The Relationship Between Point of View and Perspective

Author: Sandy Vaile
Originally published by Romance Writers of Australia, Hearts Talk ezine, September 2021. 

The subtleties of story Point of View

Are you sometimes bamboozled by all of the choices and subtleties of story Point of View (POV)?

You’re not alone. POV is one of the most common errors in fiction manuscripts and even after reading explanations, authors are often still unclear. Should they choose first person, second person, limited third person or omniscient? Which one is right for their story? The mind boggles.

Today we’re going to explore the difference between Point of View and Perspective and the whole reason behind applying them to fiction. I’m not going to go into the different types of POV or how to use them, but will:

• Make a case for why it’s important to get them right; and
• How they can affect your story. 

Point of View has evolved over time 

In the early 19th century the omniscient POV was common place and was used by many of the great literary masters, i.e. Charles Dickens and Leo Tolstoy, but by the end of the same century it had become frowned upon and called intrusive. By the early 20th century novelists were even swapping between multiple POV in the same book. In the 22st century Deep POV has become increasingly popular, particularly in the romance-based genres.

My point is that the popularity of different POV changes over time, is different in each genre and is often more a judgement call than rule. So do yourself a favour and relax in relation to choosing what’s right for your story.

Some of the rubbish I’ve heard:

• “You should never use the omniscient POV.” Well, J.K. Rowling is doing it well and making a killing from it.
• “Don’t mix different types of POV in the same novel.” Nobody told Jodi Piccoult this when she alternated between first and third person in “Plain Truth”.
• “First person POV is only for Young Adult or Romance stories.” Apparently Conan Doyle didn’t know this when he published the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. 

The difference between POV and perspective 

When a writer breaks POV (starts letting the reader see/know things the narrator couldn’t possibly see/know) it distracts the reader from what’s important in the story and tends to prevent them from having a close association with the narrator.

Perspective is how the narrator and characters view and experiences the story world.

The character’s perspective will determine how they view their surroundings, react to situations, process information and make choices about actions to take. Everything that makes up a person, e.g. their past experiences, upbringing and influences, will all affect how the POV narrator experiences and reacts within the story.

For example:

• Even though the reader will only experience the story through the POV narrator, all of the characters will have their own perspective of what is going on in the story world, which is affected by their own past experiences and beliefs.
• A character’s attitude towards others will be influenced by past interactions with them, things they’ve heard about them and stereotypical beliefs.
• The things they notice in their environment will depend on their interests and knowledge, e.g. a plumber might notice a leaking tap, a detective might notice blood on a kitchen knife, a house-proud person might be annoyed by the tilting picture on the wall.
• The way a character reacts to a situation will depend on their temperament, past experiences and beliefs. A straight-laced Sunday School teacher isn’t going to react to an abusive drunk in the street, the same way as a teenager who is beaten by his drunk father on a daily basis.  

​When a writer doesn’t delve deep enough into their character profiles, it can cause them to feel two dimensional to the reader. The result is characters who lack motivation to drive their actions, which makes the story fall flat. ​

POV is the vantage point of the narrator
​(who is telling the story).

It might be a single character, multiple characters, someone who isn’t even in the story or an all-seeing narrator. The type of POV you choose will determine how much the narrator can see/know and how close to the action they get.

For example:

• In the first person POV an individual character tells the story, but can only see, hear, feel, touch, taste and know what that characters does. The reader is brought right into the mind of this character and experiences the world as they do.
• In the third person limited POV a narrator is telling the story looking at an individual character. Again, the reader can only experience the world through that character.
• In the third person omniscient POV, the narrator is a God-like being who sees, hears and knows everything about every character in the story. This adds a certain distance from the action because the narrator is sitting above the story looking at everything at once, rather than going deep inside one character.   

The effect of your characters 

So, every time a character moves through you story world, put yourself in their shoes and consider their perspective. As you plan a scene, think about what they would see and know, why they would behave a certain way and what is causing them to make choices and take actions. Each one will have a a different perspective.

Then, when you come to write the scene, think about who the POV narrator is and what they can realistically see, hear, feel, taste and know. Stay within these boundaries as you write, which means that some characters will only ever been seen from an external view and others the reader might get to experience up close and personal.
 
Although Point of View and perspective and interrelated, they are different aspects that work together to keep the reader’s attention focused on the important parts of the story and strengthen their understanding of the characters in play. It’s important to write within the boundaries of your chosen POV, to keep readers focused on the right information, and within each character's perspective, to keep readers engaged. 

The most important rule to remember with POV is, be consistent.