The Fanfic Bible

6. P.O.V

P.O.V stands for "point of view". The point of view determines how the story is written and different points of view can change how the reader experiences the story. Let me introduce the different possible P.O.Vs:

First person: This means that the story is written from the eyes of one of the characters. Things like "I did this" or "I saw him do that" are very frequent. This is my preferred way of writing fictional stories, as it places the reader directly in the story and they get to know what that specific character is thinking and feeling. 

Of course, if a story is written in first person, it's very easy to change the P.O.V to another character. This can create many different sides to the story, for example if one character knows something that the others don't etc. I'd say that in most regular books, the P.O.V doesn't change much, if at all. You usually have one main character that tells the story and that's it. It's what I did in A/B/O, but for most other stories I tend to change the character sometimes when it's relevant. You're free to write about whichever character you want to enhance your story!

Second person: This one is more tricky, and it's honestly probably only found in y/n fanfics. Second person means that the story constantly refers to "you", the reader. Unless you're writing a self-insert fanfic, I wouldn't recommend writing in second person, as the reader usually isn't a part of the story. 

Third person: This is probably the most common way of writing. When written in third person, the story can best be described as being narrated by a narrator who's watching the story unfold, without being personally involved. Of course, you can still describe character's feelings and thoughts in third person, but to me, it doesn't feel as personal as when you do it in first person. 

The character P.O.V can also change in third person. This might entail only describing that specific character's emotions and thoughts, as if it's being seen from their perspective even though they are being described in third person. Wow, that was confusing... Either way, I hope you understand what I mean with all this. 

Difference between first and third person P.O.V: The P.O.V doesn't actually affect the story that much, however, I like to imagine it as a movie. Imagine that you have a camera, about to shoot a scene from your story. In first person, I would say that the camera is very up-close and personal, maybe even seen directly though the character's eyes. Meanwhile, in third person, the camera is much more zoomed out, as if you're a ghost watching the scene unfold from above. Perhaps it's this mental image that makes me default to writing in first person. Anyway, you're free to use whichever method you prefer but I have some important guidelines you should follow...

⚠⚠⚠ MOST IMPORTANT PART ABOUT P.O.V ⚠⚠⚠

1. Never EVER change the point of view in the middle of a chapter.

You're probably thinking something like, "but I want this specific part to be through this character's eyes because it's important to the story!" Trust me, it's never that important for one or two paragraphs to be in a specific P.O.V. Frankly, when I see people change the P.O.V in the middle of a chapter, I automatically close the story and never read it again. It just looks so unprofessional and clunky. If you REALLY want to change the P.O.V to another character, do so in a new chapter. Please, I'm begging you. Even if it's a really short chapter, that's still better than switching halfway. 

2. Don't switch between first and third person.

It's just confusing. I've seen many stories where it starts off in third person, trying to set the scene, but then it jumps into first person for one of the characters. It's disorienting and, again, it's unprofessional. Please choose either first or third person and stick with that for the entire story. There's no reason to be changing back and forth. You can achieve the same result in either P.O.V.

Anywho, rant over. Hopefully you learned something, or at least you learned what NOT to do. I'll be back in another lesson!