by Lynette M. Burrows

The point of view influences every scene in your story. Ideally, your choice of a particular point of view (POV) seamlessly draws your reader into the story for a transformation (through education, entertainment, connection with characters, etc.)

This is part two of a two-post series on POV. In the first post, Choosing a Powerful Foundation for Your Story, the definition of point of view boiled down to the position which experiences or evaluates all events, places, things, and people in a story. That first post identified five different POVs, how to express each POV, and what each POV represents in the balance of power within a story. Today, in part two, we’ll discuss the strengths and limitations of each of those five POVs and tips on how to decide what to use or avoid for your story.

Strengths & Limitations

First Person

In this point of view, the reader assumes the character’s identity.

Strengths

• Creates immediate intimacy and connection by allowing the reader to experience the story through the eyes and emotions of a character.
• Can create complex, multi-dimensional characters to generate more empathy and investment in the story's outcome.
• Thoughts, emotions, and experiences happen in “real-time,” making the narrative feel more authentic, grounded, and believable.
• Can deliver an unreliable narrator in a way that creates suspense and intrigue for the reader.
• First Person POV can create a scene of incredible details
• When a first-person narrator knows much less than both the reader and the other characters that it creates comedy. In this strategy, the reader is laughing at the narrator, rather than with him or her. 

Limitations

• This POV restricts the reader to one perspective in each scene.
• Requires the reader to “adopt” the voice and personality of the character.
• Can create reliability questions. First person POV is by nature subjective and potentially unreliable. An overly biased or untrustworthy character can alienate readers and undermine the story’s credibility.
• First person POV lends itself to introspection. Too much introspection will slow the pace of the story.
• Too much action can leave readers feeling disconnected from the character. Finding the right proportion will keep readers engaged and invested in the story.
• POV slips can be especially jarring for readers.
• Can lead to a repetitive and tiresome use of the pronoun “I.” The writer must vary their sentence structure without making sentences convoluted.

Books in First Person POV

The Hunger Games by Susan Collins, The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

Second Person

This POV assumes the reader is the character and addresses the reader directly.

Strengths

• The most intimate POV provides an immediacy that can thrust the reader into the role of the character.
• It creates a unique and engaging experience for readers.
• This POV can be used to explore themes of identity, self-reflection, and the relationship between the reader and the story.
• Make certain you choose this POV because it works better for your story (more than style and desire to be literary)

Limitations

• It is the hardest POV to write effectively.
• Can create a feeling of self-accusation which can lead to reader discomfort and disconnection.
• It can be a lot to ask of your reader and of you. Written in present tense, it’s a challenge to create a suspension of disbelief. 
• Works better in short stories than in novels, it can by wearying
• It can create an uncomfortable intimacy if it creates a sense of complicity.

Books in First Person POV

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin, Bright Lights, Big City by Jay Mcinerney, The Sound of My Voice by Ron Butlin, Ghost Light by Joseph O’Connor, Choose Your Own Adventure books.

Third Person

The reader is in the mind and body of the character whose experiencing this scene.

With the advantage of versatility, this POV, both close and limited, can work well in most genres. It provides some emotional distance, which allows the reader to form their own opinions and emotional connections with the characters.

Close Third Person

Strengths

• Offers intimacy of the first person while providing greater narrative flexibility, allowing the “camera” to pull back for wider shots.
• Allows deeper character development. The writer can focus on a character’s inner world without the limitations of the First Person POV.
• Maintains a strong character voice.
• Gives writer more control over information flow. Some information can be withheld to increase mystery and suspense.

Limitations

• Writers can confuse what they know and what the character does not know. For example: the sentence identifies a character by name that the POV has not yet met.
• Cannot show other characters’ internal thoughts or feelings.
• Requires balance of showing vs. telling to maintain a good pace.

Books in Close Third Person POV

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, A Song of Fire and Ice by George R.R. Martin.

Limited Third Person

The reader doesn’t know everything that the character knows and often isn’t in the character’s body.

Strengths

• Offers intimacy of the first person while providing greater narrative flexibility, allowing the “camera” to pull back for wider shots.
• Gives writer more control over information flow.

Limitations

• It takes very skillful execution to avoid distancing the reader. 
• May create head hopping if shifts in POV aren’t clear.
• Requires balance of showing vs. telling.

Books in Limited Third Person POV

London by Edward Rutherfurd, 1984 by George Orwell, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Omniscient

The reader sees the scene from above with a little knowledge about every character in that scene

Strengths

• Provides maximum flexibility in time and space. 
• Allows insights into multiple characters, providing insights into the inner worlds of multiple characters, and creating a comprehensive, multi-perspectival narrative.
• Creates opportunities for dramatic irony
• Ensure that you develop this character thoroughly, providing insights into their thoughts, emotions, and motivations.

Limitations

• Can create emotional distance because it’s more than one person’s thoughts and feelings. Readers are watching and listening more than feeling.
• Requires skillful handling to avoid confusion in time or character.
• This POV can reveal too much and diminish the tension in the story.
• Jumping from character to character can fatigue a reader with a continuous shifting in focus and perspective.

Books in Omniscient POV

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

Objective

The reader knows nothing more than what the camera sees.

Strengths

• Provides impartiality.
• Creates suspense.
• Allows the reader to sift through the data and develop her own opinions.

Limitations

• Can only show actions and dialogue.
• Limits reader connection with emotional distance.
• Lacks character motivation and depth.
• Any interpretation by the author breaks the POV.

Books in Objective POV

Most of Hemingway’s work, The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan

Tips

How to Choose a POV

• Think about the level of intimacy and detachment you want to convey to your readers.
• Whose story is it? If one character’s journey clearly dominates, the first person or close third person POV may work best.
• What information access serves the story? If dramatic irony (reader knowing more than the characters) is important, omniscient may be preferable.
• What emotional experience do you want to create for your readers? For maximum identification & empathy, first person or close third person may work best.
• Experiment. Try different points of view to see which feels most natural to you and which serves the story best.
• Pick the POV that plays to your writing strengths. Typically, that will be the POV that is the quickest for you to write.

Maximize the Strengths of Your Chosen POV

• Consistency is key. Switching between the different variations in POV can cause confusion and weaken the narrative.
• Use vivid descriptions to allow the readers to visualize the scenes and immerse themselves in the narrative.
• Focus on character development. This will help readers form a strong connection with the character and become invested in their journey.
• Dialogue is crucial for revealing character traits, relationships, and plot developments. Pay attention to the way your character speaks and interacts. 
• Watch the balance of showing verse telling. The right balance will help the reader understanding.
• Remember that every time you switch POV, your reader must step out of the story of one character and re-orient to the new POV. Too many POVs and you’ll lose your reader. Not firmly re-establishing your POV in the first sentence or two may also lose or at least confuse your reader.

Things to Remember

• When drafting your story, it is incredibly easy to make word choices or give information that is out of your chosen point of view. This is not a sign that you’re bad at writing or bad at creating a POV. But it requires careful reading of what you’ve written in order to edit out those mistakes.
• If you are still having trouble identifying which point of view is which, do a google search for point of view worksheets. The most common worksheets are for school-aged children and have examples that may help you.
• As with all writing “rules,” these are not unbendable. There is no right or wrong choice. Writers not only choose the point of view, they choose how particular to get about the way they write that POV. Ultimately, it’s about what pleases the reader and the writer.

Build Your Story’s Foundation with its Point of View

POV determines where the protagonist is present, the tone, the information flow, the level of intimacy, and emotional connection. An appropriate POV feels invisible because it’s so well suited to the story the readers forget they are experiencing a story through carefully designed lens.

Choose wisely and your readers may never consciously notice the architecture you’ve constructed because they’re so immersed in your story.

What POV do you prefer to write in and why? Is there a POV you haven’t tried and would like to?

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About Lynette

Lynette M. Burrows is an author, blogger, writing coach, and Yorkie wrangler. She survived moving seventeen times between kindergarten and her high school graduation. Her stories weave her experiences into speculative fiction stories that balance character growth with thrilling action and social themes. 

Her Fellowship Dystopia series is an alternate history dystopian tale of a young woman of privilege who faces losing control of her life. Her desperation to avoid her fate leads to an escape and learning her world is far darker and more dangerous than she knew. And she faces a choice: return to suffocate under the rules or fight for her country and her life. Book One, My Soul to Keep, and Book Two, If I Should Die, are available at your favorite online book seller. Book Three, And When I Wake, will be published in 2025.

When Lynette’s not writing she avoids housework and plays with her two yorkies. They live in Dorothy’s home state of Kansas. You can follow Lynette on her website or her Facebook page or Sign up for her newsletter. 

Image Credits

Featured image by Lynette M. Burrows

Second image  by Petra from Pixabay

Final image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay