Okay, so now you've got a gobb-smackingly-good character. You know their ins and outs, their darkest secrets and their greatest desires. You have a grasp on how they interact with other characters in the story, and you're getting ready to write. Now you have to choose a style in which to tell their story.
Luckily, these options I'm about to give you are all at least somewhat accepted in the writing community. Experiment with the different styles and pick the one that works best for you. There are advantages and disadvantages to all of them, so let's discuss each one.
Before we do, though, we should talk about tenses. Writing in present tense has become a rising trend recently, and it's fine if you choose to write it this way. Think about the difference between these two paragraphs:
PAST:Â I walked up to the railway, about to receive the prize. My heart thumped anxiously, and I glanced at the sidelines. The man in the black trenchcoat lowered his bowler hat over his eyes and smirked at me. My mouth grew dry. "Well done, Melissa," the president said as he handed me the trophy.
PRESENT:Â I walk up to the railway, about to receive the prize. My heart thumps anxiously, and I glance at the sidelines. The man in the black trenchcoat lowers his bowler hat over his eyes and smirks at me. My mouth grows dry. "Well done, Melissa," the president says as he hands me the trophy.
Present tense is often used in conjunction with first-person, which we'll discuss in a second (though I've seen some talented authors who use it with third-person too). Whichever you choose, stay consistent.
With that in mind, let's discuss the different points of view.
First Person: I, me, and myself
I'm assuming you passed seventh grade English if you're here (Wattpad users must be at least 13), so I won't go into what makes first person what it is - I'm going to assume my readers know what it looks like. First person is often used in teen fiction and science fiction, though there isn't any rule against using it in other genres if you want.
The advantage to first person is that the character's thoughts and feelings are very intimate to the reader. You don't need as much internal monologue because it's likely the character will insert direct commentary about their feelings right onto the page. The disadvantage to first person is that there's only one point of view per scene, per chapter, or per book (as is the case with everything except third person omniscient). Most writers will also tell you that a character narrating the story must speak in their narrative voice even in prose, and I can tell you from firsthand experience that that can be challenging to pull off.
Second Person: You, Yours, Your
This is the least common of the styles - I didn't even learn about it until around ninth grade because my teachers never discussed it. In this point of view, the narrator is telling someone else the story. Most "[Character] x Reader" fanfictions use this style. Second person is also used when writing letters, as is the case with Light Spinner's letters to her mother in Alura. Here's a passage to give you an idea of it:
You died when you were thirty-three, Mother, on your birthday in the month of Juillet. It wasn't fair for the day to be so sunny when it sent you off. After it happened, I fell asleep and didn't wake up for almost a day afterward. Father thought I might be ill too, but when he found out I was just sick from sorrow, he dragged me out of bed and forced me to carry on with my life. I don't know how he managed to forget you so quickly.
The advantage of this style is that it's a quick way to show the reader intimacy between the narrator and the recipient - in Alura, I used it to show Light Spinner's relationship with her dead mother in a way that wouldn't distract from her relationship with Micah in the present day. The commentary the narrator tells the recipient can also reveal hidden things about them they would never admit in public.
The disadvantage of this point of view is that the whole narrative has to center around the recipient (unless in a letter or a story where the narrator is recounting something). Second-person is also very uncommon to use for an entire piece, and it tends to be discouraged by publishers. But that certainly doesn't mean you can't give it a try - after all, writing is all about experimentation.
Third-Person Limited: His, Hers, Theirs
This is by far the most common of the points of view. Third-person limited focuses on one character's thoughts and feelings at a time (depending on the scene, chapter, book, etc.). The advantage to this style is that it's approved of most by publishers, and it's easy to write in. You can write in your own voice for the prose and save the stylistic changes for dialogue.
The main disadvantage to this style is that you can only focus on one character at a time. You can have multiple points of view in your works with third-person limited (the next chapter is all about that), but you also have to choose whose point of view matters most in a given scene. That can be very tricky, and it takes a lot of practice to figure out.
Third-Person Omniscient
Third-person omniscient, contrary to popular belief, isn't dead or shunned by publishers. It's just not as common anymore compared to limited. In omniscient, the narrator can see the thoughts of everyone all at once. In this one, you don't have to keep one consistent point of view throughout the story or chapter or even scene. You can show everyone's thoughts wherever they crop up.
That's the advantage, but there's also a big disadvantage that comes with this style. Mainly, the danger of head-hopping. This is a rookie mistake in which the point of view changes too much within the scene. For example:
John hugged Linda. Her hair smelled like roses, and her red curls matched her garden. Linda sighed, feeling John's gentle arms around her, savoring the safeness of his warmth.
Readers don't like head-hopping. It's disorienting and confusing. While I'm no expert on third-person omniscient (I write largely limited and first person), I would recommend you only change points of view within a scene once or twice, and only if absolutely necessary. This skill takes practice, which is why when you're first starting out, it may be a good idea to choose an easier point of view until you get the hang of it.
Third-Person Objective
This one is by far the hardest one to write in. Why? Because in objective, you get no points of view. An example of this in film is M. Night Shyamalan's The Village. Shyamalan's style of directing is to create emotionally distant characters whose thoughts and feelings are revealed exclusively through dialogue and action (no narration or internal monologue).
(Side note: most film pieces are technically in objective since you don't get to experience the five senses or hear the thoughts of the characters - it's all through dialogue and action. This style is difficult to emulate in books due to the fact that the reader must build the world mentally. However, thoughts are still generally revealed through dialogue-heavy character development scenes, which The Village lacks most of the time.)
The advantage of this point of view is that the narrator is unbiased, and can observe the characters from the outside looking in. This can actually be a good thing in some cases, like in The Village, where there's an observational theme about society involved that would be dampened if it had a biased point of view.
The disadvantage is that it's much more difficult to connect with the characters, and you have to resort to creative means to get the reader to sympathize with them. In The Village, the way we sympathize with the blind Ivy Walker is by having her be friends with the mentally retarded Noah Percy, and being the bolder one in her pursuit of Lucius Hunt. We get things about her revealed exclusively through how she acts and talks as the plot unfolds, not through hearing her thoughts or even character-heavy dialogue scenes.
Have you seen any well-written second-person, omniscient, or objective works (film or literature)? Let me know! In the next chapter, I'll discuss multiple points of view and how you can best juggle them in your book if you choose that route.