First vs. third limited POV

[Angela H.]

Hello, I'm new here and I have a question about POV. I'm having a hard time understanding the difference between 1st person and 3rd person limited POVs. Is it strictly the pronouns (I vs. he/she)? If 3rd person limited is only one POV, what exactly makes it different from 1st person?

I apologize if this seems like a silly question. I just can't seem to wrap my mind around this.

[backslashbaby]

It's not silly at all. There are a few kinds of third, but I bet you mean what is often called 'close' third. It is very much like 1st person. Something just feels different -- maybe a little more distant? -- than 1st. Maybe the word 'I' instead of 'Mary' does that by itself. I can't think of any examples of things to do differently than you would in 1st.

So, I'd say they are basically the same thing, yes. But they feel different :)

[Jamesaritchie]

Well, third person limited is what about ninety percent of published books use, and the main differences between it and first person are distance and the ability to easily switch POV characters.

In first person the character is the narrator, and can only tell the reader what he sees, hears, feels, tastes thinks, knows, believes, etc. In third person limited the narrator is still limited to these same things about the POV character, but is outside the POV character, rather than being the POV charater. This creates a little more distance between the character and the reader.

And in third person limited you can start a new scene or a new chapter using a different POV character without jerking the reader out of the story.

[Angela H.]

Great explanations, thank you.

[Dawnstorm]

A first person narrator is a character who tells a story s/he experienced or witnessed. A third limited narrator is an omniscient narrator who chooses to "hide" behind the point of view of a character, presenting only that and nothing else.

A first person narrator is an older version of the point-of-view character; he's looking back at the story and is usually aware that he is telling the story (there are exceptions; first person present tense is an odd cookie in that respect, for example).

A third limited narrator is a different person, who knows all about the point-of-view character. The point-of-view character is generally not aware that his inner-most secrets are revealed to a crowd of voyeuristic readers. S/he'd probably be horrified. (There are meta-fictional exceptions, where a character might become aware that s/he's in a book.)

That the first person narrator is consciously telling a story but the point-of-view character of third limited isn't, makes a difference: There is a temporal and experiential distance in most first person stories that doesn't exist in third limited. Thus, first person is generally (but not always) more reflective than third limited, and third limited is usually (but not always) more immediate than first person.

It's more complicated than that, with different first person approaches such as epistolary/diary, or first person present tense, all of which have a different feel; and also with varying degrees of narrative distance (between the narrator and the point-of-view character) in third limited.

But as an approximation you can think of first-person as a witness-account, and of third-limited as a secret window to the point-of-view character's soul.

[RJK]

You can still use more than one POV in first person, but you must be careful to insure you don't confuse the reader, or jolt him. I have a novel with three first person POV characters. I include the POV character's name at the top of the chapter, and remain in his/her POV through the chapter. I tried to alternate the characters, but the story didn't allow for that. So the chapters followed the characters in this order: character A,C,B,A,B,A,B,A,B,C,A,B,A,B,A,B,C,etc. Since character A was the protagonist, his chapters were usually longer.

[Jamesaritchie]

You can still use more than one POV in first person, but you must be careful to insure you don't confuse the reader, or jolt him. I have a novel with three first person POV characters. I include the POV character's name at the top of the chapter, and remain in his/her POV through the chapter. I tried to alternate the characters, but the story didn't allow for that. So the chapters followed the characters in this order: character A,C,B,A,B,A,B,A,B,C,A,B,A,B,A,B,C,etc. Since character A was the protagonist, his chapters were usually longer.

Yes, you can definitely use more than one POV character in first person. It's just a bit tricker to do so.

[Slushie]

katiemac's index for POV (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=657737&postcount=19)

Hope this helps. Welcome to AW. :)