Point of view is how your readers mentally “see” your story through their mind’s eye. It is the perspective through which the reader experiences your characters, their actions, and the world around them. In this chapter, we will discuss first-person, third-person, and second-person points of view.
Some writers and critics may refer to less common forms of point of view, such as first-person plural, where a story is told through “we,” or impersonal constructions using “one.” For the practical purposes of the new author, I will not discuss these less common approaches in this chapter.
8a: First-Person Point of View:
First-person point of view uses the pronoun “I” and is the most personal of the POVs. It is the point of view most directly connected to a character’s thoughts, feelings, and how they see your world. The events in your story may be the same no matter what POV you choose, but in first person, those events are filtered directly through the mind and personality of the character telling the story.
An example of first-person point of view:
I ran to the door, trying not to stumble. There were only minutes before my speech was to begin, and oversleeping had not helped my cause in the slightest. If I wanted to convince the school board to provide money for my students’ new jerseys, I was going to have to hurry. I was going to have to take South Street, and I hated South Street.
As you can see above, we have learned several things from first-person point of view about the character in this paragraph, but some things are still a mystery. We know that this person is a teacher, has a speech to make, overslept, and is in a hurry. We know this person probably coaches a team due to the mention of “jerseys.” We also know that this person has to take South Street, but this person hates South Street for some reason. What we don’t know is this person’s name, sex, or age.
First-person POV concentrates on the thought processes, feelings, and personal perceptions of an individual character. First-person POV is also limited to the thoughts and feelings of the individual in question and does not directly describe other characters’ thoughts and feelings. However, first-person POV is great when you want to delve into the emotional depths of your character while simultaneously relating those thoughts and feelings to your readers.
8b: Third-Person Point of View:
Third-person point of view uses pronouns such as “he,” “she,” “him,” “her,” “his,” “hers,” “they,” “them,” and “it.” Third person gives the author more distance and descriptive freedom than first person, and in general, it is one of the most often used POVs for authors. Third-person point of view is usually separated into limited third person and omniscient third person.
8b1: Singular/Limited Third-Person:
The singular/limited third-person POV describes the thoughts, feelings, and worldview of the character you have chosen to follow. This means the story is told in third person, but the reader is still limited to one character’s perspective. The reader sees the story through that character’s understanding of the world, even though the character is described as “he,” “she,” or “they” rather than “I.”
Here is an example of singular/limited third-person:
Harry ran to the door, trying not to stumble. There were only minutes before his speech was to begin, and oversleeping had not helped his cause in the slightest. If he wanted to convince the school board to provide money for his students’ new jerseys, he was going to have to hurry. He was going to have to take South Street, and he hated South Street.
From the example above, you can see that this paragraph is the same as the first-person POV paragraph we studied above, but there are some fundamental differences. First, we now know that this person’s name is Harry and that he is a man. We have learned everything we learned in the first-person POV but with some extra description.
Now let’s add to this story to see how first-person POV can add a more personal touch:
South Street had always been a problem for me. It was because Lonnie lived there, and I knew, just knew, that my wife was sleeping with him. I wanted to kill that man, but I knew I never would. I was not the violent sort. It was a matter of taking the high road, of being a better person, but this did not quell my rage. Nevertheless, I loved Shawna, and if not for that, I would have left her a long time ago.
This is first-person POV. We see that Harry hates South Street because he believes his wife, Shawna, is having an affair with Lonnie. This paragraph conveys Harry’s personal feelings to the readers, although his name has still not been mentioned, nor have his sex and age.
Now let’s take a look at singular/limited third-person POV again:
South Street had always been a problem for Harry. He knew that his wife was cheating on him with a man who lived on South Street, one Mr. Lonnie Barnes. He had thought about killing Mr. Barnes, but he did not have the measure within him to do so. In fact, it was fortunate that he actually loved Shawna, or he would have divorced her over the matter a long time ago.
The paragraph above contains more detail, but it does not convey the same depth of emotion or the same direct thought process from Harry when it comes to Lonnie Barnes and Harry’s wife, Shawna. Also, we can see that Harry knows his wife is cheating on him, but we don’t know how he knows. Did he spy on her? Did he send a private investigator? We just don’t know.
From the first-person POV, we can see that Harry’s “knowledge” of Shawna’s affair may actually be a suspicion without evidence. From the first-person POV, it sounds like Harry is jealous, though we don’t get this information from the singular/limited third-person POV example.
Singular/limited third-person POV is my favorite POV, but your chosen POV should be whatever works best for the story you’re trying to tell. Remember, you are the author, so choose well. Do you want distance, description, and detail? Or do you want a more direct, personal, emotional view from your character? Only you can decide that.
8b2: Omniscient Third-Person:
Omniscient third-person POV is the third-person POV where the narrator can inform the reader of many characters’ thoughts, feelings, and actions. The narrator is not limited to one character’s perspective. Instead, the narrator can move from character to character, showing the reader what different people know, think, feel, and do. Omniscient third person is more commonly associated with classic literature than with most modern popular fiction.
Here is an example of omniscient third-person POV:
South Street was a problem for all three of them.
Harry knew that his wife, Shawna, was cheating on him with Lonnie Barnes, and though Lonnie had often thought of stealing Shawna from Harry, Lonnie’s only concern was freeing himself from his rundown house and escaping the dregs of South Street forever.
Shawna thought Harry a fool over the matter, but she did indeed have feelings for Lonnie, and she met with the man every Wednesday morning at the South Street café to discuss her life. She knew Harry knew this, but at this point, she didn’t care.
What we can tell from above is the fuller story of Harry, Lonnie, and Shawna. Omniscient third-person point of view can grant your readers a wider understanding of everything happening in the story, but it’s not always ideal for suspense. Building suspense requires holding back information and then doling out bits when necessary. If omniscient third person is handled poorly, the author may reveal too much too soon, which is one reason this POV is not used as much in modern popular fiction as it was in the past.
8c: Second-Person Point of View:
The second-person point of view uses the pronoun “you.” We typically only see second-person POV in specialized stories meant to create a direct-address approach to storytelling, or in Choose Your Own Adventure books and other books similar to that franchise. This is not a commonly used point of view.
Here is an example of second-person POV:
You see Lonnie standing on the sidewalk as you drive past him. He gives you a nod in recognition, and you nod back out of pretend courtesy. You know very well that he is the man Shawna is seeing on the side. Seeing him enrages you, but you keep driving. Your students and their futures are more important than your personal feelings, at least for the moment.
The above example reads like a vacation advertisement or the beginning of a test question, so using second-person point of view must be handled with artistic talent, or it won’t read the way you want it to.
8d: In Closing:
In the end, your point of view will decide how you convey your story to your readers and how you wish to tell your story. In truth, you can write your story from any point of view you choose, and you can even switch POVs if the story calls for it. However, you should probably stick with the POV that works best for you and the story you’re telling. Just remember that less common points of view, such as second person or omniscient third person, require practice and experience to get right. And as for first-person plural…God, help us.
The Quick and Easy Guide to Writing Genre Fiction Copyright 1st ed. © 2022 Matthew L. Marlott
TQ&EGtWGF: Chapter 8…Point of View Copyright © 2026 bloodytwine.com Matthew L. Marlott
The image for Chapter 8 of TQ&EGtWGF was generated by artificial intelligence courtesy of OpenAI.
