How to Handle Point of View When Writing Fiction

Who is telling your story? Many readers, as well as beginning fiction writers, may not think about this, at least not consciously, but a story does not just tell itself. It has some kind of narrator, who might be visible as a character within the story or who might be invisible, a God-like observer narrating from above.

Writers call this the story's point of view. The point of view that you select affects everything about your story, so you should think about your choice.

Once you select a point of view, it's important to be consistent. It's a common error for beginning writers to be inconsistent. Uncontrolled changes in point of view can be jarring to your readers, making your fiction less believable.

There are several points of view to choose from:

1. Omniscient narrator. This style was popular in 19th century novels, but isn't used very much today. The narrator sees everything, including what is going on inside the minds of all the characters. The narrator may also talk directly to the readers, making comments on what is going on and telling the readers what they should think.

Because the narrator often speaks in the author's own voice, this may seem, at first glance, to be an easy point of view to use. But readers of contemporary fiction are not used to having authors talking directly to them, and the author's voice can pull them out of the story.

It can also be difficult for a writer to juggle different character's viewpoints within a single scene without confusing the readers.

2. First person. Here you have one of the characters narrating. "The alarm clock went off, but I didn't want to get up. I pulled the covers over my head." The narrator is confined to knowing what the point-of-view character knows.

Beginning fiction writers often like to write in first person, but there are some pitfalls. Getting the voice right is critical. The first person voice must always be the character's voice, but a common mistake is to let the voice slip into being the voice of the author.

A variation of first person narration is narration by an unreliable narrator. Here, a first person narrator tells the reader what is going on, but the narrator is lying! The reader gradually figures out what is going on from other cues. This is an unusual, but interesting, type of narration.

3. Second person. This is a story that is about "you." "The alarm clock went off, but you didn't want to get up. You pulled the covers over your head." Second person is very rarely used, and when it is, it's a kind of novelty act, with the point of view dominating the story.

4. Third person limited. This is by far the most common point of view used in fiction today. The author picks one character and tells the story from that character's point of view, knowing only what that character would know.

This is similar to first person, except that the author doesn't speak as the character. Instead of writing "I got up," the author would write, "He got up." "The alarm clock went off, but John didn't want to get up. He pulled the covers over his head."

This gives a little more distance than first person. The author doesn't have to mimic the narrator's vocal tics, the way you would have to in a first person story, except in dialogue or when directly reproducing the character's stream of thought.

When using third person limited, it's important to be consistent. You can only write what the narrator knows. The narrator doesn't know what other people are thinking, although he can make inferences (which may be right or wrong) based on his own thoughts and observations. The narrator can't see what is going on in the next room or hear what is being said about him behind his back.

In short stories, it's common to select one character as the point of view character and stick with it for the whole story. In novels, writers often use one point of view character per chapter or per scene, and then switch. The important thing is that you, as the author, be in control of when you switch. Changing points of view in the middle of a paragraph because you weren't thinking about it is a common beginner error which can pull your readers out of the story.

It's not difficult to learn to be consistent in your use of point of view. Simply becoming aware of the need to do so is more than half the battle. Once you get the knack of it, your stories will appear more polished and professional, and you will be better able to draw your readers into the fictional world you create.