Point Of View – 3rd Limited

Definition

Third-person limited is the point of view in writing that uses a narrator with access to only one character’s perspective. This means that the narrator experiences one character’s emotions and internal thoughts and perceives any surrounding characters through their eyes as an observer. Third-person limited allows for a story to develop around the central character without revealing every detail of what’s happening to the narrator.

Books Written in 3^rd Limited POV

• The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith (told from the POV of just one character)
• The Kate Delafield series by Katherine V. Forrest

Example of 3^rd Limited POV

Example 1

Consider this example that focuses on Jennifer’s point of view:

Jennifer gets up three hours early before work every morning. She uses two of those hours to get her first grader and third grader ready for school and sends them on the bus. Then Jennifer dresses for work, rushing out the door too quickly for coffee, as she does every morning. Once she pulls into her spot at the parking lot, she pauses for a moment to gather her things and tries to focus her mind on her job. She greets her coworker Shannon as she enters the building, batting away another yawn as she says,

“Good morning Shan. How’s your Monday?”

Shannon responds that she’s just fine and begins an anecdote about her weekend as they walk into the elevator and press six. The elevator reaches their floor, and Jennifer heads toward her desk, waving at Shannon, who turns in the direction of the break room. Jennifer turns on her computer and starts scanning the emails she’d received over the weekend. She feels her body relax into her soft chair and she wonders if anyone would notice if she took a nap at lunchtime.

As Jennifer clicks through her last message, she sees Shannon smiling at her over her cubicle wall, two cups of coffee in hand. She raises her eyebrows, passing one to Jennifer, who sighs with joy.

“Thank you so much, Shannon,” Jennifer says, “you have no idea how much I needed this today!”

Example 2

Consider this example that shows Robert’s point of view:

It was Robert’s 30th birthday. He couldn’t wait to check his phone and scroll through birthday greetings and kind messages from his family and friends. Robert loved celebrations, and he hoped that someone at work had thrown together a surprise party.

He hadn’t mentioned that his birthday was coming up, but he knew that his coworkers had enjoyed his past celebrations. When he walked into the office, though, no one mentioned any birthday. He greeted each coworker he passed, and they returned his greetings with a smile, but no birthday wishes. Sal, his best friend at the office, was even home sick.

Robert finished his work for the day, said friendly goodbyes to everyone at the office and drove home. Robert parked in his driveway and pushed in the code to open his garage. Robert tilted his head as he noticed light coming from underneath the door.

“Surprise!”

Sal stood in front of a group of Robert’s closest friends, surrounded by birthday decorations. Robert rushed to hug Sal and each one of his friends. Robert spent the rest of the night having fun with his friends and celebrating his favorite day.

Voice

Unlike an omniscient POV, we don’t have an opinionated God-like narrator. There are various degrees of third-person limited POV:

• In a more distant third-person limited POV, we have a narrator with a neutral voice.
• In a closer third-person limited POV, your character becomes a narrator, and your narration should be in the POV character’s voice. Your word choice and syntax must then fit the character’s personality, background, and emotional state.

Example:

More neutral:

Tina shook her head at his cowardice. “Stop cowering!”

Deeper POV’s:

Mary shook her head at him. Lord, what a yellow-belly he was. “Stop cowering!”

Betty shook her head at him. Jeez, what a coward. “Get a grip.”

Ben shook his head at him. Man, what a loser. “Grow a pair!”

            The first paragraph is written from a more distant third-person limited POV. It has a neutral voice, which doesn’t give you any clues about the character’s personality or background.

The last three paragraphs are written in a close third-person limited POV, often called deep POV. The voice isn’t neutral; It’s that of the character. The character’s personality and background color, not just the dialogue but the narration too. Mary sounds like an older person or a character from a historical novel. In contrast, the POV character in the last paragraph is clearly a male character in a contemporary novel.

Advantages

Each type of third-person POV has its own strengths and weaknesses. Some of the advantages of the third-person limited POV are: 

Extensive Character Development

Because the third-person limited POV allows you to focus on the inner workings of one character at a time, you get to develop the character more fully. This can happen not just through what they say but even through the narrative voice as you describe everything that happens to them. 

Descriptive Flexibility 

When you write in third person limited, you can zoom in on certain descriptions—mainly, things that your character would pay attention to. Because you are not obliged to be objective in your descriptions, it can lend more character to your writing, especially as you write in that character’s voice. 

Reader Relatability 

Of the three types of third person, the third person limited offers the greatest “intimacy” between reader and character because the reader sees everything through that character’s eyes. 

This is a very good strength of this POV, especially when you write from the perspective of the character with the most to lose in a given scene or throughout the whole story. The character’s heightened emotions and thought processes will propel your reader along to the end of the book. 

Ability to Hide Information from Readers 

Because the third person limited tells the story from one character’s perspective, you get to hide details that you can later use to shock your readers. 

It can be an innocence on the part of your narrator, or even an intentional misleading if you want to use an “unreliable narrator.” This is when the narrator themself is hiding something while they’re telling the story. 

Disadvantages

Of course, there are also some potential shortcomings when deciding whether to use the third-person limited perspective.

Lack of Insight to Other Characters’ Thoughts 

Hearing only one character’s point of view can lead to readers not understanding how all the other characters feel. But you can get around this by considering multiple third-person limited POVs. 

On the other hand, you do want the reader to relate most of all to the main character, so this may not be as serious a disadvantage after all. 

Potential Misunderstanding of the Author’s Intentions 

Because the third person limited POV tells the story from one character’s perspective, the telling will rarely be objective. This means that biases may shine through in your writing. 

For example, in the classic tale Gone With the Wind set in the Deep South, the protagonist’s view of slavery is positive and clearly different from those who come from the North. This kind of writing may mislead readers to think the author’s views are always equal to the narrator’s or POV character’s.

Limited to What the Character Knows 

While it’s good to show your readers everything through your character’s eyes, you will also be limited to only what they know. For example, suppose the narrator is a male. In that case, he will likely not have any privy information about how a woman feels during childbirth. 

Tips for Writing in Third Person Limited POV 

Here are several tips for getting the most from a third-person limited point of view.

Choose the best character for telling the story. 

Different people will have different takes on things. Figure out which character will be most effective for your story to use as a lens.

Stay consistent. 

Once you decide on your POV character, stick to it throughout the scene or chapter. If you shift between several characters throughout the book, make sure the change is clear.

Always maintain the same POV within a scene, or better yet, the entire chapter or part. 

Write only what the character knows. 

Ensure you check your writing for loopholes that let your character say or think things they normally wouldn’t. 

If the POV character is a child, they will likely not have the same intricate thought processes as a fully-grown, jaded adult. 

Common Genres

Third-person limited is probably the most common POV in contemporary literature, so you’ll find novels using that POV in every genre.

Tips

Here are a few tips for writing in third-person limited perspective:

• Choose a strong narrator. Decide who’s telling the story. It can help to choose an external narrator who is not involved in the story or a character who is close to the central character so that their knowledge of the main character’s thoughts is logical within the story’s world.
• Understand your character. Make sure that you have a strong understanding of your central character. This can ensure that any emotions, thoughts or beliefs the character has read are organic and make sense in the story’s world.
• Rewrite in other perspectives. Try rewriting a scene from the perspective of a character that isn’t your main character as a revision exercise. This can help develop the distinctions between your central character and surrounding characters.
• Maintain your point of view. Once you choose a narrator, keep writing from their point of view in any sections you plan to include in the story. This can build a strong foundation for your narrator and develop their voice throughout the narrative.
• Use an unreliable narrator. Write from the perspective of an unreliable narrator. An unreliable narrator withholds information from the reader and can sometimes knowingly provide false information that’s later refuted in the plot. This can help create suspense in a story and lay the foundation for plot twists.