Presenting your viewpoint

WE KNOW THAT you can write a story, but what is important is how you tell it to the readers. Will it be through one of the characters or an objective narrator? You need to decide on a point of view. The three most common choices are first person, third person limited and omniscient.

First person

Stories written in the first person are told by the main character. This type of narration sounds as though it's coming straight out of the character's mouth because it's told using the pronoun 'I'. The story is personal because the reader knows everything the character thinks and feels, but there's only one point of view - the main character's. Here's an example of first-person narration:

I knew something was wrong when I entered the classroom. Forty pairs of eyes burned into me as I walked towards my desk. Kids were whispering and Jimmy Wong was grinning like a Cheshire cat. 'Where's Miss Wan?' I muttered. As I sat down, my chair collapsed and the class burst out laughing.

Using the first person point of view, write a scene in which two children are lost in the park.

Third person limited

Stories written in the third person use the pronouns 'he' or 'she'. Third person limited means that the story is told through the viewpoint of the main character, but it's told by someone else. The reader knows what's going on in the main character's head, but the story isn't quite as personal. Here's an example of a scene written in the third person:

Ben knew something was wrong when he entered the classroom. Forty pairs of eyes burned into him as he walked towards his desk. Kids were whispering and Jimmy Wong was grinning like a Cheshire cat. 'Where's Miss Wan?' muttered Ben. As he sat down, his chair collapsed and the class burst out laughing.

Take a story written in the first person and rewrite a section of it in the third person limited.

Omniscient

In the omniscient point of view, the story isn't limited to the viewpoint of any one character. It's told by a narrator who shifts from character to character to tell the reader what's happening. Many fairy tales are written in the omniscient point of view. The advantage of this technique is that you can present many viewpoints; the disadvantage is that the reader may not be able to identify with any character in particular. Here's an example of the omniscient point of view:

Ben knew something was wrong when he entered the classroom. Forty pairs of eyes burned into him as he walked towards his desk. 'Jimmy Wong's going to get him,' whispered Amy to her friend. Jimmy was grinning like a Cheshire cat. He'd been waiting all morning for this. Ben wondered where Miss Wan was. As he sat down, his chair collapsed and the class burst out laughing.

Read a fairy tale and note how the writer uses the omniscient point of view.

Point of view is all about who tells the story. Of course, anyone can tell a story. But no one will tell it in the same way.

Choose your point of view carefully and stick with it so that the reader reads your story to the end.