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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/26349
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/26349
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Point of view is nothing more than it says it is. The place where the story is viewed from. In movie terms, it is the position of the camera. To have a single POV is equivalent to shooting an entire movie from a single camera angle.

It is a constraining thing to do. Generally it is easier to show different parts of the story from different points of view, just as it is easier to shoot a movie from different camera angles.

Don't confuse POV with character, and don't assume that the POV is at the center of the action. Again, POV is a camera angle, and the camera angle is opposite to the center of action, shooting the action. The POV is thus opposite to the thing you want to focus attention on in the scene. (This is why first person narration is such a difficult form, and why, contrary to popular belief among aspiring writers, it does not create more intimacy with the character.

If you locate the POV in a character, of course, you have an additional complexity to deal with, which is that you are not only seeing the scene through their eyes, but interpreting it thought their desires and experiences. In some senses, this is a dual POV, like a split screen with one view on the action and one view on the character's reaction to the action. This creates a tension between the action you are showing and the character's interpretation of that action. This can be a powerful narrative technique, but it is more difficult to pull off than a more straightforward neutral POV.

So, have as many POVs as it takes to tell you story, but if you get into the POV of a character with a stake in the outcome of the scene they are witnessing, think through very carefully how the dynamics of what they are seeing and how they are reacting coordinate to create the effect you want for the reader.

Original score: 1