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There are really three main points of view in writing: First person This type of story uses the "I" viewpoint. "I went here.", I did this.", etc. the main problem with viewpoint is that the main protagonist cannot know what other characters are acutally thinking. For instance, you cannot write: I stared into his eyes as he looked back at me wondering what I was going to say next. the "I" narrator could not possibly know what the other person is thinking. It would have to be re-written as: I stared into his eyes as he looked back at me. It seemed as though he was wondering what I was going to say next. Fisrt person storied can be very effective when done as a mystery novel or as a biography. Second person This type of story uses "you" as a viewpoint. It is not not used very often in contemporary novels as it is very difficult to master. This viewpoint can be used effectively with other types of viewpoints if used sparingly. Personally, I think this type of viewpoint is the most boring unless done really, really well. Third person This viewpoint has different levels. The most common is the omniscient point of view. The writer is the narrator or voice and has the ability to "see" into the minds of every character in the story. This has a great advantage when writing a suspense novel such as when the protagonist has no idea that the killer knows who he his. The reader does, because the narrator mentions it in the story. A second popular viewpoint is third person limited This type of story use a past tense but only from the protagonist's point of view. (Many editors prefer an active tense over past tense but this viewpoint can work if done well.) It is not written from an "I" perspective but from an omniceint viewpoint through the eyes of one character. Even though you, as the writer, knows what the other characters are thinking, you can't interject those thoughts into the story unless the main character either guesses or is told what the others are thinking. Try reading books that have different points of view and see what works for you and what doesn't. Some stories lend themsleves the points of view automatically while for others, it would be a personal choice.

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16y ago

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