Writing fiction by Bill Eaton

Point of view

Fifth in a series of articles by Bill Eaton.

Every story is told from at least one point of view, sometimes several. Someone is telling the story. Working out who this person is, is a vital decision that will decide how your story will play out. It is so important it is worth devoting two sessions to it.

Before deciding on to which point of view to adopt you need to ask yourself a few questions about your story:

• Whose story is it?
• Who will tell it?
• Should it be told by the main character or by a secondary character who witnesses the events?
• Should it be told by an anonymous witness who presents the action without comment?
• Or by an all-knowing power who can reveal the innermost thoughts and feelings of all the characters?

There are exceptions, but in general a story will be told from a first person or a third person point of view.

Each choice has advantages and limitations.

First person

This is when the story is told by one of the characters in the story, he or she is the narrator. It will use the personal pronoun 'I' to describe things.

"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth."

(J.D.Salinger, Catcher in the Rye)

Your first person narrator could be the lead character, as in the example above, or it could just as easily be a peripheral character who witnesses the events. In either case the events and characters they describe will be coloured by their own attitudes.

Exercise one

A gold ring is stolen from a department store. It is a fake ring.

Write a paragraph on the event from the point of view of the thief - using the thief's language.

Then, write a paragraph from the point of view of the person behind the counter when the ring was stolen.

Make sure you are using the 'I' when you write and that the voices you use are different in each case.

There are many varieties of first person narrators, all have their own strengths and weaknesses. As you read more widely you will spot many for yourself. Here are a few examples.

The reminiscent narrator

This is the most common type of first person narrator; telling a story after it has happened; perhaps many years after. These events can be recalled with precise clarity, the reader will accept this. It can be interesting, however, to admit the fallibility of memory - this makes the narrator more believable.

Exercise two

Recall an event from your childhood.

Write a paragraph about it from the point of view of you as a child, using child-like language and perspective, then rewrite the paragraph as an adult looking back on the event, using adult language and interpretation.

The unreliable narrator

Because the first person narrator is the reader's only source of information, it is possible the narrator is deliberately trying to mislead. The narrator might be a liar or a self-deceiver, trying to manipulate events to get the reader onto their side. The narrator will say something but unwittingly reveal another. Maybe the narrator is envious of the person they are describing, or perhaps they are covering their own tracks in some misdemeanour.

The point of this sort of narrator is that a major part of the story involves the reader trying to pin down the truth about the narrator.

Alternating first person narrators

The story is told by a variety of first person narrators, usually one voice per chapter. This helps vary the voices and changes the perspective on the story.

When writing in a first person style it can be helpful to imagine an audience of one person, either real or imagined, and write your story as if your narrator is speaking directly to that person. In the example above from the Catcher in the Rye, for example, it could be imagined that the narrator is talking to his psychiatrist.

Before embarking on the story, get a clear picture of where your first person narrator is in relation to the story, how close in time and involvement, and how the character will give out the information of the story in a believable way.

In most cases of first person, the narrator should be a central character, someone on whom the events of the story will have a real impact. This is what will make the story interesting for the reader.

The important thing to remember is that the first person narrator is not you! Not the author. It is another character with its own voice. As a writer in the first person, you are living in someone else’s skin.

Advantages of first person

This is the mother of all point of views; all stories originate from someone witnessing what happens. It is the most straightforward and natural storytelling style, which makes it easy for a reader to accept.

You are free to create strong voices, using slang, faulty grammar and colloquial language where appropriate to the character.

The first person also allows a smooth access to that character’s thoughts; you can get inside their head.

Disadvantages of first person

It is difficult to describe what the narrator looks like in a natural way, unless you place a mirror somewhere, and these do get overused in fiction. The most natural way to deal with this is to get the character to report their own thoughts about their appearance.

The fact that the narrator is telling the story implies that the narrator is still alive, thus removing one potential source of suspense – whether the character will survive the story or not. This is one of the reasons thrillers generally use the third person.

The repetition of 'I' can become wearing. To avoid this have the character describe other characters, the action or the setting.

The narrator must be in a position where they can plausibly witness or discover all the relevant events of the story.

The reader might get fed up with such a one-sided view of things - perhaps introduce other characters and dialogue which might contradict or undermine the narrator's view of things - allowing the reader to pick up things the narrator might be missing.

It can be hard to create compelling new voices every time you start a new story. One of the advantages of the third person is that these voices (apart from dialogue) do not have to be created so frequently.

Writing in the third person

When we write a story in the third person the narrator is at a distance from the events, using 'he', 'she' or 'they' to write the story.

"The face of Nicholas Easter was slightly hidden by a display rack filled with slim cordless phones, and he was looking not directly at the hidden camera but somewhere off to the left, perhaps at a customer, or perhaps at a counter where a group of kids hovered over the latest electronic games from Asia."

- John Grisham – The Runaway Jury

Compared to the first person viewpoint we discussed in the last session, now imagine the story's camera moving from inside a character's head to some point further away.

Again, like the first person approach, there are several varieties of third person viewpoints, with advantages and disadvantages.

The omniscient narrator

Omniscience - The ability to know everything. This viewpoint can describe absolutely everything about all the characters and events in the story, even what the characters may not be able to know themselves.

This is a wide ranging and authoritative point of view, the narrator (the author) knows everything that has happened in the past and what will happen in the future. With this method, the narrator and the author are the same.

The author jumps from inside one head to another, describing thoughts and desires, then drawing back to describe whole scenes. The 'camera' of the story can be set wherever you like. The author can also include their own comments about the events and characters he or she has created.

This style was popular in the nineteenth century and produced massive sprawling novels. It is not popular now, although can still be used to great effect for the right story.

Third person limited

This is the most common type of point of view in use today. It can be split into three types:

• Third person subjective
• Third-person objective
• Third person limited omniscient

Third person subjective - the narrator knows everything that one character may see, feel and know. This is like the first person, only the story is told in standard English rather than in the voice of the viewpoint character.

Exercise three

A husband approaches another woman, speaking to her, seemingly in quite an intimate manner. Unknown to him, his wife is looking on and believes this is evidence he is having an affair.

Describe this event three times in the third person subjective, from the point of view of all three characters present. Make the event seem radically different from each person’s perspective.

Third-person objective - also a popular approach, this style can describe only what can be observed - it feels like a documentary, recounted neutrally. Descriptions are limited to actions and appearance and dialogue, absolutely no thought processes and no judgements on the actions by the author.

This tends to lead to a pared down style of writing that can sometimes feel too clinical. It can, however, be a good discipline for writers who tend to explain too much.

This approach also leaves a lot of room for the reader to make their own mind up about what is happening, so that no two readers will react the same way to the same story.

Third person limited omniscient - this style sticks to one character but combines the two approaches, inside and outside the character, allowing the author to make comments on the character, allowing the story's 'camera' to move back. This technique allows a detailed view of a single character and combines the advantages of third person distance and first person intimacy.

Exercise four

Recall an argument you have had with someone, write about that quarrel from the point of view of the other person, using third person limited viewpoint. A useful for exercise for practising empathy - a crucial skill for a writer

Exercise five

Take a personal memory and write about it in a third person point of view - useful for practising distance. Don't be afraid to embellish or make things up to make the memory fictional

Consistency

Once you have chosen your point of view it is important to stick with it unless there is a good reason not to. Switches in point of view can be very irritating for the reader. Sometimes it can be done to great effect but it does need to be done well. Be in control and do it in regular enough fashion so that the reader can accept it.

A common error often occurs with the omniscient point of view, when the author flits from one person to another so often it is hard to keep up and hard to understand which stuff is important and which stuff is just fluff. To avoid this, make the shifts less frequent, stay with one character for longer periods of time and mark each shift with a new section, a new paragraph or a new chapter.

These are things to look out for when you are revising your manuscript.

Other points of view

There are other, less popular, points of view that can be used:

Second person

The main character is referred to as 'you', so the reader is now part of the story. It is a most involving style. Even if the reader is not specifically the 'you' the narrator is referring to, it is hard to shake that impression.

It is a difficult point of view to pull off, and can get boring after a while. It is most often used in short bursts along with other points of view.

First person plural (We)

Third person plural (They)

These are both used to create a sense of community in some way, of a group observer (three brothers, a small town etc.) It can be effective if you want to depict an outsider being oppressed by a community (with the community as the narrator).

Stream of consciousness

This can be effective in short bursts and is often used to resemble human thought patterns. It is the most intimate thing you can do to a character, showing thoughts. This style can be used in short bursts for moments of contemplation or even in the middle of violent action, to slow things down a bit. The problem with stream of consciousness is that it can be very hard to read in big chunks; it is often more fun to write than to read.

Once you have decided on your point of view you can start working on the voice and tone of the narrator - this is what will make your work unique, even if it is a story that has been told before.

And, as always, keep reading with an eye to seeing how other authors do it!

Next

6. Dialogue