It’s been a long time since I wrote a news post, but I recently wrote a story, decided late in drafting to change the point of view and it really made the story shine. I mentioned it in Tal chat and decided to put my thoughts into a short news post about how some characters can be a lot more compelling when they are not the Point of View.

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Recap: Points of View

• First person (I) tells the story as if the character is retelling the narrative (I fired the shot).
  Good for an unreliable narrator as the entire story is told in their voice.

• Third person limited (he/she/they) is written in third person, but focuses only on one character’s perspective at a time.
  This is the most common in most modern storytelling. We see their internal thoughts and perspectives, but no-one else’s.

• Third person omniscient (he/she/they) doesn’t really have a point of view; the narrator knows everything that everyone is seeing.
  Easy to slip into accidentally when writing third person limited, very difficult to pull off well without overwhelming the reader.

This post will focus on selecting a PoV for first person and third person limited perspectives.

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Elementary, my dear Watson

Sherlock Holmes is a fantastic character. Supremely intelligent, but impulsive. Yet Sir Arthur Conan Doyle didn’t write from his perspective — instead, it’s a first person narrative from Watson’s point of view. Sherlock already knows too much. Watson’s much more limited knowledge lets Doyle keep the reader in the dark much more naturally to build suspense, and Sherlock is guiding both Watson and the reader through the mystery. Sherlock seems so intelligent because he has all the answers, and crucially, Watson doesn’t.

Devious, manipulative masterminds like Sidious or Snape can lose an aspect of mystique if the reader is privy to their innermost thoughts. If the PoV character is the victim of their manipulative ways, then your reader will feel that manipulation first-hand. These characters work best by withholding information, and releasing it at the proper moment. They can be your vehicle for doing that to the reader.

Snape’s moral ambiguity would also rob the story of a lot of its mystery. Much of The Philosopher’s Stone deals with the (false) premise that Snape is trying to steal the Philosopher’s Stone. We’re led to think that because Harry believes it, but if the story was from Snape’s perspective, there is no mystery because we'd know from the start.

Similarly, fear-inducing characters come across as fear-inducing when they’re making the reader feel scared. The best way to do that is to place the reader in the perspective of someone scared by them. Voldemort is scary because Harry’s scared of him. Voldemort wouldn’t be scary if we were reading from his point of view — reading seven novels of him fail to kill a child.

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My Story

The story I was writing that prompted this line of thought was between two of my characters: Zentru’la telling a story about his daughter to Lilina, who wanted to learn about her. When I wrote it from Zentru’la’s point of view, his internal thoughts were memories of the original event... which he then said in dialogue anyway. There was a lot of repetition when the story was my character telling a story.

Late in drafting I decided to rewrite it from Lilina's perspective. Her thoughts were more about interpreting and making sense of the story, and about the things she didn’t know. There was a lot more variation, and it put the reader in the point of view of someone seeking knowledge rather than someone that has all the knowledge. There was a lot less repetition when the story became my character listening to a story.

This is story dependent. Zentru'la has worked as a great PoV character for many stories, but in this one, where he had all the information, he didn't work. I write conversations better when the PoV is the person that has less information.

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Closing Thoughts / TL/DR

Characters who are clever, manipulative or scary might not be the best PoV choice for every story. By mixing it up and choosing a different PoV, you can show the effect they have on the people around them.

It’s not impossible to write a compelling story from a character point of view who is smart, manipulative, knowledgeable or scary. Lots of very successful stories have made it work. But if you do play a character known for lying and scheming, I’d recommend giving this a go one day. The switch of PoV in my story made the story much more compelling, and trying something similar might work for you.

Professor Zentru'la

This has been Zen's thoughts. Zen's thoughts are not to be taken as concrete rules you must follow to write a compelling story, just ideas for things you can try. Only a Sith deals in absolutes.