Third Person Point of View (2) Light and Deep Penetration

Penetration means how deeply we see into the viewpoint character’s mind. There are two types – Light Penetration and Deep Penetration

Light Penetration

This is were we are seeing only what the character sees. We do not know what other people in the scene might be seeing or thinking or feeling. We have to rely on the narrator to tell us in asides what the viewpoint character is thinking as in the following example.

Crystal came down the stairs step by step. Like a film star, Sam thought, He had to almost shield his eyes from the shimmering of her electric blue dress that was obviously new. “An old favourite?” he joked and got as a reward a glare from her. He felt she always took things too seriously.

Deep Penetration

In Deep Penetration we see everything through the viewpoint character’s eyes. It’s as if we are in his mind. There’s no need for asides such as “he thought” or “he wondered”. Of course we are only seeing and interpreting things from the viewpoint character’s eyes. 

Sam saw Crystal at the top of the stairs wearing yet another dress. A blue one this time, electric blue but wasn’t that typical. She always had to make a statement and that statement inevitably affected his bank statement! That made him smile and even if he didn’t want to know how much the dress cost he had to admit she looked good, very good. She came down the stairs step by step as a model would (she always did that with every new dress) and the shimmering of the dress almost blinded him.

“An old favourite?” he said. Yes ,it was an old joke and it got the usual response – one of her famous glares. She always took things too seriously or maybe he had good cause to be serious?

In Deep Penetration we are privy to the feelings and thoughts of the viewpoint character. The narrator is very much in the background so it allows us to get more involved.

The other Limited Third Person Point of View is Cinematic Point of View which has no penetration. As the name suggests it’s like as if there were a roving camera recording the characters in the scene. We don’t know the various characters’ thoughts or feelings and we have to deduce everything from the actions and facial expressions of the different characters. 

When Crystal arrived at the top of the stairs, Sam sighed as she walked down step by step. He almost flinched and put his hand to his eyes as if the glare of her shimmering blue dress was too much for him. .

“An old favourite?” he asked with a half smile on his face and as a reward received a glare from her.

Here we have to infer that Crystal was walking down the stairs step by step like a film star and that Sam was not happy for some reason and that he was joking when he said “An old favourite?” We might not be right of course but that’s the fun of Cinematic Third Person Limited View.

The best way to approach Limited Third Person Point of View is to have a mix of these tools.

Deep Penetration is very intense so is very useful when you want the reader really involved in a key emotional situation. However beware as it can get a bit too much if used too freely.

Light Penetration is ideal when you want the reader to cool off a little but still need to keep him involved.

Cinematic is great for when you want distance and it puts the onus on the reader to figure out what is happening rather than being spoon fed. However used too often can make the reader feel frustrated.