Hi
and welcome to Writing wSth steve with
me Steve
Evans. In our last video we looked at
a typical narrative structure
of call to action, climax,
and resolution, so if you haven't had
time to look at that video,
please check it out. In this video
we're looking at the viewpoints
that 99 of stories
use. And then at the end,
I'm going to give some advice and some
guidance
on how to choose the best
viewpoint for your story.  It's
really important to consider viewpoints
when planning your story.  First person
voice
is the most immediate
form of narrative.  This is because
the reader experiences the story
through the point of view of your main
character.
The reader gets to experience their
thoughts and feelings.  This establishes
a really close connection between your
character
and the reader and because
stories really need an emotional
connection
to actually work and succeed, this is
a great way of establishing that
emotional bond
between your reader and your characters.
If you choose first-person viewpoint,
the reader takes the journey with
the main character almost like a
companion
and experiences the emotion of the
journey,
including the triumphs and the setbacks
along the way.  The drawback of
first-person point of view is that
the reader is getting very little
variety
because they will be attached to that
one character.
As a writer, you really need to
create a compelling and intriguing
main character that your reader
can bond with on an emotional level.
Also, it has a setback from the climax
and resolution
point of the story because the reader
will know that, of course,
your main character will survive the
situation.
So for example, if it's a thriller that
you're writing
or a crime novel, we'll know that
finally, if it's being told from your
main character's point of view,
that your main character is going to
be a survivor. However, one advantage
is that if you begin your story
where your character is in a position,
who's reached a certain position, so if
it's a
rags to riches story and they are
already rich
and powerful or if they have been in a
terrible situation but your story starts
with them being the survivor,
the emotional journey will be
that your reader wants to know how they
got
into that position; how they survived
that awful
situation; how they were
able to overcome the obstacles
of that journey.  So, of course
you are still creating that emotional
bond
with the reader.  By contrast,
the third person viewpoint
is where you are almost as a writer
taking the godlike position and
you are describing the world;
you are absolutely describing all the
characters in the action
from  what we call an omniscient
point of view. As an omniscient
narrator, you have the power to
comment on the thoughts and feelings of
every character
and describe every character in that
story.
It's not from any particular character's
point of view
including the main characters.
And this style of writing was very
popular in the 19th century
and the early 20th century.  So for
example, in Jane Austen's
Pride and Prejudice, many of Charles
Dickens's novels too. The omniscient narrator
fell out of style for a while however
it was, of course, the main way of telling
a story through film
and also in plays -
drama too.  Of course, there are
many popular stories and novels that
are written from a point of view of an
omniscient narrator for example the
best-selling
Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.  So for you as
a writer,
it gives you lots of possibilities
of what to write. By writing in the third
person point of view, it allows you to
introduce more than one protagonist -
in fact multiple protagonists. It
allows you to
create not one storyline but several
storylines - 
some running parallel and some
interweaving
along the way. So it lends itself really
well
to epic stories - stories told
on a large canvas, for example in 
Lord of the Rings we can follow
the journeys of several characters,
particularly
when the members of The Fellowship all
go on their separate journeys,
we are then taken chapter-by-chapter
to the experiences of different
characters.  Likewise with
George Martin's Game of Thrones.
Another advantage is that
you are going to maintain the interest
of your readers
who may find one particular storyline
dull and boring but are really intrigued
and excited to follow the other two
storylines.
So that's going to retain their interest.
Another advantage is by providing
several storylines you're able to create
story arcs of various lengths
and sizes and we'll be looking at
providing story
arcs in a future video.
Third-person viewpoint allows variety
in your story and it's something that
you are going to be familiar with
by looking at TV series.
So TV series where you have multiple
protagonists;
multiple antagonists, as well, adds to
a richer more sophisticated
level of storytelling.  So for example
think of Boardwalk Empire, Game of
Thrones,
The Sopranos, The Wire and
you can see the advantages of a third-person viewpoint.  Third-person viewpoints
also gives you opportunities to
include information to the reader
that your protagonist is unaware of.
So that gives you opportunities for
irony
and to ramp up the tension in your
stories.
Whereas in the first-person viewpoint,
the reader has to rely on the
understanding and judgment
of the protagonist even if that judgment
and understanding is incorrect.
So you can achieve a
multi-layered and multi-dimensional
storyline from the first-person point of
view too.
In Dracula, we see
several storylines emerge from the
points of view of several characters
through the device of diary entries,
journals, telegrams,
and memos. This is known
as an epistolary novel
or story.  And by doing this
we are able then to read the thoughts
and feelings of specific characters.
Using multiple viewpoints again,
suits a longer story
painted on a larger canvas.
For example, Dracula spanned
countries and cultures.  However, be
really wary of introducing too many
main characters and points of view
because
you run the danger of confusing your
readers.
Or you may dilute your characters
and not create strong
definable characters for your readers
to relate to. So to ensure
your readers are not confused,
limit the number of character viewpoints.
Think about some stories that you're
familiar with
and look how the writer is
using viewpoint to maintain the interest
with the reader and maintain that
emotional connection.
Also, note how the writer
signals to the reader that
this is a particular character
speaking. How does the
writer set each character
apart when they are using
multiple protagonists.  Think
in particular of how they speak
or how each reacts to a situation
differently.
See how they are doing that. What tools
the writer uses to make each
of their characters voices distinct.
Louis de Bernier's Captain Corelli's
Mandolin provides a great example
of several different character voices
and we follow these different characters
through different chapters of the story.
But we can
tell precisely which is which
because he creates a distinct
voice for each. It's also possible
to combine the first-person viewpoint with the
third-person viewpoint in what we call
limited third-person.  This is where
the writer uses
the third-person point of view
predominantly
in the writing but then we see
the point of view of the main character.
We can clearly see that the
thoughts and feelings being expressed
are from the point of view of the
protagonist.
An example of this is
A Confederacy of Dunces
by John Kennedy Tool. His
protagonist is Ignatius J.
Riley and although the story
is told in the third-person
view,  it's also third-person
limited because the
writer allows the
voice of Ignatius Riley
to be prominently expressed
in the narrative as we follow his
thoughts
and his feelings. In Captain Corelli's
Mandolin, we have a very interesting
narrative structure
and a very interesting way
of seeing the story unfold from several
points of view.  The author allows us to
see
events from several perspectives
because we see each
of several characters
view that event and we
follow the story strands of those
several
characters. However, when necessary,
the writer then takes the role of
omniscient
narrator and places the events
that each character is experiencing,
and provides us with context for that.
So in Captain Corelli's Mandolin,
each character is experiencing
The Second World War from their point of
view. 
However, the writer then steps in and
places
their experiences, their lived
experiences,
in the context of the greater political
story and narrative of The Second World
War
when he introduces the reader to some
background
about the war, the major leaders
of the war, and what was happening
to Greece at the time the story is set.
However, you may also want
to tell the story of one event and
tell that story through the
experiences of several characters.
From their points of view and by seeing
the one event,
through several pairs of eyes, you are
then
able to relay to the
reader a more three-dimensional
view of that event. But also, it's a great
way of showing the
inconsistencies of points of view
between the characters and how memory
can be an imperfect way of
telling a story and recording events.
In Michael Frayn's play, Copenhagen,
the writer tells the story
of a weekend from the point of view
of three characters and interestingly
each character brings a different
perspective
on that weekend and the events as they
unfold
in that weekend.  And their accounts
are often inconsistent and
conflicting.  So as a writer how are you
going to decide
the best viewpoint? And a lot of it will
depend
on the type of story you're telling.  For
example,,
in the Sherlock Holmes mysteries
the story is told from the point of view
of Dr Watson.  By telling it from
his point of view, Dr Watson serves as a
guide
to the reader.  We find
out pieces of information at the same
time as Watson.
Now, if Conan Doyle the author had
written it from the point of view
of Sherlock Holmes, then we would be
party to Holmes's thought processes
and deductions and of course that would
spoil the mystery
and the suspense. But by moving the
viewpoint
to that of Dr Watson, it allows
the writer to provide the clues as
and when required, and allows the reader
the fun and enjoyment of trying to
figure out the mystery and solve the
mystery
themselves.  The genre or type of story
then
may determine the viewpoint you
are going to apply to the story.
In Harper Lee's story To Kill a
Mockingbird,
we see the story unfold from the point
of view of a young girl - Scout.
aA the start of the story Scout is six
years of age,
by its conclusion, she's eight years of
age,
and by allowing the story to be told
from her point of view,
it demonstrates the naivety
and innocence of the child
in viewing racial prejudice
in the Southern States. It also allows
the writer to demonstrate
the protagonist's journey
from one of innocence to one
of revelation - to gain insight 
by the end of the novel on issues of
prejudice,
cruelty, and inhumanity.
Telling the story through the eyes of a
child
also allows us to assess the story
from an adult point of view and makes us
examine
our own prejudices and allows us
to make comparisons between then
and now.  So first consideration
of point of view is the genre the story
you've chosen to write,
and the bigger ideas behind it.
The second consideration and as
important
is the emotional pull of your story. What
points of view will give
the most emotional impact
in your story. What will create the most
emotional connection between
your character and the reader?
What's going to pull them along
throughout that story all the way to the
very end?
So - genre, idea,
and emotional pull -  they are the three
key factors to consider
when choosing your point of view.
So it's very much over to you.  So when
beginning your story
ask what point of view is going to give
your story the most emotional impact
and make that immediate connection with
your reader?
Think of stories you've read
that connected with you in a big way. How
did
the writer achieve this? What did he
or she place in that story
that made that connection?  And from whose
point of view
is the story told?  And then that should
give you
a real indicator of where you can take
your own writing
and your own story.
I hope you liked this
video, if so please hit the like button,
hit the bell, and please subscribe.
Also, I'd be really interested to hear
what factors
influenced your choice of
point of view in your story. And
if you have any suggestions for the
content
you'd like us to include in future
videos, please leave them below.
This is the fourth video in a series
on how to write a story, how to write a
novel.
If you haven't seen our earlier
videos, please check them out. Until next
time
write well.
