First vs Third Person Perspective

[Xaysai]

I just wanted to reach out today to see what everyone's feelings were on First and Third perspective writing?

I generally enjoy reading third person writing more than first, but I think I write better in first because I write it with more "voice".

What does everyone else enjoy reading or writing?

 

[Phietadix]

I think first person would be harder to write, especially if writing from multi perspectives. If well done I think I'd prefer first person, but I enjoy both.

 

[tlbodine]

It depends on the story you're trying to tell and the characters that are in it. Some characters have the voice to tell an interesting tale about themselves. Others...not so much.

The greatest limitation of the first-person narrative is that sometimes it's just too narrow to carry the plot. As an example, The Hunger Games. The first one was fine, but the second two books (imo) suffered by being trapped in one narrator -- so there were lots of weird plot tricks and contrivances to bring the reader up to speed when it would've been simpler to just jump POV.

 

[Steerpike]

I like either one just fine, or even second person if the author can pull it off. You can jump POVs in a book with first person, but I think many writers feel like they can't do that and so they allow themselves to be constrained artificially. Then, as tlbodine said, you can run into problems.

 

[BWFoster78]

One of the main reason I chose 3rd person for my novel was genre expectations. I think that, in general, 3rd person is more accepted for epic fantasy than 1st. On the other hand, I think that first is more common for YA, and, with my young protagonists, I wanted to keep things tilted toward epic fantasy over YA.

All that to say: there are a lot of reasons for choosing your perspective including, but not limited to: closeness to the POV character, demands of the genre, limits and advantages of each method and how they relate to your story, etc.

 

[saellys]

I'm always more impressed when I see an author inhabit a character's mind and capture a voice in spite of writing third person perspective. Boxing yourself in to first person may make it easier to get the voice, but it also eliminates the potential for omniscience, which can be fun in small doses. I've enjoyed plenty of first-person narratives, of course, but I just seem to get more out of well crafted third person.

 

[Xaysai]

Thank you all for the feedback : )

I ended up going with first person since I am a novice writer and think it will be easier for me to write the character as I would think it, if that makes sense.

If anyone has the time and/or inclination, I posted the end result of my first person story in the first half of my first chapter here on the Mythic Scribes Showcase Forums.

All feedback is welcome!

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

I can enjoy both. However, I tend to prefer writing and reading 3rd person limited.

For the most part I feel it enables mystery better than 1st. The vast majority of the time, you know the 1st person character will survive the ordeals ahead. In 3rd, that outcome can be less certain.

I also find that 3rd person lends itself better towards multiple POVs. Yes, it can be done in 1st but I find it somewhat jarring as a reader and therefore unwilling to use it as an author. In the instances that authors do use multiple 1st POVs they are somewhat limited on the number of POVs they can employ. The more characters saying "I did this"..."I did that", the more jarring it is for the reader.

In the end it's a choice as much as character type or setting. The POV that should be used is the one that best portrays the story.

 

[saellys]

I ended up going with first person since I am a novice writer and think it will be easier for me to write the character as I would think it, if that makes sense.

Contrary to what I said about being more impressed with third person in general, and to reiterate what I said over in your Showcase thread, I adore your character's voice.

 

[Steerpike]

I also find that 3rd person lends itself better towards multiple POVs. Yes, it can be done in 1st but I find it somewhat jarring as a reader and therefore unwilling to use it as an author. In the instances that authors do use multiple 1st POVs they are somewhat limited on the number of POVs they can employ. The more characters saying "I did this"..."I did that", the more jarring it is for the reader.

Yes, I think this is true. In some cases, I've seen the author provide one character in a first person viewpoint, and then provide the other viewpoints in third person. Gets around the problem of too-narrow a perspective and multiple first-person voices. Of course, you can accomplish the same things, even taking something resembling an omniscient view in first person. The question is how far you want to strain the POV and how effective you are at doing it and not making a mess of the whole thing.