Point of View – First Person vs. Third Person

Point of View is one of the more difficult elements of writing that some writers face. It seems so complicated. First Person, Second Person, Third Person… what do they mean and how do you get a handle on using them properly?

First Person – I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar

First Person means the reader is inside the character’s skin and experiences everything as though the reader were the character. This mode is easily identified by the use of “I” and “me” when talking about the main character.

Using the story of Red Riding Hood as an example:

I opened the door to Grandma’s room and stepped inside. I squinted at Grandma in the dark room.
“Hello, my dear. Come closer.” She patted the bedspread beside her.
I moved closer to the bed until I could see her better.
“What big eyes you have today, Grandma.”
“All the better to see you with, my dear.”

In this example, we are experiencing the story as if we were Red Riding Hood.

Third Person – She is Woman, Hear Her Roar

Third Person means that the reader is not the character, but experiences the story as an unseen observer. This mode is distinguished by the use of “he”, “she” when talking about the main character.

Back to Little Red:

Little Red Riding Hood opened the door to Grandma’s room and stepped inside. She squinted at Grandma in the dark room.
“Hello, my dear. Come closer.” Grandma patted the bedspread beside her.
Little Red moved closer to the bed until she could see Grandma better.
“What big eyes you have today, Grandma.”
“All the better to see you with, my dear.”

We’ve lost the “I” references that Little Red was using in the first example. We aren’t inside of her any longer. Now we’re watching the action in the room from the corner.

Notice that we had to change some of the person descriptors to make it clear who is doing what. When we switched to referring to Little Red as “she”, we had to change “she” when it referenced Grandma to “Grandma” occasionally, just to make it clear which “she” we were talking about.

You don’t have this problem with first person, unless your main character in first person is talking with two other males or two other females. Then you have a similar situation in needed to be clear which ‘he’ and which ’she’ is talking or acting.

Second Person – You are Woman, Hear You Roar

Second Person is almost never used in fiction. It is awkward for the reader (and the writer) as the character is described as “you” throughout the story. The one big exception to using Second Person in fiction is in the Write Your Own Adventure-type novels. You remember those?

You walk into a room and see two doors before you.
A. You choose the first door. (Flip to page 27)
B. You choose the second door. (Flip to page 35)

When it is used, it is most often combined with Present Tense, “You are”, etc. rather than Past Tense as most fiction is written in. My advice? Leave Second Person alone unless you’re trying experimental forms of literature.

Quick Recap

First Person – you are the character and you are describing your adventures. “I did that. I went there. I thought that.”

Second Person – you are REALLY the character but someone else is narrating your story. “You do this, you go there, you think that”

Third Person – you are observing the character as he or she experiences his or her adventures. “He did that. She went there. He thought that.”

Question For You

Do you use one point of view predominantly when you write or do you mix it up, choosing the point of view that best fits that story? Please share your experiences with point of view in the comments.

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