A Guide to Writing in Third-Person Point of View

Third-person limited point of view is most common in storytelling—and with good reason.

While first-person may be the easiest POV for readers to understand, because that makes it easier to avoid head hopping, third-person is one you want to learn to grasp and effectively employ.

This video discusses
[00:23] What is Third-Person Point of View?
[00:47] Third-Person Limited
[04:35] Third-Person Omniscient
[05:08] How to Maintain Correct Limited Point of View
[05:19] Avoid Head Hopping
[07:05] Don’t Change Tenses
[07:54] Fully Flesh Out Your Main Character
[9:06] Effectively Employing Third-Person Point of View

[TheOppositeIsTrueBook]

My current project is in 3rd person limited, and this video solidifies many of the principles I need to keep in mind, particularly with scenes without my protagonist! Thanks Jerry!

[beckettherbert]

This video came at the perfect time! Some folks from my writers group suggested I swap a story from first to third person, and I made the change pretty hastily without thinking too hard. These will help me look back through, thanks!

[archaontheeverchosen]

This year is off to a good start with this video.

[matthewchristophermyers]

Jerry, Thank you for making these lessons available to all. I've benefited greatly and appreciate your selflessness.

[jerrybustamente]

I only recently discovered your videos and feel like I found the Rosetta Stone for writing. It is very generous of you to take the time to share your wisdom. Thank you for that.

[xliquidflames]

I don't think I ever had any point of view issues starting out. For some reason, I struggled with tense. I started everything in past tense. I would write all day. Then, coming back to it the next day, I would read what I had written. More often than not, I switched to present tense somewhere along the line. Sometimes it would switch back and forth within a few paragraphs. I have no idea why this happened. I also don't know what I did to stop myself from doing this. I guess, just with time and practice, I got better and it wasn't an issue anymore. It is such a pain to fix a switch in tense that I'd often rewrite that whole section. This is a great explanation of third person limited and tense. George RR Martin's _A Song of Ice And Fire_ is broken up by chapter. Each chapter is titled for the name of the character that has the point of view for that chapter. He makes it clear and obvious by stating it with the chapter title. This chapter will be from Bran's point of view because it's titled "Bran". I had never read anything that was broken up like that. Thanks for doing these videos. I always learn something new, reguardless of how basic the lesson may seem from the title.

[neofulcrum]

I’ve been reading Gaunt’s ghosts by Dan Abenett, the division novels by Thomas Parrott and rereading the republic commando series from Karen Traviss. The way these authors are able to masterfully shift perspectives between the heroes and the villains is incredible. Something that has inspired me while writing my own.

Although my mc is the focus of the first chapter by third person, I’m shifting to where the pov is flipped between him and the antagonist in the second and further chapters.

[jans]

I'm new to this channel and want to say how much I appreciate it. I have now watched several videos and really like and appreciate both the content and the style of communication. Thank you!

[stevecarter]

I admire, and am grateful for, your precision and economy. Your videos stand out as high value and easy to follow.

[rp-f]

The best writing channel around. We need more content

[F-FalconFan]

Lots of good information about how to properly use 3rd person limited POV.
As a reference, it would be very helpful if you could post a list of novels & stories that use third person limited POV.

[Sophia-jotv]

I'm writing my first novel and you have been saving my life sir, thank you very much. :)

[WanjiruWaithaka]

Happy New Year Jerry B. Jenkins! What a great way to start the year with some fantastic writing nuggets. I always write in the third person (unless I'm ghostwriting an autobiography) so this was very helpful. Thank you. 🙏

[Arcadelife]

“Mr Darcy said nothing.”
Jack Reacher has entered the scene.
But seriously … this information about following a single perspective character as if you’re the camera/microphone is seriously spot-on.

[williamsears]

I appreciate the clarification on the difference between omniscient and limited third person perspectives. I have been struggling with the omniscient perspective and the authority it requires in descriptions of characters and settings. That has caused me to spend more time on world building than I really want to. I do not want to use first-person, (perspective), for my mc because that does not allow me to flesh out my other characters the way I want to; especially antagonistic ones. With a deep sigh and a small shake of his head, Will considers the effort he must employ, and perhaps even enjoy, on extensive revision of his written work, due to a short, informative, and well received video by Jerry Jenkins.
Thanks Jerry.

[jeremyhelquist]

But WHY has third person omniscient become taboo when it was used (and as you mentioned, by classics) so much previously?

[MrRosebeing]

"I can't do it, " he said.
Once upon a time third person omniscient was king of the povs, and it was wonderful. It allowed an author to have a say, an opinion, in a story, but now it's all, he said, she said. Scriptwriting and cinema have a lot to answer for.

[lexblessed]

This cleared a lot up for me. God bless.

[ewalichorowicz]

Thank you so much for these tips Jerry. I learned something new today. Happy New Year!

[Zei]

I recently wrote an introductory chapter (about 5000 words) that introduced the 3 main characters of the story. While later in the story, each chapter is limited to one perspective (for the most part), this introduction was setup specifically for all three.

The three characters start out together but are then separated by varying distances and can’t communicate due to the situation. While the scene plays out, the perspective shifts between them every few paragraphs (separated by two returns and a tilde). The results of one perspective ending are shown in epic style from a different point of view at the start of the next perspective.

This is some of the best writing I’ve ever done and I’m confident it reads well. I don’t think avoiding perspective shifts should be considered a hard and fast rule. If you really know what you’re doing and it provides a specific effect that you wouldn’t be able to get otherwise, then I think it should be an option.