The Indie Novella Writing Course
Lesson 3 - Narrative and Point of View
First let’s start with something fun. Do a quick web search of the novels below, glance at the preview, and state who is the narrator and what type of narrator they are:
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The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
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A Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
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The Only Story – Julian Barnes
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Swimming Home – Deborah Levy
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One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel García Márquez
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The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
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War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
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Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
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1984 – George Orwell
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Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman
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Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel
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Harry Potter – J.K. Rowling
The reason we find this exercise useful is because our first decision as a writer, before we put pen to paper, is who will be the narrator of our novel and from which point of view are we writing. From whose perspective we will write our story is one of the most crucial decisions a writer will make.
In the above examples you may have categorized these into two points of view – first person or third person. However, in total, there are 5 points of view at a writer’s disposal:
1. First Person
2. Second Person
3. Single Third Person Limited
4. Multiple Third Person Limited
5. Omniscient
Now knowing that these options exist, would you like to change your answers to our earlier exercise? Don’t worry if you do, or if you have no idea what any of them mean, as essentially this what this section is about. And leading on from the techniques discussed in our previous plotting lesson, we shall look at each, however not in the order listed above.
Second Person
This is probably the rarest form of narrator, and some say is only effective in short batches. Simply put, the second person addresses the reader with the pronoun YOU i.e. you are looking at the knife, your hands are covered in blood, you decide to leave. It creates an interactive literary experience, bringing the reader into the story. The reader essentially becomes the protagonist or a character in the story and the events are happening to them.
An example of the second person narrative is Jay McInerney’s Bright Lights, Big City. Here the reader is placed at the center of a fast-paced New York City lifestyle and hence one of the advantages is that a second person does create excitement by putting the reader in the driving seat. It also adds a reflective element such as can be seen in Margaret Atwood’s short stories (e.g. Bread) where using the "you" form forces the reader to examine societal inequalities.
Why is a second narrative so rare? Simply, it can be difficult to sustain. The second person can be difficult to articulate. In a way it asks more questions than it answers – who is being addressed, and who is doing the addressing? This ambiguity is a challenge for a writer to work with, but the suggested intimacy between the narrator and ‘you’ is a creative opportunity too. Also, consider pace. A strong, brisk approach to pacing is a great way to build tension, putting the reader at the heart of the scene, making them complicit and creating a sense of danger, but can you have that level of tension for 300 pages? It is a challenge and folding in backstory and other story telling elements can be difficult – the relationship between the narrator and the reader take centre stage at the expense of the other characters. There is no place for the reader to stop and breathe. In our examples above Julian Barnes uses the second person well in The Only Story, as he only uses it for Part 2 of the novel. Readers can tire of a potentially relentless and inflexible approach with the second person, so do approach this narrative technique with caution when writing a longer novel.
However, the reason why we put this first on our list is because it is uncommon and can be rather fun. It was also masterfully done in the 2021 Costa winning novel, Open Water, by Caleb Azumah Nelson, who uses this POV to relay the intensity of a relationship and what it was like to experience the beauty and the prejudices of Black culture in London. Arguably, any other point of view would far less adequately have made the reader feel like each event - be it joyful or traumatic - was happening to them, and really puts the reader into the shoes of what another person is experiencing.
Third Person Narratives: Third Person Limited – Single person
Just to make writing even more confusing, there are essentially three types of third person narratives. In the third person point of view, the writer is not present in the novel but is narrating a story about the characters, referring to them by name or using the third-person pronouns. The first one we will focus on is the third person single person limited. The effect of a third person single person narrative is very similar to a first person as it written from the point of view of one character and one character only, and the narrator sticks with this point of view for the whole of the novel. This allows the writer to limit a reader’s perspective and control what information the reader knows. It is used to build interest and heighten suspense.
It is worth researching tenses when writing in the third person. The present-perfect tense puts the reader into the mind of the character and gives the impression that the end of the story is not known.
Third Person Narratives: Third-person objective point of view – Stenographer, Reporter
Third person objective point of view has a neutral narrator that is not privy to characters’ thoughts or feelings. It is sometimes referred to as hardboiled and Dashiell Hammett’s crime stories show the use of a narrative style and approach that is stripped down to the action’s bare bones and direct speech. The narrator presents the story with a detached, observational tone. Ernest Hemingway also employs this narrative voice in his short story such as Hills Like White Elephants. An unknown narrator relays the dialogue between a couple as they wait for a train in Spain. If in the second person narrative the reader was complicit, in this point of view the reader is a voyeur, eavesdropping on the story.
Third Person Narratives: Third Person Limited – Multiple person
As with the above, this is when an author sticks closely to one character but remains in third person. The narrator can do this for the entire novel, or switch between different characters for different chapters or sections. By switching between characters the writer tells the story from different points of view but still limits the reader’s perspective so they only see what the writer wants them to see. Deborah Levy’s Swimming Home is written from the Third Person Limited multiple person where the same story shifts from different characters’ emotional perspectives. The effect is that the reader empathises with each character in turn but is never fully certain they are being given the full story, further heightening the suspense. Tension can be made more palpable as different characters provide the reader with different information, slowly building a fuller picture as the reader progresses through the novel.
However, this is not always easy to write. jumping between different characters’ heads can be confusing for the reader so the writer needs to telegraph which head the reader is in and handle shifts of perspective carefully, and be sure not to jump too quickly without establishing one point of view versus another clearly enough. The writer needs to be strict and not bounce from multiple heads during the same scene as it will defeat the tension building effect.
Third Person Narratives: Omniscient
An omniscient narrator is all-seeing and all-knowing. The narrator may occasionally access the consciousness of a few or many different characters. It has been described as a God-Like view of the world where the narrator is unfettered and able to penetrate the hearts and minds of characters at will. It can be also used to cover wider ground with descriptions beginning at a pinhead to then cover an entire landscape. Sweeping descriptions of setting can establish the mood or atmosphere of a scene, or philosophical digressions may develop ideas that only tangentially relate to the action.
It is worth noting that the omniscient point of view has fallen out of fashion in recent years – it was at a peak during nineteenth century literature – ceding ground to first person narratives and third person limited as readers evolved to more modern sensibilities and the omniscient point of view began to seem artificial. However, the third person omniscient allows the story to move between the perspectives of multiple major characters. This can make it an ideal literary device for exploring the relationships between characters and hence build tension through entering different consciousnesses. When done well it offers engaging authorial voice, a prime example being Tolstoy’s masterpiece War and Peace. Part of what makes classic novels so appealing centuries after they were written, is getting to spend time with the voice of Tolstoy or Austen or García Márquez. These narrators come to feel as real and present as the characters they’re describing.
The key with the omniscient narrative is to do it well and avoid head-hopping, where the point of view switches mid-scene, in a confusing or inelegant way.
Tips for Third Person Narratives
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Evaluate which third person approach fits your story – which approach tells your protagonist’s story the best.
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When you have chosen a particular narrative type, maintain consistency. If narrating from your protagonist’s point of view, do not switch to another character’s perspective mid-scene. It will be jarring and confusing for the reader.
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The characters facing the biggest conflicts or have the most to lose in a particular scene would be the ones to follow closely. The writer would want their thoughts and reactions to carry the most tension. The character who has the most to learn is often an equally good choice
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Be strict regarding what your characters know. Be aware of what your characters’ limitations are and do not give away information or opinions they would not normally have.
First Person
Last but not least, and possibly the popular POV used in commercial fiction, the first person is where all action is seen through the eyes of one person and we stay in close proximity with this person throughout the novel. We see and hear only what they see and hear. Hence the reader’s access to other characters is restricted to what the first person character can see and know. But although first person technique is restricted to what that character knows and can express, the writer has the scope to let the reader infer more than meets the eye. However, what is lost in perspective is then gained in intimacy. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is a modern example of a first person narrative where the reader needs to see the world from Eleanor’s point of view to understand her character. Using the first person demands a strong, character-inflected voice, not least because this voice will be our only point of view in the novel. Another great example of a first person narrative is Silvia Plath’s The Bell Jar which has a confessional narrative. First person narratives offer real depth and colour.
It is worth comparing these narratives to the first person narrative of The Great Gatsby. Here, the narrator is not a contributor to the actual story, but rather an observer inside the fictional space and not involved directly in the action. This observer is then the medium through which the reader sees the story develop. The effect is subtle compared to the intense intimacy of Eleanor Oliphant’s first person. We see the world thought the eyes of Nick Carraway and we are drawn into the story of Gatsby without noticing it is happening.
First person narratives also do not need to be from the point of view of one character across the novel. Julian Barnes’ Talking it Over tells its story from first hand interviews with its three main characters, each giving a different account of events from the other. It, and Eleanor Oliphant, is also a good example of the importance of when the story is being told. In both novels, despite being written in the past tense, the narrator is not aware of what will happen next. Eleanor Oliphant begins with optimism – Eleanor having met the man she is going to spend the rest of her life with. As the story moves on we can see how each event impacts Eleanor as she describes it from the point of view of recently happening. Another great example is Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary which follows the long line of writing through journaling and the intimate relationship between the narrator and their diary. This technique essentially allows the writer to emotionally unburden their main character while also explaining who the reader is.
First Person: Unreliable Narrator
And any discussion on First Person narratives cannot be concluded without the mention of the unreliable narrator. the Guardian newspaper described it as an odd concept, however it is probably the most common and almost universally used literary technique going – in fact, by definition it is quite difficult for a first person narrative not to be in some way unreliable. ‘The way I see it,’ so the Guardian put it, ‘we’re all unreliable narrators of our lives who usually have absolute trust in our self-told stories. Any truth is, after all, just a matter of perspective.’ And that, to be short, is the simplest way to describe the unreliable narrator. By definition, a story told from one person’s point of view will offer limited perspective compared to a novel written in the third person omniscient. However, this does not mean authors cannot have a little fun with it.
The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes, is a first person story from a first person retired narrator who attempts to solve a mystery stemming back from his schooldays. Immediately, the first paragraph concludes saying ‘This last isn’t something I actually saw, but what you end up remembering isn’t always the same as what you have witnessed.’ The narrator thereby raises the question, right from the outset, can you trust me? Can I trust me?
Another novel which brings the concept of the unreliable narrative to life, playing on the untrustworthiness of the storyteller, withholding information, misleading the reader, casting doubt on the narrative as a whole, is Gillian Flynn’s thriller Gone Girl. Here we have a first person narrative told by two characters. Nick deliberately withholds information from the reader which creates this very tarnished protagonist, and the initial story of Amy is – spoiler alert – a downright lie, superbly told.
Present versus Past Tense
Last but not at all least, the tense in which an author chooses to narrate plays a huge role in their storytelling. The most common form of verb tense, be it first or third person, is the past tense – we are recounting what’s already happened. However, by writing in the present tense the author is writing events as they are happening, hence creating a very different dynamic for the reader.
Two examples of present tense novels are John Updike’s Rabbit, Run and Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing, Updike’s written in the third person and Atwood’s written in the first person. When these two novels were originally published – in 1960 and in 1972 – this form of narration that was still rare and experimental. Nowadays, while still not entirely usurping the past tense, we are seeing more and more successful and commercial examples – The Hunger Games series is a popular example, and Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall is a Booker Prize winner. The present tense enables the reader to feel events in real time creating an intimate and immediate connection either to the narrator, if done in first person, or to the characters who the reader is is experiencing the unfolding events with. This works well in thrillers where the reader can live every plot twist or historical fiction as in this way, distant times can feel fresh for today.
Despite the initial experimental nature of present tense writing as described above, technically it is probably simpler to accomplish than the past tense. It relies on two main verb tenses – the simple present tense and the present progressive – and essentially eliminates the need to alternate between different tenses or use complex verb forms such as past progressive, future perfect, or past perfect. However, do not be alarmed if you are not an expert in grammar and have not heard such terms mentioned since your schooldays. The crux of it is, barring the occasional use of simple past or future tense such as to relay past events and describe future ones or aspirations, the narrative sticks to simply describing in the current time – ‘his sister Kat is coming in from the kitchen’ – in other words, say what you see.
And one other way that using the present tense can add an extra dimension to the author’s writing is when it is combined with an unreliable narrator. The use of the past tense intensifies the first person intimacy to the point we are not only in the character's head but are doing what the character is doing and seeing what they are currently doing hence any withholding of information or wrong turns will be felt all the more so by the reader.
The Results
So, hopefully, one thing we can all take away when examining the different narrative forms a novel can take is that an author has options. It is not just a case of first versus third person. However, the choices also do not have to be overwhelming. There are some truly wonderful novels out there told from interesting points of view – Ian McEwan's unborn baby in Nutshell yet another example – and a writer can have some real fun deciding. A great exercise which we recommend all writers do at Indie Novella, is rewriting the opening page of your novel from a different point of view. By doing this you will step out of your comfort zone and, hopefully, learn something more about yourself as a writer. But for now we leave you with our list from earlier. How did you do?
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The Great Gatsby – First Person, Unreliable, Observer
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A Brave New World – Third Person, Omniscient
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The Only Story – First Person, Second Person, Third Person Limited – Single Person
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Swimming Home – Third Person Limited – Multiple Person
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One Hundred Years of Solitude – Third Person, Omniscient
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The Handmaid’s Tale – First Person Present Tense with some use of Past Tense
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War and Peace – Third Person, Omniscient
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Gone Girl – First Person, Multiple Narrators
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1984 – Third Person Single Person Limited
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Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – First Person, Protagonist, Unreliable Narrator
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Wolf Hall – Third Person Limited Present Tense
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Harry Potter – Third Person Single Person Limited
Ask An Agent
Is there a particular style or feature you would recommend writers to stay away from?
You’re looking for if the voice can speak to you really strongly. If the novel doesn’t have a sense of who is driving the story and where it’s coming from in that sense - i.e. a sense of character. There are amazing writers, I read The Promise by Damon Galgut recently and he moves around, sometimes really quickly from one character to another and sometimes we'll be completely immersed in that perspective for long sections and he is masterful at doing that third-person movement and moving from one character to another and somehow manages to be completely immersive even if with them for a short while. So a writer who hasn’t quite got there yet and is skating over the surface, without control of who is telling the story, if you have that sense in the opening then that’s a problem. That’s off putting. If you feel like it hasn’t committed, or fully understood or controlled perspective i.e. the point of view. You are really looking to be captivated by the point of view, even if there are a number of points of view being juggled in the book.
Weekly Writing Exercise
Take a passage from your current novel/writing. You can use your opening again, if you want. Then, rewrite this passage but changing the point of view i.e. the narrator. For example, if your novel was written in the first person try the third person limited multiple person (note, you may need to choose just one person for this short exercise). Or if you used the past tense, try the present tense. See what happens.
Remember, changing the POV is not just a case of replacing "she" with "I". To quote the above, using the first person demands a strong, character-inflected voice, whereas the third person is almost a character in themselves, who may see things differently from your protagonist and will definitely have a different writing style. Therefore, really rewrite your paragraph honing in on who this new narrator is and what they bring to the story that is different from your original narrator.