- 1). Decide whether you plan to use first or third person. First person tells the story from the "I" angle, putting the reader inside a character's head. It is used to create an intimate feeling between character and reader, but if used improperly it can give away too much of the story.
Third person tells the story from the "she" angle, using an impersonal narrator to describe the voice without entering the character's head directly. The writer can still relate the character's thoughts and feelings, but the more distant point of view enables writing like a camera lens, moving the focus close to or distant from the character as the story's needs dictate. Third person is more flexible, but less intense and intimate. - 2). Decide how many points of view you need. If you are telling the story from the first person angle, you may be forced to use only one point of view. If you are telling the story from the third person point of view, you may have as many point of view characters as you need. Keep the number as small as possible, and use points of view beyond your chosen main character only to tell parts of the story that your main character could never know about--for example, you may choose to use the point of view of a villain character so the reader knows about the evil plot, but the hero is clueless.
- 3). Choose your main character and your main point of view character. While these two are often the same character, this does not always hold true, as in the Sherlock-and-Watson example above. Your main character is the person the story is about, and the person moving the plot along. The point of view character is simply the one who sees the story actions and relates it to the reader. Take into consideration not just how the story moves around the character, but also how much of the plot he sees, whether he knows information you want to keep hidden and whether he has an interesting voice.
- 4). Decide whether you want to emphasize objective or subjective viewpoint styles. Objective viewpoint is a just-the-facts-ma'am method of telling the story: like Hemingway, you describe the story entirely from the outside, ignoring thoughts or feelings that do not show on the surface. Subjective viewpoint focuses more on what a character thinks and feels. Most writers choose a balance, increasing subjectivity when a dramatic moment arises and moving back toward subjectivity in action scenes.
- 5). Be prepared to scrap your chosen viewpoint and rewrite your novel. You may be firmly convinced that third person with three viewpoint characters is the way to go--then find at about the middle of your novel that you really needed first person with one viewpoint. Choosing a good viewpoint takes practice, and writers often don't get it right the first time.
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