Ernest Hemingway

How to Write a Short Story

Point of View

"Don't get discouraged because there's a lot of mechanical work to writing...I rewrote the first part of Farewell to Arms at least 50 times."
~ Ernest Hemingway

Point of View - The vantage point or perspective from which a story is told. Point of view refers to both position (the narrator's proximity to the action in time and space), and person (the narrator's character and attitude). There are four basic points of view:

Third-person omniscient : The third-person narrator uses he, she, or they to tell the story. The narrator, usually assumed to be the author, tells the story. He or she can move at will through time, across space, and into the mind of each character to tell us anything we need to know to understand the story.

Third-person limited omniscient : The third-person narrator uses he, she, or they to tell the story. Although the author is still the narrator, he or she gives up total omniscience and limits the point of view to the experience and perception of one character in the story. Instead of knowing everything, the reader knows only what this one character knows or is able to learn.

First-person : The vantage point assumed by a writer from which an “I” narrator experiences the story he or she is telling. The author selects one of the characters in the narrative to tell the story. This character may be involved in the action or may view it from the position of an observer. This character may tell about events as they are happening or many years after they have taken place.

Objective : An objective point of view employs a third-person narrator who does not see into the mind of any character. From this detached and impersonal perspective, the narrator reports action and dialogue without telling us directly what the characters think and feel. Since no analysis or interpretation is provided by the narrator, this point of view places a premium on dialogue, actions, and details to reveal character to the reader. The author presents the external action as if it were being filmed by a movie camera. The story is presented without any attempt to comment on or interpret the characters' private thoughts or feelings.

For
Educational
Purposes
Only