Point of view
시점
한국어로 읽기Point of view is whose eyes and voice carry the story: first person, limited third or omniscient. When it wobbles inside a scene, readers lose their footing.
Also written as: 1인칭 · 3인칭 · POV · 전지적 작가 시점 · 시점 이탈
Meaning
Point of view is whose eyes and whose voice deliver the story. There are three main options. First person ("I opened the door") can only report what the narrator knows and has a strong voice. Limited third ("She opened the door", restricted to what she knows) attaches to one character at a time and can switch by scene. Omniscient sees into every character and may even mention the future, at the cost of distance. Korean web novels are mostly first person or limited third, and alternating the viewpoint character between episodes is common.
Why it matters
Point of view is the tap that controls information. It decides what the reader knows and does not know, which is the raw material of suspense and reversal. What a first-person protagonist does not know, the reader does not know either, which suits mystery. Showing a villain's scene in limited third lets the reader know more than the protagonist, which produces dread. When POV wobbles within a scene, writing the protagonist's thoughts and then suddenly the other character's, readers lose their footing without knowing why. This is head-hopping, and it is the flaw most often flagged in manuscript feedback.
Example
The same scene in different viewpoints carries different information.
First person: I did not open the envelope. I could not sign without knowing what he wanted.
Limited third (Seoyun): Seoyun did not open the envelope. She could not sign without knowing what he wanted.
Limited third (Kyle): Kyle watched her put the envelope in the drawer. Unopened. Exactly as he had hoped.
Omniscient: Seoyun did not open the envelope, and Kyle had hoped she would not. Neither of them knew what that envelope would become three months later.
Only Kyle's viewpoint delivers "exactly as he had hoped". That single line creates the reader's tension.
Common mistakes
- Jumping heads within a scene. Moving from A's inner thoughts to B's is head-hopping. Break the scene or stay with one character.
- Knowing what the viewpoint character cannot. A first-person narrator writing "meanwhile, in the next room..." for a scene they did not witness breaks the rule.
- Rotating viewpoint characters too often. Two or three alternating viewpoints is safe. Beyond that, readers have no one to attach to.