Ask the Editor 16: Points of View

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Points of View

One of the more basic options - or quandaries if that's how you see it - in writing a novel is whether you write in the first or third person (I know; in theory you can write in the second person too but examples are few and far between). The question of point of view (POV) is not quite as straightforward as it might seem; there are advantages and pitfalls in every choice. In this article I'll look at the pros and cons of different POVs and how to decide what's right for your book.

There are a number of issues at play here: the relationship of reader to story; the number (and quality) of POVs available to the author; the presence, or absence, of an authorial voice in the book; and, most importantly, the appropriate setting for the narrative. Let's look at each voicing and see how it works in context.

If I write a story in the first person I am both establishing a direct relationship to the reader (I am talking to you) and adding a layer of (albeit it fictional) authenticity to the text - the first person declares that I am telling you what happened to me. This is a strong claim for fiction but it tends to work; readers happily suspend their disbelief for a plausible character narrating an account that effectively amounts to testimony.

Arguably, then, the first person allows a more intimate appeal to the reader and engages their sympathy in a more complete and personal way. This is clearly an advantage in certain circumstances; if the story is exotic, or it transgresses our notions of acceptable reality, telling it in the first person lends verisimilitude to an otherwise implausible setting. And if the story tugs at the heartstrings - a doomed romance, or a personal tragedy - telling it from the source invests it with an emotional register difficult to achieve in any other way.

The defining characteristic of first person narrative, however, is that it melds the author's voice with that of the main character. The narrator, the narrative voice of the book, is part and parcel of the story; the conventional distance between writer and what is written disappears, or at least is hidden, so that the story seems to speak to the reader without any form of mediation. This is an illusion, of course; the author invents everything the reader encounters. But it is a powerful illusion, and one that you can use to mould and enhance your relationship to your audience.

Here are two classic examples of first person narration. First, the opening line of Albert Camus' The Fall:

May I, monsieur, offer my services without running the risk of intruding?

This is tantamount to outrageous in fictional terms. Camus as narrator, and simultaneously as Jean-Baptiste, the protagonist, is more or less asking the reader if they need any help. And here is an even more famous opening line, from Melville's Moby Dick:

Call me Ishmael.

The author's opening gambit is to invite the reader to name him. And it does more; the name itself invites the reader to invest the protagonist, and thus the book, with the weight of biblical allegory. That's quite the haul for three words.

This strength is, however, also a limitation. It is very difficult for the writer to insert authorial comment when their voice is inextricable from that of a character. Equally, the setting of the story must always be in sight of the protagonist; there is little room for a different POV. So if your plot requires that things happen unbeknownst to the main character, you will need to invent a vehicle that allows it. That's not easy.
In that situation, I would recommend third person narrative. With third person narrative, you are limited in terms of viewpoint only by the number of characters you invent. Switching POV is as simple as naming a character and narrating from their view. This allows you to tell the story from different angles and, if you wish, you can tell the same story, the same scene, from different POVs. The classic example of this approach is William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, where the same narrative is offered three times, each from a different voice.

If authorial comment can be problematic in first person narrative, there is no such problem in third. Because the narrative voice is not fixed in a character, it can interject at any moment, adding layers to the story by talking about it as well as simply telling it. In a sense, the author's voice here is the ‘I' of the story. This is particularly useful if you need to offer background or meta-narrative to your book; the voice of the author, as author, is a continuous presence.

In addition, third person narrative puts you in a position closer to that of the reader; you are both observing the story from a distance. I am explicitly telling you a story, sharing it with you, effectively saying, ‘Look what those people are doing.' This is the traditional setting for storytelling in all human cultures - a shared experience mediated by the teller. And thus I would suggest that third person narrative is the default setting for fiction.

In a sense this all boils down to your preferred relationship to the reader. It's in some respects a geometrical problem: your options are a straight line or a triangle. Either you face the reader directly and encourage them to confuse you with the protagonist, or you sit beside them and offer commentary as you both watch the story unfold. The story as the fulcrum, or as the apex; in either case, it's the story that matters.

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When he isn't editing, Noel Rooney writes a regular column for Fortean Times magazine, and wilfully obscure poetry. He lives in South London with his family and rather too many animals.

Ask the Editor 1: What genre is my book?

Ask the Editor 2: the submission letter

Ask the Editor 3: Writing a synopsis

Ask the Editor 4: Why do I need you?

Ask the Editor 5: Non-fiction submissions

Ask the Editor 6: Writing non-fiction

Ask the Editor 7: Researching for a book

Ask the Editor 8: How I assess a manuscript

Ask the Editor 9: Why do I need a report?

Ask the Editor 10: Writing your blurb or cover copy

Ask the Editor 11: English Language Editing

Ask the Editor 12: The limitations of editing software