As writers, we all have to make a crucial decision that changes everything about our stories. After we've developed the characters, after we've decided what type of story we're going to write, after all the world building, outlining, and everything else we decide to put into our story we have to figure out what Point of View (POV) we are going to actually write in. Now I know some beginning writers really struggle with this, sometimes blending the POV together or trying to write one and end up writing another. But I hope I'll be able to give some clarity on POV to make it easier for those who are new and give a better understanding for those who have been working on it forever.
First Person
First person POV is a very popular choice for many writers who really want the reader to get into their character's head and see the world through their character's eyes as they are experiencing it. This relies on the use of "I" in the narrative. The "I" is the narrator. Make sense? Many popular novels have been written in this style and people really do love to eat it up. For instance, The Hunger Games and the Divergent series are both wrote in a first person narrative and we can see how popular they both were. Need an example? Here's an excerpt from the Hunger Games and Divergent for you to look at.
Second Person
Second person POV is something of an experimental writing in my opinion. Often I have found it used in dramatic pieces that are trying to push some boundaries that we wouldn't normally see in writing. But that's just me. Essentially, when a person writes in Second Person they are making "You" the narrator. You are the brain of the character and are experiencing the narrative through the character. Example? "You are not a person like this, you're not some type of guy who would be in a place like this." or "You have a knife in your hand, you are a trained professional. You are standing over your father's corpse." Now this type of narrative often provokes the reader whose general responses are "No, I'm not" or "Don't tell me who I am." So if you as a writer choose to write this path, you're really going to have to work for it.
Third Person
Third person POV actually comes with two types. Omniscient and Limited. Both have their pro and cons, but essentially these styles of narrative focus on using "He" and "She". Now the differences between these two are what draws a writer to them. For Omniscient Third Person, the writer is godlike. The narrator isn't a character essentially but has a perfect knowledge of the setting and the characters. There are no secrets kept without leaving the readers feeling cheated. Though this type of narrator knows everything, they tend to be more distant from their characters. Limited Third Person is when the narrator follows a single individual. The narrator shows us what the character is perceiving and is experiencing. These types of POVs are very popular when it comes to genre fiction, often in rivalry with First Person POVs.
Those are the three, well four, types of POVs that writers use. Everyone finds the one they love or the one that'll work for their story the best and stick with it. It takes practice to see which one is the best choice for you. I perfer a Limited Third Person POV. But that's just me. How about you? Which is your favorite? Let me know in the comments and as always if there is something you want me to talk about, give me a shout out.
Just remember to always keep writing,
Dakota
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