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9 POV Approaches for Fiction Writers

In the simplest terms, point of view can be defined as the perspective through which a story is being told. A story’s POV identifies three things:

  1. Who is telling the story

  2. The relationship between the narrator and main character

  3. The distance between the characters and readers

Those things are all critical to how a story comes across to the reader, and shifting the POV—even if it’s just from one 3rd-person close narrator to a different one—can have a huge impact on how the reader interprets the story (and how much they enjoy reading it).

A singificant portion of contemporary short fiction is written in either 1st person or 3rd person close. And with good reason. First person is the most immersive of the POVs. Readers are instantly inclined to both trust and relate to a first-person narrator, and that can be useful for a writer. 3rd-person close, meanwhile, is kind of the Goldilocks of POVs, with the flexibility of a third-person voice and the anchoring and grounding of a single viewpoint character the reader can latch onto.

These aren’t the only options in the writer’s toolbox, though, and even these common perspectives are more complicated than they seem at first glance.

How does POV impact a story?

9 POV options for short fiction

1st Person – Participant

The story told in the “I” voice by a narrator actively involved in the plot, usually as the main character.

Best for: Stories driven by a mix of plot and emotion with a single narrative thread

Advantages:

Limitations:

  

1st Person – Peripheral

The story told in the “I” voice by a narrator who is a witness to or minor participant in the story’s events.

Best for: Framing devices; stories driven by plot or character relationships

Advantages:

Limitations:

 

1st Person Plural

The story is told in the “we” voice by a community, hive mind, or other group of narrators who share a unified worldview.

Best for: stories exploring themes of identity, belonging, tribalism, and individualism vs. community

Advantages:

Limitations:

 

2nd Person Immersive

The story told in the “you” voice, where the reader occupies the role of the “you.”

Best for: Choose-Your-Own narratives; stories driven by emotion

Advantages:

Limitations:

 

2nd Person Epistolary

The story is told in the “you” voice addressed to another character.

Best for: Stories told as letters; stories driven by the emotions within a single relationship

Advantages:

Limitations:

 

3rd Person Close – Participant

The story is told in the “they” voice, through the lens of a specific character who is actively involved in the events of the story.

Best for: stories driven by plot, imagery, or emotion; stories with complex, multi-thread plots

Advantages:

Limitations:

 

3rd Person Close – Peripheral

The story is told in the “they” voice through the lens of a specific character who is telling a story they witnessed, heard, or were a minor participant in.

Best for: frame devices; stories driven by plot, character relationships, or imagery; stories with complex, multi-thread plots

Advantages:

 Limitations:

 

3rd Person Omniscient

The story is told in the “they” voice by a god-like narrator that can see the inner thoughts and emotions of all characters.

Best for: stories driven by character relationships, emotions, or imagery; stories with complex, multi-thread plots

Advantages:

Limitations:

 

3rd person Objective

The story is told in the “they” voice by a detatched narrator who observes all characters from the outside.

Best for: stories driven by character relationships; stories on topics with high inherent emotional intensity

Advantages:

Limitations:

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