It's All About the Point of View

In every workshop and writer's group I attend, there's always a good discussion about point of view: Which one is the best? What's the easiest to write? Why use one view versus another? Usually, the discussion involves whether the story is best in the third- or first-person perspective. I'll cover that briefly, but I think it's really worth exploring some of the more exotic perspectives that can be used, such as fly-on-the-wall, omnipotent, and second-person. But first, as promised, the first versus third debate.

First-person perspective is simply a story from the intimate view of the storyteller. This is the, "I got up, I walked around, I sat down," way to tell a tale. The only catch here is that when we write in the first person, we have to see the world from that point of view, so we are not allowed to get in anyone else's head. We can't say, "I told her the truth about last night. She secretly didn't believe me." From first person, the character has no way of knowing whether she believed him or not unless he can read minds, so it has to be written to acknowledge this: "I told her the truth about last night but I could tell she didn't believe me." First-person is very intimate, but stays from one perspective so there can (and should be) a lot of mystery about other events the main character does not know about. Clearly, this is a good style for suspense and thriller writing, as well as stories meant to dwell deep within a character.

Third-person perspective tells the story from a narrator outside of the characters, though the story can still be from one character's view. In third person, the story would be, "Tom got up, walked around, then sat down." However, depending on the point of view, interactions get wildly different. Written from Tom's perspective, the interaction in the last paragraph is similar: "Tom told her the truth about last night but he could tell she didn't believe him." We follow the rules of writing about things as Tom experiences them, but the reader is not seeing it from Tom's eyes. This is a good form to use for writing about personal experiences but through an alter-ego or made-up person to hide any personal involvement.

Now here's where third-person perspective goes on an adventure. Fly-on-the-wall perspective is outside of any specific perspective, so the reader has to interpret the events without any cues from a character. In the interaction example, it would be written as, "Tom told her about last night. She stood there, arms folded, facing him in silence." The reader becomes the interpreter, and can be misled by how they see an event. This requires good character development and consistency of character, because all the thoughts are hidden from the reader and have to be deduced through a logical process. Very tricky indeed, but the reader will engage with trying to understand these people.

Omnipotent is just the opposite; the narrative is all-seeing, all-knowing. We get insights from all characters, their stories fully available. "Tom told her the truth about last night, for the first time having nothing to hide. She wanted to believe him, but she had heard these stories before and they were usually lies." All the conflict, all the tension is right there for the reader no consume. It does diffuse the tension of secrets, but this perspective allows the reader to try and think about how this situation will end up. The reader starts thinking ahead, trying to predict what will happen.

Second-person perspective is a completely different creature, and very difficult to use. In this style, the reader is Tom, and the story is told to him. "You got up, you walked around, you sat down," becomes the format, forcing the reader into Tom's shoes. The reader is guided along Tom's path whether they like it or not, and their interactions are understood as Tom's actions, but from the reader's view: "You tell her the truth about last night. She looks back at you in silence. You know that look. She doesn't believe you." The reader relives Tom's story through Tom, which is very difficult because the narrator explains everything to the reader. It is incredibly intimate and can be very engaging, but it is a pain to write.

There are other variants, and many stories bend between perspectives, points-of-view, and styles depending on the wont of the author (or sometimes just from lazy writing). The best way to get a feel for any of these perspectives is to find a short story, determine its perspective, and rewrite it from another view. You will discover things about what makes the story good from its written version, and also feel what other perspectives can bring to the table. (Try writing The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe in third-person and see what happens.)