Our point of view determines the lens through which we see the world and the way others view us, our message or our opinions, beliefs and values. It helps to close or widen the emotional gaps between us. We develop and foster our point of view with regard to our political views, religious beliefs, cultural differences, societal rules and customs, the law, morality, current events and pretty much everything.  Often, our relationships with loved ones, family, friends, coworkers and neighbors revolve around it, or at least become impacted by it.  Stemming from our childhood, our backgrounds, and our experiences, our point of view might twist and turn, readjusting itself throughout our lives as we continue to write the chapters that make up our life story.

Likewise, in writing, the point of view from which our story is told reveals to our audience the identity of our narrator and the emotional distance she wants to place between her audience, her characters and herself as the creator.  Expressed through pronouns and the angle from which she wants her to narrative to grow, she determines whether the story should be written from first person (I am writing this story), second person (You are writing this story), third person (She/He/It is writing this story) or more recently fourth person (We are writing this story as a group).  This choice of perspective establishes how the audience will experience the story’s plot, observe or connect with the narrator, the characters and the story world in which they live, and understand or relate to the theme. 

When contemplating from which POV to write, there are several different types to pick:

First Person Central is told by the narrator who is also the story’s protagonist.  An example of this would be The Catcher in the Rye written by JD Salinger, in which Holden Caulfield tells his own story from his point of view or in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, narrated by the central/ main character, Scout as she recounts her story.  The author usually writes from this POV to invite the reader into the protagonist’s head, to view the world from the protagonist’s perspective.

First Person Peripheral is a point of view told by a character close to the protagonist to allow the reader to observe the protagonist’s actions without really knowing his thoughts.  The writer might select this POV if she plans to have the protagonist killed off at the end of the story, or to create mystery if she wants the audience to wonder what the protagonist is thinking, or wonder if the character is hiding a secret, or if the protagonist does not have a character arc in which the character changes over the course of the story while the narrator/ witness to the protagonist changes his own view of him from his observation of the protagonist.  A great example of this is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, in which Nick Caraway, Jay Gatsy’s neighbor, tells Gatsby’s story from Nick’s perspective.

Second Person is used when the writer desires for the reader to be the protagonist.  It is typically used in non-fiction or instructional work such as recipes, advertising, instructional pamphlets or blog posts.

Third Person omniscient is employed when the narrator writes about everyone and everything in the story, with access to all characters’ thoughts.

Third Person limited is used when the writer wants to keep thoughts and feelings limited to one main character, in which the audience is only privy to the thoughts and feelings of that main character.

Third Person Objective is selected when the narrator is neutral, dependent on the observations of the characters as opposed to getting inside their heads the way the audience will in first person POV.  Some refer to this POV as writing from the perspective of the fly on the wall, merely observing without subjectivity.

To take the point of view discussion further, when evaluating its  relevance when creating our own real life chapters,  Jessica Shrader discusses in her June 2019 The POWER of PERSPECTIVE TAKING,  how leaning in can expand our worldview and relationships.  How we see our lives is how we live our lives. Our perspective is arguably the single greatest aspect of our uniqueness. It is also the foundation for one of the most powerful tools through which we can relate to and build relationships with others.    In other words, in addition to standing behind our own point of view and how it affects our world, it is important to step outside our perspective when the opportunity presents itself- to truly make a difference.  By making the effort to pay attention to, respect, and actively listen to other viewpoints, we subsequently learn from the way others view life which in turn expands our own perspectives and how we observe and understand the world. Through point of view we can constructively manipulate how we want others to view us and our thoughts and behaviors and at the same time we can better understand and learn from others and how and why they see the world similarly or differently.

By truly listening to one another, and opening our minds to other points of view and even placing ourselves momentarily in the shoes of others, we foster understanding, emotional growth, empathy and compassion.  As Stephen Covey said in his “The Seven habits of Highly Effective People; “ Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

As I always say, in fiction we mirror real life, which is why I regularly compare writing to life and life to writing in my blogs.  Fiction writers make up stories about people, places and events as we attempt to attract and engage our audience.  One of the ways we do this is through point of view, to allow our reader to connect to and understand our characters; what they are thinking, why they are thinking what they are thinking, why they behave as they do, what drives them, as well as to connect to our plot and our theme.  By determining the POV that will work best to do that, the audience’s reading experience is expanded and the relationship between reader and writer is greatly enhanced, just as it is between speaker and listener in our relationships in life.  Do you, as your narrative creator want your reader (or listener) to connect with you inside your head, to feel what you feel and think as you think at least for a moment as you convey your message, or is your goal to create mystery and distance as a way to prove a point or motivate your audience to figure it out on their own.  Point of view can be the vehicle through which you achieve either one as it shapes how we present ourselves and view others, consequently validating the window through which our story is told, which in turn impacts the way the audience interprets and feels about our perspective or our story.  And in the end, whether we are potential authors writing a story to be published, or individuals creating the chapters of our real life stories, it is through our own unique point of view that we construct a plot that most satisfies our audience, and design the steps that will have the most potential to awaken, excite and fulfill us as we pursue our own life’s journey.