If you were a middle school student sitting in my class discussing literary terms, I would start off with a question like: “What is ‘point of view’ in a story?” You would probably then say something like, “how the story is told” or “who tells the story.” And you wouldn’t be quite right, but you’d be better than the kid who, when asked what a ‘protagonist’ was, said, “Ooh, ooh! I know! That’s the character who waits until the last minute to do everything!” (No, sweetie, that’s a procrastinator. But good try.) We would then seek to better define the concept together in our notes and I’d go with this one…

I’m assuming that those of you reading this already know the different points of view a story can be told in; however, please humor me as the teacher in me needs to make sure I’m clear. Though there are many subcategories of POV, I’ll stick with our major ones being 1^stperson (participant point of view, using first person pronouns—I, me, my, etc.), 3^rd person limited (non-participant point of view, using third person pronouns—he, she, they, etc.—limiting the inner thoughts and experiences to one or a few main characters), and 3^rd person omniscient (entering the minds and experiences of all characters). I never formally teach 2^ndperson POV in class, but am rethinking that now that I recently met Charles Benoit, author of You, a YA novel told completely and uniquely in 2^nd person…all because his wife dared him to do it. (Check it out! He’s fabulous.)

But, really…choosing the right point of view for the novel you’re writing is an important first step. I’ve noticed that writers (myself included) tend to classify themselves into one category of POV writing. I think of myself as a 1^st person POV writer—and my Phantom Island series is told in 1^st person through Whitnee’s eyes. To be honest, I found that writing Whitnee was almost like writing myself. So 1^st person in her voice (which is often like MY voice) came very easily. I never imagined I’d want to write in any other point of view…until I got the Shiny New Novel Idea. And as I considered the dynamics of writing the Shiny New Novel, I knew I wanted some secrets revealed to my readers before one of my main characters knew about them. I wanted to cast light and shadows in the plot in such a way that I would have to be free to leave characters at specific times. Not only that, but in Shiny New Novel, my characters have less of ME in them. Maybe that accounted for this need to tell the story from an outside narration. Whatever the case, if I stayed in 1^st person POV, I’d be confined to one character’s experiences and perceptions OR have to try switching 1^stperson POV constantly among characters. Nope. The Shiny New Novel Idea is so enticing to me that I have now forsaken my comfort zone and am attempting a novel in 3^rd person. EEK.

I’ve heard nightmare stories of writers who went back and rewrote an ENTIRE NOVEL in a new point of view, because they realized what they started with didn’t work for the story they wanted to tell. So how can we avoid that? My advanced students and I threw around some thoughts in our class discussion that you might consider (especially if you write YA)…

–The art of writing suspense is really easy with 1^stPOV, because the character is limited to what they can know or observe. This means Unknown Plot Forces can be brewing and more easily surprise the character, and thus the reader too.

–You can have a LOT of fun with voice in 1^stperson. Your MC is telling the story, so they get their own unique voice and tone. (Or you can lean at times on your OWN voice, which some of us unknowingly do in our first projects.)

–Your reader gets to really know and understand your MC and we all know that when a reader makes a connection with a character, the story will resonate strongly with them.

–You are limited to only tell what your MC can observe and experience. This makes it super important to write a main character that can carry an entire story. That MC has to be where the action is and the world of the story must usually revolve in some way around them.

–You have to be careful not to have your MC “notice” too many obvious things without connecting the dots with the reader. This is when MCs lose credibility with their readers because the reader saw something in the plot that the MC should have seen too, but didn’t… even though the MC narrated the observations.

–You have to write in a voice that will not “get old” or annoying in the telling. I’ve heard the complaint that 1^st person narrators can come across arrogant or self-centered. Well… this is somewhat true…in a way. They are the MC because they ARE in the center of what’s happening. But if they’re not really a self-centered person, be careful how you write their voice.

“…it gives me a point of reference for what’s happening. I don’t have to get confused by character names or who’s talking in the scene.”

“…it lets me see other characters through a real person’s eyes-the same way I might see them in my own mind. It makes the minor characters seem more real. Not the way an objective narrator wants me to see them.”

“…I always feel closer to the main character when they tell me their story. It’s like making a friend and hearing about their life.”

–You definitely have more freedom to explore other places, people, and circumstances that your MC does not get to see.

–You can have multiple MCs that open up new perspectives throughout the plot.

–It’s a lot easier to jump through, in, and around time as you please. The sequence of events can be told in any order you think will benefit the storytelling.

–Sometimes you sacrifice suspense in order to tell a bigger story – this is usually seen more in 3^rd person omniscient POVs.

–The story can feel more about the plot than the characters, sacrificing someone’s ability to get truly close to one or two characters.

–If not written carefully, sometimes readers can feel as disconnected from the story as the fly on the wall who is narrating it.

“…I like getting points of view from different characters and seeing the conflicts from all angles.”

“…I like experiencing what’s happening through the person it’s happening to, not through a main character who is trying to describe to me what other characters are going through.”

Overall, in YA fiction, my students are openly more drawn to 1^st person POV right now. That being said, I say choose the POV that will make for the best storytelling. You know your story, you know your characters, and hopefully you know at least a general structure of the plot outline you’re following. Use those details, along with a self-assessment of your writing strengths, and then go with the POV that you think will work best. However, don’t be afraid to branch out and try a new POV style than just what you’ve “always” done. I’m finding it strangely freeing to try 3^rdperson POV in the Shiny New Novel Idea… Maybe one day I’ll even venture out into different tenses…Ha. One step at a time, Dallas.

**This topic was originally written as a Krissi Dallas guest post at author Christine Fonseca’s Blog.