To learn about our home study courses, visit the brand-new Writer's Digest School. Viewpoint refers to the mind of the character through which the reader is told a story. There are several kinds of viewpoint, labeled according to the characteristics of the viewpoint itself and the storyteller with whom the viewpoint originates.
Objective viewpoint is used when the narrator relates facts but avoids emotion.
The multiple-character viewpoint is used to tell a story from the perspectives of different characters, one at a time. In most cases, the viewpoint character should be the one the reader is most likely to identify with. Please note the emphasis in that previous sentence. While it may not seem so at first, your viewpoint decision is a critical one. Jumping back and forth between viewpoint characters, that is, employing multiple viewpoints , can be a tricky business, particularly for the beginning writer, and should not be undertaken lightly.