1) If you want a story where you really get to know the main character, limited will probably be better choice
Limited point of view will give you a close connection with your main character as the only thoughts being heard are from one character, not one voice among many. This also works really well when you use first person point of view with limited.
2) If you really wanna do some world exploration then I suggest using omniscient
By using multiple points of view you get to not only see different parts of your world but how different types of people react to it. Also with omniscient you are more likely to be getting the truth and in bigger pieces.
3) Writing in your own voice
If you and your main character are drastically different, it will most likely to be difficult to tell everything from their point of view as is expected with limited. In omniscient you are not taking the role of a character but as a person from the outside telling the story which you can do in any voice you want.
4) Controlling what the reader believes
I mentioned earlier that using omniscient can get you a more truthful account of what is going on but sometimes it can be fun having the reader jump to conclusions or keep them guessing based on what they think they know when the "facts" that they are dealing with are actually the protagonists views and attitudes.
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| I wish I knew why my boss chose to promote Harold over me. |
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| John was thinking about his stressful day. Harold on the other hand was freaking out because they all suddenly became wooden marionettes. |
I was a little confused on #3 with "you and your main character are drastically different wit will most likely..." I'm not sure if there's a typo there, so I wasn't sure I got that view very well. I do feel like I have a better grasp on these terms though, it gave me some ideas to think about when approaching perspective in my writing.
ReplyDeleteIt's extremely difficult at times to figure out which point of view you should write your story in. There are those with automatic preferences but there are some stories where it will just work out better in a different point of view. Thanks to the points provided here it allows for more thought on which would work better for a particular story.
ReplyDeleteHowever I do believe there should be more than 4 points. I can't seem to think of them right now, but I feel like there is an endless list out there of issues a writer would come across in regards to which point of view they should write in.
On that note, maybe it is good that you had stuck with just the four simple examples. However I don't think any of us can deny the tremendous troubles there is with a stories point of view.
Worse yet is when you accidentally switch points of view without realizing it.
ReplyDelete