA and Romance are the two genres where First Person is commonly found. YA, by definition, focuses on the internal growth of the protagonist, and empathizing with the character's experience is a critical aspect of the story. Romance is another genre where the readers are living vicariously with the protagonist, which makes First Person POV a common choice.

The voice of the pov character is extremely important to First Person stories. If you do choose to have more than one pov character in a First Person story, then it's critical that each voice be as unique as a fingerprint. Readers should be able to read a paragraph or two and know exactly which character is the viewpoint character at that time.

Third Limited is the most flexible POV, bar none, which is why 85% of traditionally published books in the last quarter century have been written in Third Limited. Third Limited is suitable for:

· Stories with a single pov character OR multiple pov characters.

· Internal, character-driven stories OR external, plot-driven stories.

· Close, immersive stories OR more distant, objective stories.

· Nearly any combination of the above.

If you have a heavily plot-driven story with lots of characters and lots of locations, your story may be perfect for Third Omniscient.

Beginning writers frequently try to force a square peg into a round hole by using a POV that isn't suited to a particular story and bastardizing it to make it work. The problem is? It doesn't. Not really. It may be readable, but it isn't transformative.

Don't choose the POV you know because it's easy for you. Stretch yourself and choose the best POV for the story based on the strengths of the POV itself, and then learn to use its strengths to make your story powerful.