Hi everyone. I was wondering if anyone would mind sharing how they choose to pick what point of view they write from and why. I have a book I have been working on over the years, and every time I come back to it, I am never happy with the point of view between first person and third. I just cannot seem to pick one and over time have wrote the pages I have in both views in trying to decide. I was hoping someone may have some advice that will help me deicide permanently on one view over the other. The book is fiction. One moment it feels like first person is more descriptive for my book and another moment it feels like third person is better. What point of view do you prefer to read/write and why?
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Point of view is not just about first or third (and occasionally second, to be obtuse). There are degrees of third person.
If all we see/learn is restricted to that experienced by the PoV character, then it can be written equally well in first or third person ‘limited omniscient’.
“I walked down the chilly street, pulling the scarf around my neck, wondering why I’d agreed to this meeting.”
“She walked down the chilly street, pulling the scarf around her neck. Why had she agreed to this meeting?”
Above that lies third person ‘narrator’ where we follow all the characters, but nobody’s thoughts appear. We are just watching together.
“She walked down the chilly street, pulling the scarf around her neck, perhaps not noticing the figure that shadowed her, until she reached her destination.”
Then full third person ‘omniscient’, who sees all, knows all.
“She walked down the chilly street, pulling the scarf around her neck. Wondering why she’d agreed to this meeting.
Unnoticed behind her, a shadowy figure followed, until she reached her destination. It tasted the air, imagining what her fresh, hot blood would smell like.”
Simple examples, but may help you decide how much you want the reader to know.
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Thank you so much for your examples. This helps in understanding why I was having a hard time choosing a point of view. I was having a difficult time putting a finger on the different types of Third person.
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