How Does Character Perspective (Point of View) Impact Your Storytelling?

Character perspective/point of view can make or break a story.

Photo by Yiran Ding on Unsplash

The first professional editor I hired changed my writing dramatically.

From her, I learned so many different lessons, techniques, and more, which helped me become a competent editor. She showed me how to improve numerous aspects not just of my writing but storytelling.

One of the single most important things she taught me was character perspective in storytelling.

This is not about first-person, second-person, or third-person perspectives. It’s more about getting your reader into an easily followed, recognized, and understood perspective/point of view.

How I see the story when it unfolds

I am a visual storyteller. I see it play out like a movie. As such, I describe the scenes as they unfold from my camera.

However — that camera is over the shoulder of one character or another. As such — from time to time — the camera has the power to see into the mind of the character.

This is how I tell my stories in the third person point of view.