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Every text is written from a certain point of view. This is usually one of three points of view: first person, second person or third person. You can identify the point of view by the types of pronouns used in the text:
- First person: I/We
- Second person: You
- Third person: He/She/They
Different points of view can have different effects on the reader. When writing anything from a novel to a job application, it’s important to consider which point of view you use. Sometimes switching between multiple points of view could be necessary. This post explains more about how to use each point of view.
First person
If you are talking about yourself, you’ll usually want to write in the first person. Job applications, autobiographies, personal accounts, case studies and diaries are often written exclusively in the first person.
Many novels are written in the first person. Such novels require the author to write from the protagonist’s perspective – which can be useful if you want to delve into the protagonist’s thoughts and provide a limited viewpoint of what is going on. Such novels have to be written in a character’s tone of voice, which is something you need to make sure is consistent throughout the story.
In many forms of non-fiction, first-person can sometimes be seen as more informal and subjective. While it is often used by students when writing essays, you may find that many professional acamedics exclusively use the third person when writing essays. Similarly, some business owners will write their professional bios in the third person rather than the first person. Reviews meanwhile may alternate between the first person and third person.
Second person
A second person point of view addresses the reader. It is often used in texts where you may be giving advice or instructions (such as this blog post), or where you may want to involve the reader (such as an invitation to a party).
A second person point of view is typically combined with a first person point of view when it comes to things like letters and emails. When it comes to instructions and guides, the second person is more commonly used with the third person to come across more objective.
It is rare that you will find this point of view in novels unless it is a gamebook (such as the Choose Your Own Adventure novels). This is because by using the second point of view, you are turning the reader into the protagonist.
Third person
A third person point of view is told from the perspective of a third party (someone who is not involved in the subject matter of the text). It is seen as the most formal and objective point of view when it comes to non-fiction texts.
News articles are almost always written from this point of view. Informative texts like encyclopaedias are also written from this point of view as to come across factual and objective. Occasionally these texts may include first person quotes, but these will be separated using quotation marks and are never quotes from the author.
The most common point of view used in novels is the third person because it allows an omnipresent look into the minds of multiple characters. That said, some novels will use the third person limited PoV, which is told from the perspective of a single character – this has much of the same impact as first person writing, while also allowing the author to detach themselves from the protagonist when necessary.
Which should you choose?
The type of PoV you should use all comes down to the type of text you are writing and who your audience is.
When it comes to non-fiction, first person tends to be used for more personal and subjective texts, whereas third person tends to be used for impersonal and objective texts. The second person is used when you want to involve the reader and can be combined with first person or third person depending on whether you want to include your own experiences/opinions or stay objective.
When it comes to fiction, first person provides a more limited point of view and requires you to adopt the tone of voice of the character. Third person allows you to offer the points of view of more characters more easily and also prevents you from having to write in a single character’s tone of voice. Second person is rarer and used only when you want the reader to be a character.
