Point Of Views (POVs) – Heena Rathore P.
September 16, 2016 February 5, 2018 by Heena Rathore P.
Point Of View, casually known as POV, is one of the most important literary devices that is used in fiction writing. Determining the perspective from which the story is told is often the making or the breaking point of a novel.
If you make a wrong decision, your readers will be highly disappointed due to lack of plot coherence, and not only this, choosing the wrong POV also affects the bonding between the main characters and the reader, thus, affecting your novel on the whole. But if the point of view is chosen well, the readers will not only love your story and develop a memorable relationship with your characters but will also respect your writing and look forward to reading your other works.
Hence, it won’t be wrong to say that the choice of point of view and its execution shows the writer’s ability, efficiency, and dedication to their story. And in order to make the right choice you need to have an in-depth and precise knowledge about all the POVs before settling on one (or more) for your story.
Point of View aka POV is the perspective from which a story is told. Point Of View is what can be called as the voice that tells the story to a reader.
In First Person POV, the narrator is a character himself/herself. The story unfolds as a first-hand experience of the narrator or it can be said that the character is narrating the story.
The information is unreliable as its scope is limited depending entirely on the main character’s knowledge of/in any situation. For instance, if the character is delusional then it creates a problem if you’ll write the entire book from his perspective.
The First Person POV has recently garnered a lot of popularity as a lot of new authors are using it. The advantages of First Person POV is that the reader can relate to the main character quite easily and the bond that follows is very strong. But of course, it requires a high level of expertise to pull it off.
The pronouns used in First Person POV are – I, me and mine.
First Person Central POV: When the story is told from the point of view of the main character it is known as the First Person Central POV. This helps in developing an intimate bond between the main character and the reader. It often includes internal monolog, personal feelings, etc, which help in making the reader understand the main character inside-out.
First Person Peripheral POV: When the story is told from the point of view of a secondary or a minor character, who can also be an observer, is known as First Person Peripheral POV. This POV is detached and neutral and provides an objective look at the main character.
In Second Person POV, the narration is addressed from one person to the second person.
The Second Person POV is rarely used in fiction-writing, though there are some authors who use it for writing their novels. It is mostly used for instructional writing and how-to books.
The pronouns used in Second Person POV are – You, your.
Third Person POV is the point of view in which a narrator (generally, the one who is not part of the story) tells the story.
This is one of the most widely used POV and most of the early literature and classic novels are written in this POV. A lot of contemporary writers still believe that only the stories written in Third Person POV are good, but of course, it’s their personal opinion.
The Third person POV helps the readers understand the main characters from a distance and many believe that this is what makes it so interesting and capturing.
The pronouns used in Third Person POV: He, she, it, him, her, they, them, its.
Eg. Unwind Series by Neal Shusterman.
Third Person Limited POV: In Third Person Limited POV the narrator knows and reveals the feelings, thoughts, and/or motivations of only a single character, the main character.
Eg. Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling.
Third Person Objective/Dramatic POV: In Third Person Objective POV the narrator knows and reveals no feelings, thoughts and/or motivations of any of the characters. Rather, the narrator reveals only the facts and details about the story.
Eg. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
If you have any doubt regarding POVs or want to share your experiences or anecdotes then please leave a comment below.
Love this post on POV, Heena. As you said, I find using second person the least, even in my non-fiction writing. It can sound accusatory especially if I’m talking about a sensitive topic like multiculturalism.
You’re so right about the second person voice sounding accusatory at times. I can understand how that would have the wrong effect on the readers, especially while writing on a sensitive topic such as culture and ethnicity.
And ditto, I also love using the first person voice.
Someday, I am going to print out all your blog posts, bind it, and place it on my desk! I can see myself looking it up frequently and I would be so enamored by them that I may just as well forget what I was originally referring it for. I am grateful for finding this blog! Sigh!
Oh, I am excited that you are considering on making it a book. You are a gifted fiction writer, no doubt. But you are also an unbeatable teacher. Your instructions, examples and tips are the best I have ever read. You have taught me more than I ever expected to learn of the craft of writing. Please please keep doing this!
I’m so happy that you feel this way, Clare. And I’m really giddy with joy right now that you find my articles to be so helpful. Thanks a lot for all your kind words, dear.
Wow! You need to put all of your writing tips into book form. A great resource.
Interesting Heena! Enjoyed your Point of View!
Thanks, Tony. Always good to hear from you!
I will definitely read this book. Thanks again.
Thanks for defining and breaking it all down.. to be clearly understood..
Thansk for taking out the time to read my articles!