Point-of-View

Point-of-View, also abbreviated as POV, is the perspective from which a story is being told. Fiction can be written in the first person (the "I" voice), where all action and reaction is filtered through the narrator's perspective. First person leads to a very close, personal story, though, because the narrator may be hiding things or unaware of story elements that have happened outside of her presence, first person narrators can also be unreliable.

Stories can also be told from the third person perspective -- the he, she, they voice. Third person POV is a bit more distant, though authors such as Suzanne Brockmann employ a technique called "close third person", where the characters think and react as if the story is being told in the first person. This creates greater intimacy between the story and reader, though it also eliminates the ability to offer more omniscient perspectives.

Second person point of view is rarely employed in lengthy fiction because writing from the "you" perspective is tiring for the reader and often comes off as affected or precious.