The Differing Narrative POVs (points of view)

Narrative Point of View (POV) refers to the perspective from which a story is told

1st Person POV

• Narrator is the main character
• Narrator uses the pronoun 'I'
• Reader inhabits a single character’s fully-fledged perspective
• Common in novels written as fictional autobiographies

Example:

Now you are on the bus, standing in the crowd, hanging from a strap by your arm, and you begin undoing the package with your free hand, making movements something like a monkey, a monkey who wants to peel a banana and at the same time cling to the bough.

—Italo Calvino, if on a Winter’s Night a Traveler

    ‘Landlord!’ said I, ‘what sort of chap is he—does he always keep such late hours?’ It was now hard upon twelve o'clock.

— Ishmael, Moby Dick

1st Person Peripheral POV

• The only difference is the narrator is a supporting character in the story, not the main character

2nd Person POV

• Narrator is the reader
• Narrator uses pronoun 'you'
• Generally used in instructive writing
• Creates a 'choose your own adventure’ type of affect, reader is asked to imagine being the central character
• Rarest used POV

TIP: 2nd person is the least used and the most misunderstood POV, here is more reading suggestion:

Writing in Second Person: Atwood to Tolstoy

Example

You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning.  But here you are, and you cannot say that the terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy.  You are at a nightclub talking to a girl with a shaved head.

— Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City

TIP: 2nd Person POV is what you often hear in persuasive speeches…

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

— Mahatma Gandhi

Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.

— Elbert Hubbard

3rd Person POV

• Narrator is not a character in story
• Narrator describes characters’ actions using the pronouns ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘it’ or ‘them’
• Most commonly used POV
• Offers readers degrees of distance from the main characters
• Events can be described from outside a single character’s perspective, even if the narrative is still focused primarily on their experiences

Read Cayce Berryman' blog Writing in Third Person

But wait! There's more!  Third person POVs can be Limited, Objective, or Omniscient. 

Choices, choices, choices…

3rd Person Limited

• Narration is limited to one character (thoughts and feelings of only one character) typically the main character
• Most commonly used POV
• Narrator uses pronouns to describe all characters
• He, She, It
• Him, Her
• His, Hers, Its
• They, Them
• Their, theirs

TIP: Limiting narration to only what can be observed is useful for avoiding telling readers’ feelings more than showing them.

Example

   ‘She is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld! But there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you, who is very pretty, and I dare say very agreeable. Do let me ask my partner to introduce you.’
   ‘Which do you mean?’ and turning round he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said: ‘She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me; I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me.’
   Mr. Bingley followed his advice. Mr. Darcy walked off; and Elizabeth remained with no very cordial feelings toward him.
— Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

3rd Person Objective

• Narrator does not have access to characters’ thoughts and feelings
• Narrator gives an objective, unbiased point of view
• Narrator uses pronouns to describe all characters
• He, She, It
• Him, Her
• His, Hers, Its
• They, Them
• Their, theirs

There is no viewpoint character [in objective POV]. The narrator is not one of the characters, and can say of the characters only what a neutral observer (an intelligent fly on the wall) might infer of them from behaviour and speech.

— Ursula K Le Guin, Steering the Craft

TIP:  Objective narration in third person forces you to communicate to readers what is interesting about a scene without shorthand abstractions.

3rd Person Omniscient

• Narrator is God, knows and sees all!
• Described as a "fly-on-the-wall" POV
• Viewpoint may shift between characters
• Narrator can describe more without being in the head of a character
• settings
• scenes

TIP:  Make the switches between characters obvious and easy for reader to follow with chapter or section breaks when shifting POV

Example

Harry had taken up his place at wizard school, where he and his scar were famous … but now the school year was over, and he was back with the Dursleys for the summer, back to being treated like a dog that had rolled in something smelly … The Dursleys hadn’t even remembered that today happened to be Harry’s twelfth birthday. Of course, his hopes hadn’t been high?

— JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the a Chamber of Secrets

And finally…

3rd Person Multiple POV

Narrator is still in the he/she/it category, but now can follow multiple characters in the story. What? You heard me!

Cheat Sheet

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Confused? Most likely you've used them all at some point and don't need to give it much thought when writing, but it is helpful to understand the differences.

Read more:

The Ultimate Point of View Guide:

Third Person Omniscient vs. Third Person Limited vs. First Person

  

How to write with multiple POVs

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You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.

— Lee Harper, To Kill a Mockingbird

Off the subject... 

I absolutely love this program, have learned much from using it for editing, won't submit to my editor list alone a submission call without first tidying it all up into a crisp, clean flow. I share with you:

WRITE LIKE IT'S CRIMINAL!