Choosing the Right Point of View for your Story

Determining point of view (POV) for your story may seem like an easy thing to do. You pick a view and start writing. However, understanding that choosing point of view is one of the most important decisions you will make when writing your story. Choosing your point of view affects how much the readers will believe in your story and in turn, how much they’ll continue to read of your story.

So, choose well. You are going to choose the eyes the reader is going to view the action of your story. The point of view character is going to be whose head the reader is going to be inside of and whose feelings they will experience as the character experiences them.

There are basically three points of view: First Person, Second Person, and Third Person. However, when writing a story, most authors wouldn’t use the “Second Person” POV because “you” aren’t going to be a character in your story and the reader is smart enough to know that “you” aren’t a character in your story.

So, that leaves us with First Person and Third Person POV to choose from when writing your novel.

First of all, whose head do you want to be in during this story? Which character has the most interesting story to tell? Consider your POV character background and traits when determining the right Point of View. The most interesting character and the one who will provide the most interesting outlook on your novel should tell your story. Use this character to make unique observations that will keep your reader reading.

If you choose First Person, you’re choosing a great way to tell your story. It promotes an almost instant connection between the reader and your POV character. However, not every story can be told from First Person. What if there is information you want or don’t want your reader to know? How do you keep it from them, if your First Person POV character knows everything and shares it with the reader?

That’s when you choose Third Person point of view. With this POV, you are able to get in the head of various characters, share or not share information with the reader, depending on whose point of view is forefront. You are able to describe your characters from the outside, not just as seen from them, as in First Person. One of the best reasons for using Third Person is you can use multiple viewpoints. This is when you use more than one POV in your story so you’re not limited to a one narrator’s view. Best of all, you can withhold important information that will help keep the reader in suspense. Because, when it comes down to it, it’s all about keeping the reader reading and keeping those pages turning. 

Here is an infographic to help you determine the right point of view for your story.

And here is a writing challenge for you.

Which POV do you like to write in when creating your stories?

Who is going to tell your story?

Point of View: The combination of collective opinions, prejudices, tastes and attitudes of your story's character(s). (According to James N. Frey in How to Write a Damn Good Novel.)

How important is Point of View (POV)? It's so important that it will affect almost everything in your story. According to Joel Rosenberg, Choosing Your Storyteller, "Your point of view choice is also important in that point of view affects how much the readers can believe in the story being told. A proper choice can lead to the willing suspension of disbelief."

We all know how important POV is. The questions I get from my writers are What POV should I use? and What's the difference between the POVs?

Let's see if we can answer those questions.

What's the difference between the POVs?

Joel Rosenberg tells us that we have three basic choices: first (me), second (you) or third (him/her). He quickly dispenses with second POV as a poor choice because it puts the writer/reader in the story as a character, which the reader would probably never believe and would probababy leave your abilities as a writer in jeopardy.

First Person POV is where one of the characters tells his/her story. A beginning writer usually finds this the easiest way to write. However, it takes quite a bit of skill to manipulate first person POV. According to Mr. Frey, "You cannot go places the narrator couldn't have been and show things to the reader the narrator couldn't have seen. Not without a lot of burdensome explaining."

One of the best examples of first person narrative done right is J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.

Third Person POV can come in various forms: omniscient, camera eye, single point of view, and sigma character.

Omniscient is the God-like POV. It's where the narrator of the story knows everything about every character and reveals all of their thoughts to the reader.

Camera Eye is the exact opposite of Omniscient. Instead of the reading knowing all, the reader only knows what is going on in front of them, not getting the thoughts of feelings of the characters. Just like watching movie.
Single POV is exactly what it says. The POV for the reader comes from one character only throughout the entire story.

Sigma Character is also known as multiple POV. According to Janet Evonovich in How I Write, she points out that "With multiple points of view, the action moves from person to person." It's important to understand; however, that with the changing of character POV, you should do so in a practical manner. Do not change POV in the middle of scenes in the middle of paragraphs. Make sure you use proper scene breaks or chapter breaks to indicate the changes of POV.

Ms. Evonovich says it best, "When you change a narrator's point of view, always use a transition such as a scene break or a new chapter. This tells the reader that he is now inside the head of a new character. It's best to limit the POV to a few characters because the more you use, the more confusing it is to the reader."
So, what point of view should you use?

According to Mr. Frey, the question isn't "what point of view?" but "Who can tell this story best?" Remember, to make your story the best it can be, you want to tell it from the character's POV that can best reflect your image of your story.

Again, according to Mr. Frey, "the selection of the narrative voice is based upon a consideration of genre." In his opinion, "for most genres, you are probably well-advised to use author-invisible, third-person, limited omniscient viewpoint. That's the standard; it's what readers expect and what editors want. You should deviate from the norm only for powerful and persuasive reasons."

In my opinion? I think all the experts have differing opinions. What's most popular? Depends on what book you're reading at the moment, actually.

Point of view is something that needs to be worked on individually with each writer with each story. What I hope I've done here, is helped you understand POV a little better.