First, Second, Third Omniscient and Third Limited

Use “I” or “We” Story filtered through narrator Details limited to what character can see, hear,

touch, taste, smell, think, feel and know “If only I had known that our lives would never be

the same.” Foreshadow, not outside realm of narrators knowledge

Narrator cannot know unspoken thoughts/feelings, only guess

First person is intimate w/readers Feel like charas, best friend, knows stuff chara wouldn’t

tell anyone

Challenges:- Cannot use language your character wouldn’t use- Cannot describe things your character wouldn’t notice- Hard to show rather than tell- Being trapped in POV can get tedious- Voice of narration consistent with character’s cultural,

social, educational and regional background.- Voice should be unique not annoying, being mindful of

cultural dialect political correctness issues- Careful word choice- Develop character through thought, and dialect

- Thought must show appropriate reactions to situations around- SHOW don’t TELL- Remember Character needs to react physically as well as mentally

Young Adult(12 and up) Shows how teens react

and act differently Short stories Chick-lit and romance Gothic genre

Detective Novels: First person through out, and third person doing other characters

Rashmon Effect: Named after a Japanese film showing the same event in the perspective of four different characters, each revealing something different

Sequential Multiple Viewpoints: Each chapter has a different characters POV and they rotate either chronologically or thematically Be cautious to make EACH CHARACTER’s voice

DIFFERENT Story must flow in one direction

Separate Multiple Viewpoints: Each chap done in diff. POV seemingly unrelated, coming back together in the end Room for subplots and ect.

Use “she” “he” and “they” Common in all genres but young adult IMPORTANT: Consistency Very flexible

Tell entire story through one character in third person

Two or more characters, and rotate perspectives

Use third person pronouns God-like-view Can enter the heads of any character Reveal future and past events Challenges:

Character voices must be very distinct, so not to confuse readers

Can write a main story with my many small subplots that tie together in the end (writing different perspectives) Weakness: Losing tensions

Like passing a camera around a party and each character gets time to shine for a bit

God-like, but one head at a time Can switch characters as many times as

necessary in a scene Head hopping easier by physical

contact, or physical presence of character jumping to (Within one scene)

Not used often Considered annoying Can come across as bossy and

commanding Not used in long fics Can’t formally address a group of

people

http://www.the-writers-craft.com/second-person-point-of-view.html