Choosing a Point of View for your Book - First Person and Third Person POV
- Jenna Moreci
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
HelloOoOo everybody!
Welcome to the third episode of my course, How Writers Become Authors: A Step-by-Step Guide to Crafting Your Novel. Today, we're covering how to choose a point of view for our book, specifically first-person and third-person point of view. The point of view you choose is going to affect the tone of your novel. It can affect the distance between the reader and the characters, and it can even affect how much of the story you're able to tell in the first place, so it’s important to get it right.
If you haven’t already, don’t forget to also subscribe to my YouTube channel for more writing tips, sarcasm, and of course, more of Princess Butters!
Step 1: Definition
First off, what is point of view, at least in this context? Point of view is defined as the narrator's position in relation to the story being told. Basically, how close the narrator is to the story. The two most common points of view (POV) are first-person POV and third-person POV.
Step 2: First-Person POV
First-person POV means the narrator telling the story is also a character experiencing the story. You can usually tell a book is written in first-person point of view because the narration will use words like “I,” “me,” or “mine.”
For example, “Today, I am making content for my YouTube channel.”
More often than not, the first-person narrator tends to be the main character. Since they're leading the story, it usually makes sense for them to narrate the events. However, that's not always the case. For example, the stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes are written in the first person. But even though Sherlock Holmes is the main character, Doctor Watson is the narrator.
It's also possible to have multiple first-person narrators in a story. For example, maybe three characters are telling the story. But you have to separate their perspectives in different chapters or scenes, because otherwise readers are going to get very confused. That means character A narrates the first chapter, character B narrates the second chapter, and character C narrates the third chapter.
Step 3: Third-Person POV
Third-person point of view means the narrator is telling the story from outside the sequence of events. They're not a character within the story; they’re some type of disembodied voice. You can tell the book is written in third-person because the narration will use words like “he,” “she,” or “they.”
For example, “Buttercup is adorable, and she should be worshiped like the princess she is.”
Within third-person, there are various subcategories, different types of points of view that designate how close the narration is to the characters and how much they know about the story. As of the release of this post, the three most popular types of third-person POV are third-person omniscient, third-person limited, and third-person deep.
Third-person omniscient means the narrator has the potential to know everything. They can follow any character, they can travel to any setting, and they have the ability to know every single character's thoughts. You can think of a third-person omniscient narrator as an all-knowing god observing the entire story from afar.
The third-person limited means the narrator is anchored to one character. They only know what that character is experiencing, seeing, or feeling, and they present the information objectively. It's possible to have different third-person limited narrators within a story. But once again, we have to make sure that we separate them in different chapters or in different scenes. You can think of this type of narrator as a shadow following one particular character around.
Lastly, we have third-person deep, which is similar to third-person limited, but it dives deeper, as the name suggests. Not only is the narrator anchored to one specific character, and they experience everything the character is experiencing, but the narration is also heavily colored by that character's personality, their thoughts, their feelings, and opinions. In other words, a lot of people consider this point of view to be the third-person equivalent of the first-person point of view. Again, it's possible to have multiple third-person deep narrators, but what do you have to do? That's right, you’ve got to separate them. Think of this type of narrator as a demon or a parasite inhabiting your character's brain.
Step 4: Decisions
Now that we know our options, we have to decide which point of view to use in our book. There isn't one point of view that's superior to all others, or one point of view that we have to use in a specific story or genre. All we can do is make an educated decision based on our personal skill set, market trends, and most importantly, what the story requires. Here are a few things you can consider before choosing your point of view.
Step 5: Consider Ease
Which point of view is easiest for you to write? Overall, it's largely believed that first-person POV is the easiest to write. It's not very complicated, unlike third-person point of view, which has a zillion different styles and options to choose from. Plus, it's easier to put yourself in the character's POV when you are literally using the words “I” and “me.”
Step 6: Consider Intimacy
Not that kind of intimacy! If you want your readers to feel close to the characters, to feel what the characters are feeling, then you're going to want to choose an intimate point of view. If that's the case, the most obvious options would be first-person and third-person deep. These are common options when writing character-driven stories, but if you're writing a plot-driven story, you have other options.
Step 7: Consider Flexibility
Certain points of view only allow you to follow one character within a specific chapter or scene. If you want the flexibility to follow any character at any moment within the story, then third-person omniscient is the obvious choice.
Step 8: Consider Voice and Tone
Do you want the narration to feel formal or serious? Then usually, authors choose third-person. But if you want the narrative tone to feel casual or conversational, then usually writers gravitate toward first-person.
Step 9: Consider Genre
Some points of view are popular in certain genres and almost unheard of in other genres. As I mentioned before, if a genre is very character-driven, like romance, we're going to see a lot of first-person and third-person deep novels. But if the genre is more action-packed, we might see a bit more third-person omniscient or third-person limited. I don't know the norms of every single genre, so it's your job to do the research and see what is prevalent in the genre of your choice.
Step 10: Consider Trends
Sometimes certain points of view are preferred for a big chunk of time, and others are on the outs. As of the publication of this post, third-person omniscient has fallen out of favor because it tends to distance readers from the characters. But the other points of view I mentioned are all very viable.
So that's all I've got for you today!
When you consider all of these points, you may get conflicting information, and that's okay. Ultimately, you have to make the decision that is best for your story. Even if the point of view isn't on trend or isn't common in your genre, you know your story. You know what fits its style best. And if you still need help, I've got a worksheet linked right here just for you.
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