Every novel has a narrator, and the perspective from which the story is told is called a narrative point of view (POV). Many writers, even published ones, struggle with POV and engage in head-hopping (jumping between the POV of different characters within a scene), which can disorientate and confuse readers. This blog will look at the different types of POVs and whether you can mix and match POVs without head-hopping.
But Why Is Point of View Important?
POV is fundamental to writing novels. It makes a book more enjoyable because we can access the characters’ thoughts and feelings. As an author, you can determine how close your readers feel to your characters, how they view them, and with whom they will identify. You can use POV to create tension by controlling how much information you give your readers.
Types of POV
Seven types of POV sit on a spectrum. These are first-person, second-person, third-person limited, third-person objective, third-person omniscient, third-person deep, and third-person multiple. These terms – first-person, second-person, and third-person – come from the pronouns that are used to tell the story. Let’s take a look at each.
First-Person POV
In the first-person POV, the narrator is one of the characters in the story. The narrator is usually the protagonist, but, sometimes, the narrator is a more minor character in the story (e.g. Dr Watson in Sherlock Holmes or Nick in The Great Gatsby). Often, the POV comes from an older version of the character who tells us the story from a wiser stance. The first-person POV uses the pronouns ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘my’ and is usually written in the past tense, although present tense, first-person POV is becoming more popular in YA adult fiction (but not in adult fiction). First-person POV is great for helping the reader identify with the main character because they are put into that character’s shoes, but there are some disadvantages to using first-person POV, including some readers just hating first-person POVs.
Second-Person POV
The second-person POV is unusual in modern fiction, but it is still worth talking about because it does creep up occasionally. A second-person narrator is an outside observer who tells the story using the pronoun ‘you’. Making the reader the main character has its benefits: it involves them in the story. But, if the ‘you’ character doesn’t do exactly what the reader would do (and it’s impossible to write a novel that appeals to every single person), they may object or not relate to the story, which will alienate them. So, if you decide to use the second-person, be very sure that it’s the right thing for your novel.
Third-Person Limited POV
With all of the third-person POVs, the narrator is not a character in the story but rather an outside observer. But some narrators like to get involved with the events in the story. How close the narrator is to the characters and the storyline depends on which type of third-person POV you are using.
In a limited POV, the narrator only has access to one character’s thoughts and feelings. It’s similar to the first-person POV in this way, but you would use ‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘they’ to describe characters rather than ‘I’ and ‘we’. The limited narrator can either be close to the character (and mimic the character’s voice) or more neutral. The limited narrator will not be a god-like character who passes judgement, like in the omniscient POV. The limited POV a popular in most genres, meaning you can reach a very broad market. This is probably because the third-person limited allows the reader to get close to the characters without the judgement of an omniscient narrator. But a limited narrator cannot have much distance from the characters, so it is not so great for suspense or mystery novels.
Third-Person Multiple POV
A variant of the limited POV is the multiple limited POV. Here, there is more than one viewpoint character, but the rest is the same as the limited POV. You can use multiple deep POV characters, but it’s more common to use multiple limited POVs. Each scene is told by one character, but it is a different character. This works well for stories that have equally important characters (like romance) and if you want to give your readers information that your protagonist can’t have. Obviously, your novel needs to have more than one main character that requires a POV for this to be suitable.
Third-Person Deep POV
Like the limited POV, the third-person deep POV can only access one character’s thoughts and feelings. In this POV, the narrator is a character in the story. Everything you write comes directly from your character and should mimic the way this character speaks, so you need to have a strong and distinct voice that you can maintain throughout the novel. It’s like first-person POV but uses he/she/they pronouns instead. Deep POVs help the reader identify with your character, but, if you need some distance from your characters, then deep POVs might not be appropriate.
Third-Person Objective POV
The third-person objective POV acts almost like a camera: the reader sees all the actions and hears all the dialogue but cannot access the thoughts and feelings of any character. The narrator is just a neutral observer who watches the action unfold. It’s highly unusual for an author to use an objective POV for an entire novel because it usually makes the reader feel like a fly on the wall. This can be helpful to create suspense but only for a few scenes. Otherwise, your readers won’t connect with your characters and won’t read on.
Third-Person Omniscient POV
The final POV is the third-person omniscient. The omniscient narrator knows and sees everything and often makes judgements on the characters. They can also see into the future, jump from location to location, and comment on things the characters don’t know. On rare occasions, the narrator will speak directly to the reader. Because this narrator is almost a separate and uninvolved character, you need to create a strong, unique voice. This POV was really popular throughout the Victorian period because Victorian writers used their novels to comment on societal issues. But modern readers want to bond with the characters more, and the omniscient doesn’t allow readers to get too close. So, if you are writing character-driven novels, the omniscient is not for you. If you are writing a plot-driven novel, it is great. Omniscient can also be used to establish a scene before you as the author zooms into a closer POV.
POV as a Continuum
As you have probably gathered, POVs are a continuum, and each POV’s place on this continuum determines the readers’ intimacy with the characters and the information you share with your readers. This is known as narrative distance, which can be a great tool in your writing arsenal.
Summary
Narrative POV is the perspective from which a story is told. This is a fundamental part of writing. There are seven POVs that you can use to tell your story, but some are more popular than others. The least popular POVs are second-person, third-person objective and third-person omniscient; the most popular are first-person, third-person limited and third-person multipole limited. Which you use will depend on what you want to achieve. In the planning stages, you should play around with POV to see what works best for your novel.
Comentarios