A Guide to Viewpoint and Tense

Though I’m still a newbie writer, I’ve learned that nailing your viewpoint and tense distinguishes you from amateurs. Viewpoint is whose head you’re in. Tense is whether the story is happening in the past or the present. The best way to choose which is right for your story is to know what they do.

Viewpoint

First person limited: Uses the pronouns “I,” “me,” “my,” etc. and stays in one character’s head. With first person limited you can have head-hopping (switching to a new character’s viewpoint every chapter or line break); However, if you’re a beginner, I would try sticking to one character and see how that works first.

Ex. I glance around the clearing, feeling afraid.

Advantages: First person books are monologues so you can charm readers with one (or two) unique and dynamic voice(s). In this way, it’s typical for young adult fiction since kids can easily bond with one person. YA or middle-grade books are also shorter and can stand on one personality. Furthermore, this tense makes it easier to have an unreliable narrator because they can choose what and what not to say.

Disadvantages: Viewpoint characters can’t notice everything, which can be good if you want to keep things (like the villain’s plans) hidden from readers. The lack of other viewpoints can be difficult to manage. There can be a lack of urgency because the storyteller must live in the end or be somewhere they can write. (To make them dead is a cliche.)

Second person: Uses the pronoun “you” and “your.” It’s generally unused in longer works.

Ex. You walk into a room with four white walls.

Advantages: Can be used for experimental or creative purposes or for short stories.

Disadvantages: It’s awkward and there is little bonding with the main character since it’s you.

Third person: Uses pronouns “they” and “them.” Third person can be limited to the same character’s head in every chapter, to a different character’s head every chapter (head-hopping), or it can be told from an omniscient perspective in which you read every character’s thoughts, switching viewpoint every paragraph or so. The way to use third person is to know where your scene is going and to pick the viewpoint character based on who will hurt the most, who has to make a difficult decision, who changes the most, and/or who is hiding something that is fun to keep hidden.

Generally, the advantages of any type of third person viewpoint are: You can get information from all characters, not just the main character. The story can have better prose/description.

Omniscient: You are in everyone’s head at once, but the readers will bond to the storyteller’s voice. You can switch to a different person’s viewpoint with every paragraph. It’s the hardest to write partly since readers know the villain’s plans.

Ex. The travelers felt weary and frightened from their journey. Little did they know a village of cannibals laid ahead of them.

Limited (with or without head-hopping: You can switch to a different character’s head ONLY every line/chapter break. New writers may want to stick to two or three viewpoints until they get the hang of it.

Ex. He can see Lindsey staring at his acne and tries to cover it by placing his hand on his chin.

Advantages: You can get inside specific characters’ heads well. You have the ability to let readers know your villain’s plans, which can build suspense. You may also hide things other characters are thinking from the viewpoint character. You can do a ton of different viewpoints, letting you cheat on voice. You can split your characters in groups so there’s more action. You can switch to a new perspective when you’re bored to make the story interesting. If you can nail third person limited, editors will see you can clearly develop an interesting character and it (usually) won’t matter what the story is about.

Disadvantages: If the character can’t see something, you can’t let readers see it. It’s hard to hide information the character knows from the reader so it’s more reliable. It’s easier to tell not show.

Tense

Past tense: Is more natural and typical for YA.

Ex. Lindsay made her bed this morning before heading off to school.

Present tense: Is more immediate and can sometimes be jarring.

Ex. Lindsay makes her bed then heads off to school.

*There’s not much difference between the two.

Draft some scenes to see which viewpoint and which tense works best for the story you’d like to tell. Don’t let your viewpoint and tense draw readers from the story. Make it invisible. Hope this helps!

What viewpoint and tense are you using for your current story? Why?