Every story has a narrator, a voice, a magical being who is relaying the story to the straining eyes on the other side of the page. It isn’t easy to decide on who gets the gift of narration in a story and it isn’t clear all the time. I’ve read some books where I really wish somebody else was the narrator because the original makes me want to root for the villain. Basically, this is going to be about various methods of perspective in writing.
I’m going to get some confusion out of my way because this is something that always irked me when I read a story. There have been times where I’m reading a book and the narrator is a character who dies at the end. These are typically entertaining books, but that stunt leaves me thinking that I got emotionally invested and made friends with a walking time-bomb. I understand the whole shock of killing off the hero, but that you better prepare for a few readers feeling like they just wasted their time. On the plus side, you can read the book again and see if the narrator has any clue that they’re not going to make it. Now that my pet peeve is out of the way, I can move on.
First-person perspective is a popular choice because it focuses the story and you have a stable mind to follow. You don’t have to jump into other characters to refocus your attention and thoughts. Personally, I find this to be a difficult perspective to write in and an easy perspective to read. I find it difficult because I want to find a way to reveal what the other characters are thinking or how they’re evolving. That’s one of the obstacles to first-person. If that is your sole narrator then you cannot have a scene where that character is absent, asleep, or incapacitated. All thoughts, emotions, and actions that are hidden from the character are hidden from the reader too. Maybe that sidekick helping the hero is upset that he isn’t getting paid enough or he misses his mother. No way to find that out unless the hero asks or the sidekick blurts it out in a conversation that can easily come off as contrived. A way to fix this is to switch first-person perspectives every chapter, so all of the heroes get a chance to be delved into. It borders on third-person at times if you aren’t careful, but it is an easy trick to avoid a solitary perspective for the entire story. This can help out with getting a deeper sense of villains too.
Second-person perspective . . . I’m going to pass on this because I can’t wrap my mind around it.
My personal favorite is third-person because I like for all of my characters to be examined at the same time. A scene where I focus on one character could result in me missing an opportunity to evolve another character. I keep thinking I go third-person limited, but I’ve told that I actually go third-person omnipotent. That means my narrator knows everything even though he/she never knows the future. I guess my style is closer to having Professor X telling the story while spying on the minds of the characters. Maybe third-person telepath is a better way to describe what I do? This style does have the hazard of making things chaotic for a reader, but it can be tempered with editing and caution. One trick is to have the thought breaks where you hear the characters thinking, but I prefer to use narration to do this. It feels cleaner to me since it can be a little jarring to see a conversation and a thought stuck in the middle.
Perspectives aside, it really comes down to personal choice and working hard to get the narrator right. This is the ‘character’ that drives the bus and lets the reader sit on his/her shoulder for the duration of the ride. They are the literary filters for your entire story, so you have to pay some extra attention to them. I would suggest getting to know your narrator on a personal level before you ever start. You can talk to him/her, unearth his/her opinions on everything, treat him/her to a few quickly written scenes, and use many other methods to lock down your narrator. This is easier if it’s the main character or a sidekick or the villain. If you have a phantom as a narrator then you’re job might be a bit more difficult because phantoms tend to be neutral as they relay events. You might find that you’re not putting in as much emotion into a scene due to a distant narrator, which is something to keep in mind. After all, you can’t have the best of every perspective without making a mess. So, choose carefully and treat your narrator to their favorite meal to make sure he/she behaves when they’re called onto the set.
Legends of Windemere 
That was very useful for me. Thank you for sharing 🙂
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You’re welcome. It’s definitely one of the more difficult and confusing aspects of writing.
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This was quite excellent! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m like you I think with 3rd person omniscient (omnipotent means all powerful). I agree with first person so much. Fun to read but hard to write.
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I thoughtI was using the wrong word, but I wrote it up last night before bed. Though, editing a scene between a few of my world’s gods probably didn’t help my word choices. Omnipotent would work better for that ultra-perfect, never fails character that I see pop up in books from time to time.
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Oh man I know what you mean.. I was doing some writing last night and I was fried. I don’t know how you can do it for so long. I only did it for an hour! You just reminded me of a couple of other things. Ever read the Deathstalker series by Simon R. Green? The main character is given a prophecy that he will die pretty much from book 1. Read through the whole series and I’ll be damned, the main character died. I was angry something fierce. So totally agree about killing main characters. It sucks. Lol
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I never read that one. I’ve actually spent the last two years inching through the Ranger’s Apprentice series while writing my own books. My reading has tapered off, but I’m hoping to finish the next book in the series once I finish editing my fourth book. It’s all a bizarre juggling act.
The character that my mind goes to with the ‘perfect’ status tends to be Eragon. An ex-friend told me to start reading and I was 10 pages in when she mentioned ‘he has a dragon, a natural mage, learns swordplay faster than anyone, loved by everyone, and never fails’. I just handed the book back. Worst part is that I worked at a video store and had to watch the movie when it came out to know what I’m talking about. It’s one of two movies that I never finished watching. The moment he started casting magic with no training, I was out. A character needs a weakness or a flaw or something for me to care.
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I have a question for you. I often write in third person omniscient. When I do I’ll dedicate one section to the thoughts of one character, meaning that the reader will know what that character is thinking. When I want two switch perspectives I’ll wait until the next Chapter and usually a different time/location. This to me seems fair. Now for the question. I have a friend who is self-published who will insist on changing perspectives mid chapter. She started off her novel with a woman sitting in a doctor’s office getting some bad news. Fine, we know what the patient is thinking. We’re going along, feeling her pain and then suddenly we’re finding out what the doctor is thinking about how the patient is taking the news. I was completely thrown out of the story. So, finally, is it just me? Or is this just…. wrong?
Great post by the way 🙂
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I think I do what your friend does because I don’t use a single character as a narrator. I don’t typically do the inner thoughts of a character. I use body language and voice tone descriptors to give an idea what they’re thinking and feeling. Looking at the chapter I’m editing now, I start with a male character waking up and . . . okay apparently I stick with his perspective. Though, I’m sure I do a switch from time to time. I believe I edited one yesterday where my mage and my barbarian were switching off perspectives due to a heated argument.
Honestly, I wouldn’t say that it’s right or wrong. It really depends on the transition that your friend does. If you can make a good transition then it can help with something that would otherwise be jarring. Again, I find that body language, voice tone, and various descriptors can help this type of problem and reduce the need for inner thoughts of characters.
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Okay, I see what you’re saying. But in her case the inner voice, complete with sentences in italics, comes into play. It was very jarring to suddenly be in a different character’s head.
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Thanks for your thoughtful reply by the way. Very helpful indeed 😀
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Oh, I forgot about the italic trick. I tried that once and I didn’t like how it broke the flow of what I was writing. I never really understood the practice either. I can see how switching italic-using character in mid-chapter can be confusing, but I believe I’ve seen it before. Typically, you mention the character who is thinking at the beginning of the line. It’s probably still best to stick with one perspective if you go the italic route to be safe. Again, if your friend can find a system to make a smooth transition then almost anything can work.
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Unfortunately I’m in a position of having to tell her it’s good regardless… It’s already (self) published. *rolls eyes*
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If she went through Amazon then she could always upload an edited copy. Maybe she’ll find an audience though. I’m not one to criticize since I write in a style that is typically seen as wrong, but I’m sticking to my guns.
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🙂
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Thanks for the reblog. I think. You know, I have yet to figure out what this type of message in my comment thing means.
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