If I am writing through the eyes of my main character this would be a first person viewpoint I believe. Now if I want to describe something happening to another character out of view from the main character is this a third person viewpoint or a ‘Gods eye view’ My first attempt at a novel ‘Full Circle’ is through the eyes of the main character only, which forces events witnessed by others to be told to the main character to be heard and still maintain the first person viewpoint. If that event was commentated on by a voice looking on, what viewpoint does it become? (Hell even I’m getting lost here) Can viewpoints be switched or does it spoil the intimacy?
I tried reading about viewpoints but each one seems to contradict the other in some ways. Thanks Pete.

PS. Hit me with the errors I can take it.

Hi Pete,

If you are using First person pov and then want to switch to 3rd person pov, for clarity it is best to start a new chapter.

If you use them in the same chapter or even same scene it can be very confusing to the reader/agent/publisher.

As new writers we need to make our work clear, easy to understand or they'll bin it.

Does this help?

Dawn,

If I am writing through the eyes of my main character this would be a first person viewpoint I believe.

Yes, but only if you use ‘I/me/my’. It’s very immediate, gets the reader right into the character’s head but restricting in that you can only write what that character experiences.

Now if I want to describe something happening to another character out of view from the main character is this a third person viewpoint or a ‘Gods eye view’

Yes and no.
You use he/she/his/her etc., but you should still maintain the immediacy that keeps your reader in the head of whichever character has the POV. The benefit is that you can write separate threads and weave them together so they barely touch until you knot them at the end. However, you must always take care that readers will be able to spot a switch in POV straight away, otherwise they’ll find themselves sitting in the wrong head, so to speak, and will feel either confused or annoyed.

The ‘God’s eye view’ is when you have the sense of a narrator telling the story to the reader. It’s more distant, more detached. Personally, I don’t like it. I find myself waiting for the narrator to start addressing me as if I were an audience; the ‘and now, dear reader’ syndrome. It’s very nineteenth century to me.

Hope this is some help.

ee.

Hi Pete

There are a number of things you can do with POV. As Dee said, if you use First Person POV you use I and me to tell the story, and you stick inside that character's head. The other POV you can use is third - he/she etc. However, there are two types of third person narrative. One where you stick with a single character (limited) and one where you can range over all the characters (omniscient).

First Person eg Jane Eyre

I got up and walked through to the kitchen where I blearily put some toast in the toaster. I could just hear the creak of the garden gate, and a moment later, the thunk of a large letter falling through the letterbox.

Third Person limited eg the Harry Potter books

Jim got up and walking through to the kitchen where he blearily put some toast in the toaster. He could just hear the creak of the garden gate and a moment later, the thunk of a large letter falling through the letterbox.

Third Person Omniscient eg Lord of the Rings

Jim got up and walked through to the kitchen where he blearily put some toast in the toaster. Outside, the postman gingerly pushed the gate of number 27 open. He remembered that dog they had. Quickly he shoved the letter through the letterbox and fled.

The other way, if you want to show what several different characters are doing, is to write in limited but rotate the POV between these characters eg every chapter. In effect you are telling two or three or even four separate stories - it's best not to use more than four as readers get confused.

Hope this helps.

Cas

Thanks guy's or should I say dolls. I need to take all this in before I can reply constructively. What can I say but thanks?
I’ll be back.



<Added>

I’m back already with a scenario. (I can hear the exasperated huffs)
There are three characters on a ship and they are being described in a single POV.
The scene requires them in turn to delve below the sea, as they are part of an ongoing salvage operation, each dive needs to be illustrated in detail so which POV would be suitable, and what would it be called?
I’m biting my lip, Thanks Pete.

So, If I am writing something from a first person POV, and I 'd really like to show what's going on in someone else's head, will it make everyone giddy if I start another chapter in his POV?
Elsie

Pete,

You have 3 characters A, B & C. You can write your novel from an omniscient POV - ie jump around between them and others all the time, or a limited POV - ie choose one of the 3 and stick with them for the whole thing.
Now bear in mind that my knowledge of diving comes from a couple of days snorkelling in the Red Sea and watching Jacques Cousteau when I was a kid, so if you wanted to stick in one POV, you could have the character hear what was going on during the other dives by having the other two describe what they see over the radio. That would also give some variation - you wouldn't be describing three sets of first hand diving experiences, but one first hand and two second hand, but with a different. If they don't have radios and there really is no way to allow the other two characters to realistically hear what is going on, then you're pretty much stuck with omniscient, if you want to show what goes on during each dive.

You could try what I suggested at the end of my last post, but it's not usually a good idea to jump between limited POV characters within the same chapter.

Elsie

I have read stuff where the POV characters change by the chapter and vary between first person and third. Sometimes its very effective. What I would caution against is suddenly deciding to change a POV - build it in from the start of the novel.

Cas

Thanks, Elsie, Dawn, Dee and Cas.
I don’t think one could start every dive with a new chapter, or someone’s thoughts or experiences, but Dee’s statement I think offers a workable answer. Thanks for all your valued comments.
Regards Pete.

Elsie,
We crossed inside the wires. You have picked up on what I’m stuck on. I think the only way is to download a chapter and await the compassionate bullets.