Create a clear narrative viewpoint

A narrative viewpoint is the position the story is told from: who the narrator is and how much they can know. It decides whose thoughts we can hear, what can be described and what must stay hidden.

This skill is the first step in narrative design, because every later choice, from sequence to dialogue, depends on it. It applies whenever you write a story, a recount or a personal piece for IGCSE First Language English 0500.

What are the main viewpoints?

There are three you will use most.

• First person (“I”): the narrator is a character. We know only what that character sees, thinks and remembers.
• Third person limited (“she”, “he”): the narrator stays close to one character. We know that character’s thoughts but only see the others from outside.
• Third person omniscient: the narrator can enter anyone’s mind. It is harder to control in a short piece.

For most exam stories, first person or third person limited gives the tightest control.

How do you keep the viewpoint steady?

1. Choose the viewpoint before you write and note it in your plan.
2. Pick whose mind the scene lives in. That character may think, hope and fear in the text.
3. Show everyone else from outside. Use what they say, do and look like.
4. Check the verbs of knowing. Words such as knew, secretly, wished and was afraid are only safe for the viewpoint character.
5. Keep the same person and tense. Do not move from “I” to “she” or from past to present without a reason.

Worked example

Here is a draft using third person limited on Aiman.

Aiman watched the rain thicken over the field. He was sure the match would be cancelled. Coach Razak, meanwhile, was secretly hoping it would go on, because he wanted one more chance to try the new formation.

Step 1, find the viewpoint character. The scene begins with Aiman, so he is the mind we are in.

Step 2, find the slip. The third sentence tells us what Coach Razak secretly hopes. Aiman cannot know that.

Step 3, keep the information but move it outside Aiman’s mind. What Aiman can notice is behaviour.

Aiman watched the rain thicken over the field. He was sure the match would be cancelled. Coach Razak kept glancing at his clipboard, and Aiman wondered whether the new formation was still on his mind.

Step 4, check. Now every judgement is Aiman’s, expressed as a guess. The reader still learns about the coach, but through Aiman’s eyes.

The mistake to watch for

A common slip is to start in first person and drift into third as the action gets busy.

Mistaken version: I pushed the door open and the classroom was silent. Everyone stared at me. Suddenly Nisha thought that I looked ridiculous in the wet uniform.

The last sentence enters Nisha’s mind, which a first-person narrator cannot do. The correction is to show Nisha’s reaction: Nisha pressed her lips together, and I realised I must look ridiculous in the wet uniform. The narrator still supplies the judgement, but through what they observe.

Check yourself

1. Name the viewpoint: “Maya folded the letter and was certain her brother would not read it. He was already checking his phone again.”

2. Find the slip: “I stood at the gate and waited. Mr Tan was thinking about how late I was.”

3. A story is about a child who does not understand why the adults are whispering. Which viewpoint suits it better: first person, or omniscient narrator? Give one reason.

Where this leads next

Once your viewpoint is steady, move on to controlling the sequence of an event, then test the whole module with the narrative design practice set. The writing revision compare view helps you check two drafts side by side.

Some students can hold a viewpoint in a plan but lose it in the flow of writing. Spotting that live is the kind of work done in online one-to-one English First Language tuition.