Should I write my novel in first person or third (or get totally wild and use second person)?
Am I limited to a single character, or can I use multiple point of view (POV) characters?
Who should my novel’s POV character be?
These are questions I hear regularly.
You want to write a story readers can’t put down, but how do you decide what point of view is best for your particular story? In fact, how can you even begin to write without having decided this basic element of your story?
There are so many choices. How does the POV a writer chooses increase the chances of writing a best-selling novel?
Point of view. It’s an age old struggle.
Defined, point of view is perspective. Through whose eyes are we seeing the story, whose head are we inside of, and whose emotions do we experience as the character experiences them?
Let’s take a look at our options
1st person = telling your story from the point of “I.”
I stared at the ominous black clouds forming in the west, my heart pounding. I’d learned to fear tornadoes the hard way. (in deep POV)
You can achieve more emotional intimacy with this POV, but the entire story is then normally told from the perspective of that one character. (I say normally because all rules can be broken.) In first person, the reader isn’t privy to the thoughts and emotions of any other character.
3rd person = he, she, or it, but only one character’s POV per scene.
This is the most popular POV and has greater versatility than 1st person, though it doesn’t make quite the same emotional connection. Compare this example with the 1st person example above for a feel of the difference in emotional connection.
She stared at the black ominous clouds forming in the west, her heart pounding. She had learned to fear tornadoes the hard way. (again deep POV, but in third person you still have somewhat of a sense of observing from outside)
3rd person subjective (deep POV) = he, she, or it, fully experiencing the thoughts and emotions of the POV character. Examples above.
3rd person objective = he, she, or it, detached from the character’s emotions and thoughts.
She looked at the black clouds forming in the west. She had experienced tornadoes as a child.
This is devoid of emotion and rather boring all on its own, but this may serve your purposes.
2nd person = telling your story from the point of “you.” A special point of view that many readers struggle to read, including me.
You stare at the ominous black clouds forming in the west, your heart pounds. You learned to fear tornadoes the hard way.
What About Omniscient POV?
Omniscient = all-knowing narrator whose voice is as distinctive as any character in the story. Though once popular, many publishers don’t want omni-POV.
She stared at the black ominous clouds forming in the west, her heart pounding. Like most of us living in Tornado Alley, she had learned to fear tornadoes the hard way.
When not done properly the omniscient point of view just comes out as head-hopping, jumping from one character’s thoughts and emotions to another’s within the same scene. (Head-hopping is acceptable in the romance genre because the relationship is considered the main character.) Study The Princess Bride, Gone with the Wind, or A Tale of Two Cities for omni-POV done well.
Later this month, we’ll continue this post with “Who is the best character to tell your story?”
