Types of Point of View

Erik (ThisKidReviewsBooks) has graciously requested a blog post on types of POV, and I am happy for the request! If anybody else has anything they’d like to see addressed in this series, please don’t hesitate to mention it.

While writing, an author may try out different types of POV (point of view) until they find one they are happy with. Each POV type has benefits and pitfalls, and some of them just feel more natural than others.

The most common POV style is third person. Using third person feels natural because it’s the style most storytellers use when narrating a piece of fiction. The following paragraph is taken from The Poor Girl by Deborah Marree Wise, which I edited (used with permission). It was written in third person:

<ital>Alone again, she began looking for somewhere to escape the crowd. She’d already had more than she could bear in confrontation, and the noise and crush of the room was stifling. She was afraid to stand still again, in case someone else saw it as an opportunity to give her the benefit of their opinion.</ital>

You can tell it’s third person by the use of the pronouns she and her. It also happens to be written in past tense. I’m going to leave all the examples in past tense, but they also could be crafted in present tense.

Now let’s look at this written in second person.

<ital>Alone again, you began looking for somewhere to escape the crowd. You’d already had more than you could bear in confrontation, and the noise and crush of the room was stifling. You were afraid to stand still again, in case someone else saw it as an opportunity to give you the benefit of their opinion.</ital>

Second person POV has the effect of really drawing the reader into the story, making them feel a part of it first-hand. It’s not used often in fiction writing, though. The most frequent use of second person POV is in books where the reader chooses what steps to take next in the story, leading to a different outcome every time.

Here is the same material written in first person:

<ital>Alone again, I began looking for somewhere to escape the crowd. I’d already had more than I could bear in confrontation, and the noise and crush of the room was stifling. I was afraid to stand still again, in case someone else saw it as an opportunity to give me the benefit of their opinion.</ital>

I happen to enjoy reading first person material, but other readers hate it. It also draws the reader into the story, but has a distinct limitation. The main character—and, therefore, the reader—can’t know anything they don’t already know. For instance, if the main character—I, in this case—is meeting somebody for the first time, they can’t know any prior history about them. There is no additional information or backstory that can be imparted. This is especially true if it’s written in present tense.

I hope you found this useful, Erik! 🙂

Next week we’ll discuss ‘Ellipses’