When we think of point of view in the general sense, we tend to think about

someone’s attitude or opinion of things: their likes or dislikes, their focus, their
idea of the world. Point of view is unique, right? After all, everyone has their
own perspective on things.

When talking about literary or narrative point of view, though, there aren’t
nearly as many options. In fact, there are only five different types of narrative
point of view:

 first-person
 second-person
 third-person omniscient
 third-person limited
 third-person objective
These points of view aren’t as unique, but they can be helpful in creating
different effects in works of literature. We’ve broken down the five main types
of narrative points of view for you. It’s amazing the thousands of stories
authors can create with just these options.

When to use first-person point of view

Human beings can be a bit … selfish. That might be why first–person point of
view is all about I, me, and mine. We like to put ourselves first.
All joking aside, first-person point of view is when the story is told from an
individual point of view describing something that is happening to them. The
key pronouns for first-person point of view are:

 I
 me
 my
Some popular books written in first-person point of view are the Hunger
Games series, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Bridget Jones’s Diary.
Here are a few examples of first-person narration:

 On my way to the grocery store, I saw a lone glove lying in the

snowbank. Wondering if it belonged to someone nearby, I picked it
up and put it in my pocket.
 I felt the track underneath my feet. It was dry and rocky. I could hear
the crowd cheering. I was going to win!
 My friends were all down by the river by the time I turned up with my
fishing rod and a bucket. They teased me for always being the last
one to arrive.
As you can see from these examples, first-person narration helps the reader
relate to the character. As the reader, you become aware of everything
happening in the story from the character’s perspective. It’s a powerful
approach, but it can be limiting if you are trying to build a big world, like in
science fiction or epics.

When to use second-person point of view

Second-person point of view is all about you. No, we aren’t trying to butter you
up. What we mean is that second-person point of view is a narrative that is
told from the reader’s point of view.
The key pronouns for second-person point of view are:

 you
 your
It’s generally considered a no-no to write a novel in only second-person point
of view. More often, poetry or short stories might include bits of second-
person point of view. Just to be clear, second-person point of view isn’t the
same thing as when the author addresses the reader directly. It’s when you,
the reader, seem to become part of the story. You know, like those old
Choose Your Own Adventure books we all read.

Here are a few examples of second-person narrative:

 You walked to the corner, where you heard a telephone ringing in

the phone booth. When you picked up the phone, there was no one
on the other line.
 You always wanted to win the lottery, but you never thought it would
really happen!
 There is something scary about the abandoned amusement park.
Do you choose to enter anyway?
Just like the first-person perspective, second-person perspective can create a
story that seems more intimate to the reader. It really puts them into the story.
Second-person perspective can also create an uncanny, almost alienating,
effect.

When to use third-person point of view

If you have read a narrative lately, it was most likely written in third-
person point of view. In other words, it was not told from the point of view of
the narrator or the reader.
The key pronouns for third-person point of view are:
  they
 them
 their
 he/she/it
 his/hers/theirs
There are three different third-person points of view. We are going to start with
the most common one, third-person omniscient.

Third-person omniscient
Omniscient is a fancy word that means “all-knowing.” So, third-person
omniscient point of view means that the narrative is told from the perspective
of a narrator who knows the thoughts and feelings of many characters in the
story. Sometimes, third-person omniscient point of view will include the
narrator telling the story from multiple characters’ perspectives. Popular
examples of third-person omniscient point of view are Middlemarch, Anna
Karenina, and The Scarlet Letter.
Here are a couple examples of third-person omniscient narration:

 Darcy danced only once with Mrs. Hurst and once with Miss
Bingley, declined being introduced to any other lady, and spent the
rest of the evening in walking about the room, speaking occasionally
to one of his own party. His character was decided. He was the
proudest, most disagreeable man in the world, and everybody
hoped that he would never come there again. (Pride and Prejudice,
Jane Austen, 1813)
 Having ridden to the village of Pratz, [Kutuzov] halted … Prince
Andrei felt excited, irritated, and at the same time restrainedly calm,
as a man usually is when a long-desired moment comes. He was
firmly convinced that this was the day of his Toulon or his bridge of
Arcole. (War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy, 1869, translated by Richard
Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, 2008)

Third-person omniscient narration is common because it is the most versatile
of the types of narrative point of view. It can show characters’ intimate feelings
and create large, complex worlds.

Third-person limited
While being omniscient, or all-knowing, can be pretty cool, there is something
to be said for third-person limited point of view. Third-person omniscient
shows us what many characters in the story are thinking and feeling; third-
person limited point of view sticks closely to one character in the story.
Using third-person limited point of view doesn’t mean you tell the story entirely
from the one character’s perspective using I. That would make it first-person
point of view. Third-person limited point of view can be more useful than the
first-person point of view because you aren’t trapped in the character’s head.
You can show both how they feel and what’s going on around them.
This might seem a little confusing, but you probably are already familiar with
at least one series of novels that relies on third-person limited point of
view: Harry Potter. In the series, most events are told from what Harry Potter
sees, feels, and experiences. Otherwise, we would have known the whole
time that Snape wasn’t entirely such a bad guy.
Third-person limited point of view is useful when you want to deeply develop a
reader’s relationship with one character. It can also be used to generate
suspense by keeping a reader from knowing what other characters in the
story know. Here are a couple of examples of third-person limited point of
view:

 Jessie saw that Margaret was sobbing. The tears ran down her
cheeks. He had no idea why she was so upset.
 The whole softball team was already on the bus when Max arrived.
She was embarrassed and being late, she couldn’t find a seat. “Oh
great,” she thought to herself. “Now everyone is going to know what
a loser I am.”
Some other popular examples of third-person limited narration are The
Giver and 1984.
Third-person objective
Both third-person omniscient and third-person limited points of view work to
give you a certain insight into or empathy with a character or characters. The
writer wants you to feel a certain way about them: she wants you to like them,
or hate them, or trust them.

Third-person objective point of view reduces the coloring that the writer puts
into the narrative. Instead of creating a story in which the reader knows
everything about what the characters think and feel, third-person objective
point of view tells the story from the perspective of a total outsider. The reader
has to judge the characters by their action and dialogue alone.

 The couple sat on the park bench, barely moving. They weren’t
holding hands. The crickets chirped around them as they sat in the
gathering darkness.
  Samuel took out a knife and the peanut butter. He spread the cream
all over a piece of bread on the counter. There was no one else
around.
Third-person objective point of view creates distance between the reader and
the characters. It can also add an air of mystery.

A well-known example of third-person objective is the short story “Hills Like

White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway.