(Dreaming up Sevia) Random Writing Tip #4: Point of View

If a story is being told, obviously, someone is telling it. Is that person you, the writer, or someone else? Several different points of view are possible. We’ll look briefly at the three most popular.

First Person:

If you’re writing a story about yourself, this is the voice/point of view that you will likely use. Of course, when writing fiction, it’s also popular to choose an imaginary character and tell the story through his eyes. When writing this point of view (POV) you will use the pronoun “I,” and you’ll only be able to convey information through the eyes of this character. If he didn’t see an event happen, or hasn’t somehow been informed of it, he can’t know about it. He also can’t know the inner thoughts of other characters in the story.

“Yesterday, when I went to the grocery store to pick up a dozen eggs, I saw a man wearing a Darth Vader mask. Who knows why? Perhaps he thinks it will scare off the germs.”

Third Person (Limited)

This point of view is similar to the one above, in that you can only convey information through the point of view of one character at a time, though of course your story could have more than one POV character. However, instead of using the pronoun “I,” you’ll use “he/she” and the person’s name, of course.

“Yesterday Damaris went to the grocery store to pick up a dozen eggs. She saw a man wearing a Darth Vader mask and wondered why. Perhaps it will scare off the germs, she thought.”

Third Person (Omniscient)

If you’re writing a story with a lot of characters, or a very complex story, this may be your POV of choice. Many fantasy or adventure stories are written this way. This POV is written as if the author is sitting on high, observing all the actions and thoughts of all the characters. He’s able to move into any character’s inner thoughts, or focus on any important scene happening anywhere in the story’s world. In the past, many stories were written this way, but if you read more modern stories, you will see that the Third Person Omniscient point of view has become less common.

“Damaris went to the grocery store to pick up a dozen eggs and met a man in a Darth Vader mask. He’d decided to test its efficacy at repelling germs.”