4 Tips on Using Third-Person Point of View

• Types of third-person point of views 
By far, the most common point of view used in literature is that of third-person. When the narrator is not a character in a story, a third-person point of view is being used. 

• Use third–person limited for greater clarity
One type of third-person point of view is third-person limited. This is when the narrator tells the story only from the perspective of what the main character can observe and think, but unlike first-person limited, we also observe the main character through the author’s eyes.

• Rotate third-person limited to avoid issues
Sometimes writers structure their book so that the third-person limited point of view alternates from scene to scene between major characters in a book. However, within each scene, only one of those characters’ point of view is used. This literary device is known as third-person rotating limited.

• Select your viewpoint character with care
Every story is told from someone’s perspective. This someone is known as the viewpoint character.

______________

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out my writing guidebooks about point of view: