1. Introduction
2. Advantages and Disadvantages of Third-Person POV
3. Different Types of Third-Person POV
   1. Third-Person Omniscient:
   2. Third-Person Limited
   3. Third-Person Objective
4. Common Mistakes to Avoid
5. Conclusion

Introduction

The Third-Person Point of View is probably one of the most used and most recognized perspective for storytelling. There are some reasons for this, and some reasons many authors choose this POV, but let’s start off by defining and understanding the Third-Person POV before we get too far into it.

The trusted definition given by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines Third-Person Point of View as “the narrator exists outside the events of the story, and relates the actions of the characters by referring to their names or by the Third-Person pronouns he, she, or they.” The often dead giveaways are the pronoun usages, but you can also look at the wide lense the narrator gives the reader.

It’s important to know how much you want to pull your reader in, versus giving them more of an understanding of the world from an objective perspective.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Third-Person POV

Third-Person POV allows for a wide lense for the reader, which can be a great way to share worlds, societies and multiple characters in one chapter. With varying levels of depth, either Third-Person limited, or Third-Person omniscient, the narrator is allowed more freedom to explain what’s going on in the world around your character(s) and to give a greater sense of interiority.

Third-Person POV allows for a unique sense of tension as the readers may learn things that the characters don’t know as perspectives shift, or as the narrator shares some interiority of another character. The tension becomes less, what is happening, and more when will the character find out what’s happening?

While there are so many things amazing with the Third-Person POV, there are also drawbacks. While the Third-Person POV offers a wide lense, it can also make it easier to lose the reader as you try to explore everything within that lense. Hone this in by focusing on the important details for the story. (Everything else you write can be a free giveaway to your readers through your newsletter or however you’d like to take care of it.)

Beware of head-hopping. This dangerous path of bouncing from one character’s thoughts to another’s without some form of indication can lead to frustrated readers and unfinished books. I personally did this in my first attempt at a novel in Extoria. I didn’t know enough at the time to truly avoid it, and it was noticed by a handful of readers. Most of the time, people can get used to it. Other times, though, it becomes hard to follow on who’s thinking what and why it’s important.

The overpopulated cast. Depending on what genre/sub-genre of novel you’re writing will determine the right size of cast for your story. If you have a crime-thriller about a murder and a retired detective, your cast is probably going to remain relatively small, whereas if you’re writing an Epic Fantasy or Space Opera, you’ll have a massive cast. Sometimes it’s hard to tell when you’re in the genre’s in-between. But if multiple of your Beta Readers come back with a comment of not remembering characters or understanding why they’re important, you may have too large a cast.

While there is some give and take in the Third-Person POV, you’ll have to find the right level for your story. There are three types of Third-Person POV.

Different Types of Third-Person POV

Third-Person Omniscient:

The Third-Person omniscient approach allows access to multiple characters’ thoughts and feelings. This is a great way to give your readers more buy in on the story. One of the hardest things that you can’t really control as a writer is the reader’s selection of a favorite character. When you offer more insight into all characters, your readers can have a more founded reason for why they like the characters they do beyond them being the Protagonist or Antagonist. Here’s an example of Third-Person omniscient:

Brady sat at the coffee shop with aching feet, as he hadn’t been on a walk longer than to the fridge and back to his bed in months. The coffee shop wasn’t too busy this early in the afternoon on a Tuesday. Veronica stood just outside the coffee shop, chewing on the hem of her hoodie. Another blind date, she thought, but no, I’ve been speaking with him for weeks. It was strange to her that Brady had kept coming up with excuses to not go out, almost the complete opposite of everyone else on the dating app.

Literary examples include: The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, Good Omens by Neil Gaiman, and A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin.

Third-Person Limited

The Third-Person Limited POV allows for the nice and wide scope of the Third-Person POV, but limits the interiority to one person. You will most likely use this in a fantasy or sci-fi story where one person is the focal point of the shared portion of the story. The reader can infer what others are thinking, or guess at why they make certain choices, but only the viewpoint character is the known commodity in these stories. What this will look like in multi-POV stories is interactions changing by who is the viewpoint character at the time. As from our example earlier, one chapter may be from Brady’s point of view and you’ll experience all of his emotions, thoughts, and assessments, while another chapter comes from Veronica’s POV alone. This method can keep you from accidentally head-hopping and project a difference in the perspective of the characters. Check out this example of the same scene, just from the limited perspective this time.

Brady sat at the coffee shop with aching feet, as he hadn’t been on a walk longer than to the fridge and back to his bed in months. The coffee shop wasn’t too busy this early in the afternoon on a Tuesday. From the edge of the window, Brady noticed a girl leaning against the brick wall. She looked exactly like her picture from the dating app, and she was beautiful. He tried to pretend that he hadn’t noticed her, especially when she held the end of her sleeve to her mouth. She stared through the window a long time before she actually came inside.

Literary examples include: The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie.

Third-Person Objective

Third-Person Objective POV maintains an objective viewpoint without accessing characters’ thoughts. The narrator shares only what is happening in the story and not the emotions, reactions, or any other forms of interiority that come along with the other Third-Person variances. A lack of connection forces the reader to assess each character’s actions and understand why they were doing what they were doing, which allows for the reader to be wrong or right. So, back to our example:

Brady sat at the coffee shop and bounced his leg. The coffee shop wasn’t too busy that Tuesday afternoon. From the edge of the window, a girl leaned against the brick wall. Veronica’s dark black hair hid only part of her face. The two made eye contact. She held the end of her sleeve to her mouth as she stared through the window a long time before coming inside.

Literary examples include Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway, No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

When done wrong, multi-point of view Third-Person narratives can devolve to head-hopping. Head-hopping can cause confusion and frustration for the readers, if not worst of all, kicking them out of the story. What I mean by kicking them out of the story is when your reader realizes they’re reading a book and having to put more of an effort in than usual to keep reading it. But what is head-hopping? It’s when you transition between character thoughts and perspectives without some form of clear separation like page breaks, symbols to queue a change in POV, or a chapter break. Stay away from this in the Third-Person POV by focusing on one character per section of the story. If you need to go back and show what another character thought in that situation, reconsider the POV or practice highlighting retrospective comments once in the other character’s POV.

Avoid Overusing character names or pronouns. This one is something I’m still working on in my writing. The overuse of names/pronouns can get away from us and require a practiced eye in the editing process. One of the most useful exercises I’ve found for this was from the 3 A.M. Epiphany. This exercise has you write a First-Person POV story, but it limits how many I’s and me’s you can use. Sentence structure becomes the greatest challenge and tool in that exercise. If you haven’t checked out the The 3 A.M. Epiphany or The 4 A.M. Breakthrough by Brian Kiteley, then they’re worth checking out for writing exercises focused on certain areas of writing. So, practice limiting your mentions of character names and pronouns to balance out the story content.

A lack of description or background can leave too much up to the reader. The wide lense aspect of the Third-Person POV offers a lot of room for description of characters and world-building. This common mistake is another moment where you want to find a balance in your story. Giving the reader too much freedom to imagine the fictional world you’ve built can lead to disconnection, confusion, and disgruntlement. While it’s important not to info dump, here are a few tips on making sure you have enough information. First, add the key description or background details integral to the story. Next, add the next layer of details that directly impact how the characters and readers will interact with your story. And finally, add in some minor details here and there, like folklore, item descriptions that add depth to the world, and minute memories that add more definition to the character.

Conclusion

The Third-Person point of view offers writers a versatile perspective to tell stories from – allowing access to multiple characters’ thoughts or limiting the lens to one protagonist. However, mistakes like head-hopping between perspectives or overusing names/pronouns can frustrate readers. Ultimately, Third-Person POV provides opportunities to build immersive worlds and explore different facets of characters when used intentionally. Writers should consider the reader experience and clarity of storytelling when utilizing the narrative distances and access to interiority that the Third-Person offers.

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