Point of View

Omniscient

Possible Pairing: Third- or Fourth-Person

Book Examples

• Third-Person Omniscient: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• Fourth-Person Omniscient: A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

Omniscient point of view is when a godlike narrator is all-knowing in regard to every character’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences. This narrator may even know things the characters do not know. Omniscient POV is typically expressed in a consistent voice, almost as if the narrator is a character themselves. Using this perspective can be a powerful tool if executed correctly, but can also lead to confusion if mishandled.

Limited

Possible Pairing: First-, Second, or Third-Person

Book Examples

• First-Person Limited: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Second-Person Limited: Complicity by Iain Banks
• Third-Person Limited: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Most commonly paired with first- or third-person, limited POV is when the narrator is restricted to the thoughts and experiences of one character at a time. The reader can be with this character for the whole book (first-person) or different characters at different times (third-person; see “A Word of Caution on Head-Hopping” below). But whoever’s head the narrator is in at any given moment, that is the only one the reader can know everything about. Therefore, the thoughts and feelings of other characters in the scene must be understood solely through action, gestures, and dialogue.

A Word of Caution on Head-Hopping

Head-hopping is a term used when the reader receives insight into multiple perspectives. If this happens in a single scene, it would be considered third-person omniscient, which is often found to be acceptable as the narrator would maintain a consistent voice.

If it occurs at different times, however, it would fall under third-person limited, which can be difficult to execute properly. Because the narrator is technically many characters, the voice is no longer consistent like in the omniscient POV. This technique can also be very jarring as it requires the reader to constantly reevaluate where they are, who they are with, and how that character relates to other characters and the setting.

Head hopping can be difficult to pull off and rather confusing for the reader to follow. If you plan to attempt this point of view, a good rule of thumb is to stick to one per chapter to keep things clear, or at the very minimum, with section breaks in between.

Objective

Possible Pairing: Third- or Fourth-Person

Book Examples

• Third-Person Objective: Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway
• Fourth-Person Objective: The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

Rather rare, objective POV is when the narrator does not dive into any of the character’s inner thoughts, only stating what is seen on the surface, and therefore creating distance. Because this perspective is so narrow and impersonal, it’s usually only seen in short stories.

First-Person

Pronouns: Me, Myself, I

Possible Pairing: Limited

Despite being limited, first-person POV is often thought to be the most intimate because the reader is placed directly in the protagonist’s shoes. The reader will understand the protagonist’s limitations, biases, and motives, allowing the reader to connect more intimately with the protagonist, leading to empathy.

Second-Person

Pronoun: You

Possible Pairing: Limited

Second-person POV breaks the fourth wall, making the reader an active participant in the story. This is common with choose-your-own-adventure books, but otherwise not as popular of a choice for fiction books as it is inexplicably awkward or difficult to maintain both as a writer and a reader.

Third-Person

Pronouns: He/Him, She/Her, They/Them

Possible Pairing: Omniscient, Limited, or Objective

Third-person POV is a popular choice because it is so dynamic. If paired with omniscient POV, the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all characters. If limited, the narrator is only alert to those of a single character, usually the protagonist. And if objective, the narrator simply states the story as facts, without having any insight into the thoughts or feelings of the individual characters.

Fourth-Person

Pronouns: We/Us, One/Oneself

Possible Pairing: Omniscient or Objective

Editor’s Note: Some argue that there is no fourth-person POV, as first-person plural would also use pronouns such as we and us. Others argue there is a clear difference between first-person plural and fourth-person in that the latter could be omniscient or objective rather than simply limited. In other words, in fourth-person POV, you’ll never hear the narrator use an individual’s pronoun like me or I.

Fourth-person POV is incredibly rare in fiction, though it has been seen in some of the classics, including Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. This POV can be used to create an eery sense of the reader being an outsider when sharing collective experiences from a group perspective, but it can also be less intimate and create a sense of dissociation because we don’t get to see any individual’s unique experience of the situation. My husband always says there are three sides to every story: his side, her side, and the truth. This means that even when a group shares a collective experience, they each still have unique understanding, feelings, thoughts, experiences, and views of that same situation, but you won’t get that with fourth-person point of view.