 Point of view. You've heard the term, but what does it really mean? Let's start with video games. Now, maybe you've played a third-person adventure and watched your character overcome obstacles from above. Or maybe you've played a first-person shooter and seen the battle through the eyes of the hero. Point of view, simply put, is the audience's perspective on the events of the narrative. The storyteller, be that person a novelist or a video game developer, selects point of view with strategy. The storyteller asks, given the details of this story, which perspective will be the most satisfying for my audience? Point of view has three distinct variations. In the third-person point of view, the audience watches the hero navigate the story's challenges. Let me tell you a quick story in the third person. John was on his way to class when he slipped from the curb and soaked his new shoes in a mud puddle. Just his luck. Now he had to decide, go home, change his shoes and end up late to class, or show up at school with squeaky feet. Okay, notice how the pronoun he keeps us outside the story looking in. Third person will always refer to the story's hero using the pronouns she, he, or in a gender-neutral context, they. Third person can be omniscient, meaning the audience has a god-like perspective on the events and has allowed to follow many of the story's characters. Or it can be limited, meaning that the audience has allowed access to only one or two especially important characters. Limited third-person points of view vary in their psychological distance. How much can the audience see of the hero's thoughts? Our third-person story about the soaked shoes is called close, meaning that we can see the hero's own private thoughts in the line, just his luck. But this story could have been told in a distant third-person point of view had the narrative stuck just to the facts, as in, John was on his way to class when he slipped from the curb and soaked his new shoes in a mud puddle. He went to class with squeaky feet. The second-person point of view is less common but still sometimes used. With second-person, the audience is the hero navigating the story's challenges. On the page, second-person looks like this. You were on your way to class when you slipped from the curb and soaked your new shoes in a mud puddle. Just your luck. Now what? Go home, change your shoes and end up late to class? Or show up on campus with squeaky feet? Notice, in the second-person, you become the hero of the story. Second-person is rare in fiction and film because it limits the storyteller's ability to build the character of the hero. When you can't see the hero, for example, you can't know what the person looks like. But storytellers use the second-person point of view because it can help make the action of a story feel immediate and relatable to the audience. Finally, there's first-person, which is the most natural point of view. In fact, you've probably used it a few times already today. First-person is a story told by the hero to the audience. Take a look. I was on my way to film this lesson on point of view when I slipped from the curb and soaked my new shoes in a mud puddle. I decided to show up here with squeaky feet. Notice, with the first-person, the audience is listening to the story. First-person is fascinating because we learn about the hero from the events of the story, but also from how the hero chooses to tell that story. Is the story understated or boastful? Do you even believe it? If not, if you find yourself doubting the hero's version of events, you've found a story with an unreliable narrator. A protagonist who shouldn't be trusted. When you encounter a first-person story in fiction or in real life, always ask yourself, why is this person telling this story? The answer to that question can help you decide if you should believe or doubt. Don't let yourself be tricked by point of view. Sometimes a first-person narrator will use the pronoun you in a device called direct address. It looks like this. I was on my way to see you when I stepped in a mud puddle. Just because we hear the word you in a story doesn't mean we're experiencing the second-person point of view. Here we have a first-person story, I was on my way, and the narrator is simply referencing the audience to see you. It lasts back to video games for a moment. In truth, there has never been a first-person shooter. A real first-person video game would be boring. Rather than playing a part in the narrative, you'd be listening to your character tell you about playing a part in the narrative. So if these so-called first-person games aren't using the first-person point of view, which point of view are they using? Not the third person, right? Because then you'd be watching your character from above as they overcome those obstacles and challenges. A so-called first-person game places the audience inside the physical body of the hero. The audience is looking out and seeing what the protagonist sees. Games like these should, honestly, be called second-person shooters. Somewhere during the game's development, the storytellers decided the most satisfying point of view for this specific adventure would place the audience, you, into the hero's own mud-soaked shoes.