Which do you prefer?

Branwyn · Feb 23, 2007

Writing in the first person or third?

Thanks

CaroGirl · Feb 23, 2007

The short answer is: whichever best suits the story.

I began my first novel in first person and quickly ran into difficulty because the story needed to be told from more than one point of view. My second novel, however, is steaming along just fine in first person and I don't anticipate a need to change it to third.

Will Lavender · Feb 23, 2007

This is going to sound crazy, but heregoes.

I believe third person lends itself more to suspense; first person lends itself more to humor.

To answer the question, I prefer reading in third. Since I usually try to write in the manner that I like to read, I wrote my novel in third person.

That's a really fuzzy answer. The poster above says it better: you've got to find a perspective that fits the story, I guess.

veinglory · Feb 23, 2007

First, but I rarely use it except with short stories.

swvaughn · Feb 23, 2007

I have a strong preference for writing third person. I've not yet braved trying first person, because I think it's tough to pull off well. First person is limiting for me - I tend to need multiple viewpoints. Maybe it's because I write thrillers and suspense, and the plots get complicated.

I prefer to read third person novels, because a lot of the first person I've read is not well executed (imho, of course). I get the feeling with some first person stuff that the writer is intruding, and it pulls me out of the story.

Having said this... I'm contemplating an attempt at a first-person for the next novel. After 10 of them in third, I think it's time to broaden my horizons.

(And CaroGirl's right -- whatever suits the story is best!)

Michael Murphy · Feb 23, 2007

I think first person can work in mystery/suspense genre because the first person narrator (along with the reader) might not have all the information of what's going on. He/she can be surprised at the end along with the reader. In third person, you don't want to withhold information from the reader that your POV characters know. That's cheating the reader.

Joe Unidos · Feb 23, 2007

He contemplated the question for a moment or two and realized that he never wrote first person. Not even on message boards. Then he feared he might be mentally ill.

TrainofThought · Feb 23, 2007

My WIP is in first person and in my opinion it is harder to write then third, which was my first draft. I like the closeness the writer and reader experience in first person.

Judg · Feb 23, 2007

Will Lavender said:
I believe third person lends itself more to suspense; first person lends itself more to humor.

Very well said.

It's much easier to create a quirky, engaging voice in the first person, but that voice has to be really engaging, because you never escape from it.

Then there are those novels, which I am seeing more and more of, that switch back and forth between voices, sometimes even for the main character. P.D. James' The Children of Men, for instance, switches between first person and limited third, always from the protagonist's viewpoint. An interesting choice. An excellent novel too, might I add.

I'm writing in third person right now, because I very much wanted to be able to look at the story from different vantage points. I'd love to try first person some time though. I like being quirky.

PeeDee · Feb 23, 2007

I don't know, I find that first person works just fine for horror, suspenseful writing, thriller, and all manner of writing styles as well.

I tend to use first person in short stories, if I have need of it. But then, that's the same reason I use anything in short or long fiction; because it's needed.

scribbler1382 · Feb 23, 2007

The strange thing is, I find it more natural to write in first person, but more often than not I make a conscious decision to write in third person. Weird.

PeeDee · Feb 23, 2007

scribbler1382 said:
The strange thing is, I find it more natural to write in first person, but more often than not I make a conscious decision to write in third person. Weird.

I'm the same way. I tend to go into first person most naturally, especially in short stories. Part of the reason I try not to write in first person too often is because it comes more naturally to me than third person.

rugcat · Feb 23, 2007

Judg said:
It's much easier to create a quirky, engaging voice in the first person, but that voice has to be really engaging, because you never escape from it.

Absolutely. You can sell a first person novel almost on voice alone, if it's engaging enough. But if it isn't, no clever plot or exciting action will save it.

I write first person, I think because all my favorite books when I was a kid were first person. I love the immediacy and I love the feeling of connection to a character it provides. But, technically speaking, it's a frustrating style for a novel. Getting across necessary information without falling back on cliches and infodumps is always difficult. Not to mention having to move the narrator around physically from place to place - by the end of the ms, I'm exhausted.

malycef · Feb 23, 2007

Third-person limited is pretty much my native language when I write. That's how everything tends to come out. I can only think of one active WIP of mine that uses first. This may be because I write in two genres, romance and fantasy, in which it's the most common POV. (Well, it's almost universal in category romance and a bit less so in fantasy.)

But all three books I'm reading are in first: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Good in Bed, and To Say Nothing of the Dog. The narrator absolutely makes the first one. I read maybe two sentences in the bookstore and was hooked. And then there's chick lit and a kinda sorta mystery/scifi/Victorian romp, where being right there in Ned's head is a lot of what makes it so funny.

In my stories I usually find that I want or need to see things from at least two different perspectives, so third works best for me. But like people are saying, it all depends on the story you're telling.

Azure Skye · Feb 23, 2007

My MS is in third person. Lately I've been struggling with narration and POV and all that rot so I sat down and rewrote the first page of my MS in first person. While it was easier to get into the heart of the character, third person read much nicer than first.

It took me a while to get to a place where I feel I could pull off writing in first. Now that I have more experience and feel more comfortable I'll give it a go some other time but for this story, I think it calls for third.

Branwyn · Feb 23, 2007

Joe Unidos said:
He contemplated the question for a moment or two and realized that he never wrote first person. Not even on message boards. Then he feared he might be mentally ill.

LOL!!!

Okay--now, what about omniscient? When you're writing in third person is it limited third person?

swvaughn · Feb 23, 2007

Definitely limited. Omniscient feels too much like head-hopping to me - perhaps because it's hard to do properly. Unless it's very well done, I feel kind of queasy reading omniscient (and I don't write what I don't like reading

)

Judg · Feb 23, 2007

Omniscient is quite out of style. While I'm not one for being a slave to style, it's also a mistake to dismiss the tastes of readers. Omniscient can give the impression of being a bit of a know-it-all (fancy that) that people tend to find annoying. Having said that, I found myself breaking into omniscient for short stretches in my current WIP, and I'm not altogether convinced I should rewrite those passages. Every now and again, it can be profitable to speak from a high perch above everybody's head and get the panoramic perspective. I rather like the reflective, summarizing tone I can get doing it. But it really is for very brief passages at the end or beginning of a couple of chapters, and I'll stop and consider whether it's the best way of going about it when I hit the second or third draft. It's rather nice as a framing device.

kristie911 · Feb 23, 2007

I prefer to write in first...I find it much easier to allow the character to find their voice. That said, I've found my novels are much better when written in third. Many times I've started in first, then gone back and re-written it in third.

The only time I allow myself to leave something in first person is for short stories.

engmajor2005 · Feb 23, 2007

It depends on what I want to achieve with the story. Most of the time third (limited, omniscient, whatever) works fine, but for a more intimate kind of work--one that gets you RIGHT THERE--I like to use first.

IThinkICan29 · Feb 23, 2007

First, though I'm quite fond of third [omniscent] as well.

icerose · Feb 23, 2007

I've done both, I love them both, first person is a lot harder to pull off because you're confined, so it has to be the best one for the story or it won't work.

Mud Dauber · Feb 23, 2007

kristie911 said:
I prefer to write in first...I find it much easier to allow the character to find their voice. That said, I've found my novels are much better when written in third. Many times I've started in first, then gone back and re-written it in third.

I had the opposite experience. I wrote 8 chapters of my WIP in third person ltd. before I realized I hated the voice: it was too formal, too stuffy, and I ran into too many psyching-myself-out problems concentrating on the rules of third person. Instead, I switched to first, and while it's harder at times because of the restriction, I feel so much more in touch with my characters. (I'm actually alternating 1st person chapters between my two MCs, so I've found a way around the restriction.)

thethinker42 · Feb 23, 2007

It depends on whether or not I intend to kill my POV character.

Ok, in all seriousness, it really depends on the story. For the most part, I write in third person. I generally like to have multiple POV's throughout the story, so third person becomes necessary.

I find first person to be more difficult, personally, but if it fits the story, I'm all for it.

willietheshakes · Feb 23, 2007

CaroGirl said:
I began my first novel in first person and quickly ran into difficulty because the story needed to be told from more than one point of view.

I'm pretty fond of the multiple first person narrative myself. It's a hard habit to break...

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