Perspective
Choosing a perspective is one of the first decisions you will have to make once you decide to write a novel. There are multiple perspectives to choose from, the three basic categories are: first, second, and third person.
First Person: writing from the perspective of a character using “I” and “me”.
An example of this would be Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief.
“I picked up the flying shoes and had a sudden bad feeling. I looked at Chiron” (Riordan: 2005).
This book is written from the perspective of Percy Jackson. One of the advantages of using first person perspective is that we get to know how Percy if feeling and what he is thinking including his opinions about other characters. One of the disadvantages is that we don’t know what the other characters are thinking or feeling and their opinion of Percy. Another disadvantage that the plot had to revolve mainly around Percy, it’s not as easy to follow what other characters are doing if they are not in the vicinity. We don’t get to hear the other character’s take on the situation. It is difficult but not impossible to find ways to relay events going on far away from Percy. Riordan often uses dream sequences to show what is going on in other parts of the world. Finally, if the novel follows a character in first person it takes away some of the suspense because it is extremely unlikely that the author is going to kill off that character.
Second Person: writing using “you” as if speaking directly to the reader. I have only seen this in “choose-your-own-adventure” book.
An example would be Jay McInerney’s Bright Lights, Big City.
“Eventually you ascend the stairs to the street. You think of Plato’s pilgrims climbing out of the cave, from the shadow world of appearances toward things as they really are, and you wonder if it is possible to change in this life. Being with a philosopher makes you think” (McInerney: 1984).
Second person perspective is a very specific genre and it is hard to make it work. I would not recommend using this writing style.
Third Person: writing from a neutral perspective as in “he said” or “she said.” J.K.Rowling’s Harry Potter series is written in third person. There are two sub-categories of third person: limited and omniscient. Harry Potter was generally in a limited third person perspective but at times was omniscient and is therefore not a good example to distinguish.
Limited: a limited third person perspective although not told from one person’s own point of view generally concentrates on one character and so the audience only knows what that one character observes.
An example of third person limited comes from Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea.
The classic novel follows the story of the old fisherman Santiago, he is the focal character.
“And bed, he thought. Bed is my friend. Just bed, he thought. Bed will be a great thing” (Heminway: 1952).
In this case, although the novel is told from a third person perspective “he thought”, the novel focuses on one character, expressing his thoughts and feelings and following his story.
Omniscient: an omniscient third person perspective is sometimes referred to as the “god-like” perspective. The narrator knows all and sees all. The story can follow multiple characters in multiple locations and can relate all of their feelings and thoughts or none of their feelings and thoughts.
An example of third person omniscient is J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit.
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit” (Tolkien: 1937). Tolkien provides background information about middle earth and the different species inhabiting middle earth including a definition of a hobbit.
Alternating Characters: Another possibility is to write a novel alternating between characters. This can be done in either first person or third person limited. The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan alternates characters in first person. He uses the chapter title to tell which character the chapter follows. In the Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan he uses alternating characters third person limited.
