The Writer’s Guild
Point of view
No writer is free to exercise his talent fully without a firm grasp of point of view
(POV). This Craft Session is intended to help you understand the advantages and
disadvantages of each POV to help you choose which to use to accomplish what you have in
mind. Deciding on POV is important because each POV influences the emotions of the
reader differently.
In general, it is advisable not to mix points of view within the same scene,
chapter, or sometimes even the same novel. It can be unsettling to the reader.
Sticking to a POV intensifies the experience of a story. A fluctuating point of view
can decrease the experience for the reader.
To avoid confusion by presenting an unnecessarily large number of
choices. We will examine the main points of view:
I saw this, I did that. First-person POV
In first person, the viewpoint character – frequently, but not necessarily,
the protagonist – tells the story from his or her point of view.
He saw this, he did that. Third person POV
The simplest way of understanding this is that it is the same as first person
except that you have substituted "he” or “she” for “I.”
You saw this, you did that. Second person POV
Forget it. Second person is used so rarely that we should just shelf it.
When used, the storyteller is seeking to involve the reader in the story as
if he were a character. Actually, the reader is quite prepared to be involved
emotionally in the story, not as himself but through identification with one
or more of the characters.
Another point of view: The omniscient POV
In the omniscient (all knowing) POV all characters and locations are fair
game.
Kevin looked longingly at Mary, hoping she would notice
him. She not only noticed him, she wished he would take her in his
arms. Mary's mother, watching from the window, thought they were
a perfect match.
The writer is all over the lot. One moment he seems to be in Kevin's head,
the next moment in Mary’s, and a second later in Mary's mother’s point of
view.
First Person POV
Advantages:

It is easier to render immediacy to actions.

It can give logic and motivations to characters that would seem otherwise
evil, immoral, or otherwise not relatable. (Ever root for the criminal?)

It more easily fleshes a character by allowing the audience to listen to
their voice (and perhaps thoughts) for long periods of story time.

Makes it easier to keep consistent tone, and style.

In some ways, a first person narrator can more easily "dump" information
on the reader.
Disadvantages:

The narrator needs to have a clear reason to be telling or documenting the
story in the first place. (Many authors discount this.)

Describing the protagonist clearly (let alone honestly and objectively) is
very difficult, and usually requires tacky tricks (like staring into a mirror).

Perspective and perceptions are highly limited.
Third Person Point Of View - means that there's a disembodied narrator
who's telling the story. It is part of the convention, or agreement, between reader
and writer that the reader will accept that there is somebody who can relate all
that happened without ever being involved in it.
This narrator describes the characters' actions by saying he, she and
they (whereas in first person point of view the action is described by saying I and
we.)
How much information that disembodied narrator has access to (and hence can
share with the reader) is what leads to the variations in this POV.
Third Person POV Variations - Third person point of view comes in three
basic variations:
Third Person Limited and Third Person Omniscient.
Third person omniscient POV is a method of storytelling in which the narrator
knows what every character is thinking. Third person limited POV, on the other
hand, is a method of storytelling in which the narrator knows only the thoughts
and feelings of a single character, while other characters are presented only
externally. Third person limited grants a writer more freedom than first person,
but less knowledge than third person omniscient.
Third Person Objective Point of View
Third Person Objective POV - is a case of giving just the facts. The reader is
never allowed into any of the characters’ minds, nor given any of their feelings or
emotions. The reader has to judge what the character is thinking or feeling by
what they say, what they do, and their facial expressions - much like real life.
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Third Person Objective POV the reader has access to nobody's thoughts. In Third
Person Limited POV the reader has access to one person's thoughts at a time. In
Third Person Omniscient POV the reader has access to everybody's thoughts at
the same time.
The workhorse POV - Third Person Limited
In third person limited POV, the narrator (and hence the reader) only knows
what's going on in the head of one person, seeing events from that person's point
of view.
This may apply to being in only one head at a time for the whole story, or it may
mean that we're in a different person's head and thoughts for each scene.
If you are telling the story from different people's points of view, the trick to
knowing whose POV to use for each scene is to figure out which character is most
impacted by the events of that scene.
So, for example, if you had a scene where somebody was breaking bad news, I'd
suggest the POV character should be the one who was hearing the news rather
than the one who was telling it. The teller already knows the bad news - no matter
how much it effects them, this scene doesn't represent change for them. But it
surely represents major change for the person hearing the news.
Also, by definition, the reader will most empathize with the character who’s POV
they're witnessing. So, say you had a scene with two characters in which each of
them was equally impacted, then use the POV of the character you want the
readers to identify with more. This would usually be your protagonist.
Don't forget, however, that even though you're only in one person's head, you can
still let the reader know what's going on with the other characters by
showing what they're doing, saying, and by describing their appearance and
expressions.
The advantages of third person limited point of view, over First Person POV,
include:

It’s nearly as immediate and intimate as first person, without the
constraint of only being able to relate what the first person narrator
sees/experiences. You can describe events even when your view-point
character isn't present.

It's easier to describe the view-point character(s) as you can just say
straight out what they're like.

It’s easier to include subplots, or even parallel stories.
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