Personable perspectives: point of view

Those of you die-hard Impers (fan club name suggestions welcomed!) will have seen a previous article on language conventions where we briefly touched on the topic of point of view. In this article, we’ll be going over first, second, third and all other peoples with a fine tooth comb, working out the specifics, rules and other things to know.

Just to cover the basics, points of view in a text refers to the perspectives from which a story is told. Usually typical stories will feature just one, but some books will revolve around multiple characters with their unique thoughts, feelings and reactions to a situation. Now let’s jump right into all of the different types!

First person point of view

Used for intimate or personal recollection, singular first person pronouns include I, my and me. These pronouns are up close and personal to the action, meaning that the reader can form a more intimate relationship with the narrator, though there are limitations around lack of scope (having a biased or ‘selfish’ perspective) – but these can in turn lead to interesting narrative styles like an untrustworthy narrator.

Second person point of view

Using pronouns like you or yours takes a big hammer to the fourth wall separating the reader from the story, making them very much a centrepoint as to what will occur next. It’s not the most common choice for fiction writing, usually being found in self-help books or other immersive texts but some writers have very cleverly used this point of view for unique stories.

Third person point of view

The third person point of view uses pronouns like she, he, her, him, his or hers. Like with any of the other points of view, the depth in which the characters can explore alternative points, secrets or other useful tidbits also relies on the type of narration – so keep reading to learn more about the narrative types to use alongside point of view!

Fourth person point of view

The most experimental (and newly emerging) on this list, the fourth-person point of view uses collective pronouns like our, us or we and is usually used to represent the thoughts or feelings of a larger group. The same pronouns can also be used for collective first-person plural purposes, but the difference lies in the narrator – but as long as your narration is consistent (if that’s what you’re going for!) then you should be fine.

Multiple points of view

Usually, when writing multiple points of view in a story, the author will choose to follow different characters but maintain a consistent point of view with each, in order to ensure that things don’t get too confusing. It can be a good way to enliven a world, as each character (if written well) will be able to interact differently and have different opinions, allowing you to explore multiple variances within the same book.

You could also use different points of view in order to explore different limitations of narration – for example, adding a character who knows little about the world as a limited narrator, juxtaposed against an omniscient being who can fill in their gaps by simply exploring the same aspects in a different way. Omniscient characters know all and see all – and can be helpful in adding more explanation of an otherwise confusing or alien world, and multiple viewpoints can add to the characterisation and comprehension of a whole storyline.

Who said that?

That was a quick delve into points of view and reasons why you may choose to use varying viewpoints in order to convey a storyline. As we’ve echoed in many posts before, experimentation is the best way to sound out what works best for your tale, and sometimes thinking outside of the box with some wacky perspectives can totally change the feel of your work!