Don’t confuse POV with things that have nothing to do with POV: writing in past or present tense, using flashbacks or foreshadowing, good character development or realistic dialogue. None of those is POV and POV is not concerned with those separate writing issues. #WritingTips pic.twitter.com/bz1zhlJJtI
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
Don’t confuse literary Point of View with people expressing different opinions in real life: in writing, different characters’ views of the same events is Perspective, not POV. Point of View is HOW something is written, and there are very few POVs in writing. #WritingTips
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
Points of View
• Unlimited, in grammatical 3rd person: he, she, it, they
• First Person, in grammatical 1st person: I, we
• Inner Limited, in 3rd person: he, she, it, they
• Second Person, in 2nd person: you
• Outer Limited, in 3rd person: he, she, it, they #WritingTips— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
Unlimited POV is the only one without any limits to the information an author can give readers about the characters, including all their thoughts, feelings, motivations, history, etc. All other POVs are limited in some way. #WritingTips
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
If you want NO LIMITS to the information you can provide readers, you should use Unlimited POV. All other POVs have limits: if you CHOOSE to write in any other POV besides Unlimited, you are also VOLUNTARILY choosing to follow the limitations of those other POVs. #WritingTips
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
Here are my #writingtips for Unlimited Point of View, sometimes also called the “God” or “omniscient” POV since the writer knows everything about the characters and presents all necessary information for readers to understand AND interpret characters. https://t.co/3kO8asCVLJ
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
Here are the #writingtips for First Person Point of View, which is written in the grammatical 1st person (I, we). Inner Limited has exactly the same limitations as First Person POV, so you need to know First Person POV before attempting Inner Limited POV.https://t.co/pPSstrtPXZ
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
Inner Limited Point of View is written in the grammatical 3rd person (he, she, it, they) and the story is LIMITED to the INNER life of one character (or one character at a time). This is NOT a narrator because it is not written in grammatical 1st person (I, we).#WritingTips
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
First Person POV
I looked at her and immediately felt embarrassed: did she see me?Inner Limited POV
He looked at her and immediately felt embarrassed: did she see him?Each POV is limited to inner life of ONE character but written in different grammatical person.#WritingTips
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
First Person POV story is LIMITED to the narrator’s perspective: readers can know narrator’s feelings, thoughts, past, etc but only EXTERNALS of all other characters. Inner Limited POV is exactly the same: it’s LIMITED perspective of the INNER life of ONE character.#WritingTips
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
Inner Limited Point of View used 3rd grammatical person (he, she, it, they) and is LIMITED to the INNER life of one character. You can show that one character’s thoughts, feelings, motivations, etc but only the external, observable behavior of all other characters.#WritingTips
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
You may use Inner Limited POV with more than one character, but you must LIMIT the story to the INNER life of ONE character through the entire book or to one character at a time, as in different sections/parts/chapters. If you don’t, you’re writing Unlimited POV. #WritingTips
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
Why would a writer use Inner Limited POV rather than the more intimate First Person POV? Because using the grammatical 3rd person (he, she, it, they) creates emotional distance in the readers, even when the story is limited to the inner life of one character.#WritingTips
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
Crime writers often use Inner Limited POV when revealing thoughts, feelings, actions, etc of the criminal (so readers won’t get emotionally attached) OR of the victim of crime (in a separate section), so readers won’t get emotionally attached.#WritingTips
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
Crime writers who use Inner Limited POV for criminals/victims, emotionally distancing readers from them, often use First Person POV for protagonist, who is usually investigating crimes. Using First Person POV for protagonist allows readers to connect ONLY with MC. #WritingTips
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
Writers in other genres often use Inner Limited POV for certain characters, while using First Person POV for another character. The emotional distance created by Inner Limited POV automatically gives readers more connection to First Person POV narrator = protagonist.#WritingTips
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
Maddie Dawson does this Inner Limited POV alternating with First Person POV in her novel The Survivor’s Guide to Family Happiness, which is NOT crime but Romance. The narrator’s story, written in First Person POV, is the only one the readers emotionally connect with.#WritingTips
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
Readers do not have to be consciously aware of the emotional distance created between them and the characters when a story is written in Inner Limited POV. The writer, however, does need to be aware of this emotional distance and use Inner Limited POV for a reason. #WritingTips
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
If you use Inner Limited POV and want to show different perspectives of the story without going into Unlimited POV, then each individual character’s perspective must be physically separated (chapters, sections etc) to not confuse readers (or be using Unlimited POV). #WritingTips
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
If you use Inner Limited POV and want to show different perspectives of the story without going into Unlimited POV, then each individual character’s perspective must be physically separated (chapters, sections etc) to not confuse readers (or be using Unlimited POV). #WritingTips
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
Please do remember that a writer consciously chooses which literary Point of View to write any particular story in and that the limitations of any POV (besides Unlimited, which has no limits) are an artistic challenge and are chosen for artistic reasons & purposes. #WritingTips
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
Please don’t @ me and tell me that you don’t want to limit what any of your characters do or say or how you write something. Use Unlimited POV. If that’s the POV you and your readers like, use it. These #writingtips are for other writers and authors who want to use different POVs
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
Inner Limited POV
• written in grammatical 3rd person: he, she, it, they
• LIMITED to INNER life of ONE character (outer life of ALL others)
• multiple Inner Limited POV sections must be clearly separated
• creates emotional distance between readers & characters#WritingTips— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
Want to experience the emotional distance of Inner Limited POV? Take anything you’ve written in First Person POV & change it to the grammatical 3rd (he, she, it, they) keeping the focus on the same character. You will literally feel emotional distance as you rewrite.#WritingTips
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
I’m only doing #writingtips for one POV each week. Want to know more before next week? Want examples? check out Who’s Afraid of Point of View?https://t.co/112r8bbzwS
— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) September 14, 2018
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Related Posts
Unlimited Point of View
#writingtips
First Person Point of View
#writingtips
Second Person Point of View
#writingtips
Who’s Afraid of Point of View?
Writing Tips
(all my #writingtips on one page)
