1st person vs. 3rd person

[FunCouple02703]

I have composed several stories that are in notebooks in longhand. I recently decided to type up and submit them to Literotica. I'm nearly through the first and i've been thinkinking about the appropriate voice / person for my stories.

As a reader do you prefer first or third person?

 

[JamesSD]

First person is generally considered more challenging to do well. However, it is pretty popular in the erotic story genre, as it allows the reader to feel "in the driver's seat".

Of course, the obvious downside is if the reader is female and the first person narrator is male, it may not work very well. A heterosexual female first person narrator probably would work slightly better for male readers. There are ways around this, but while I've successfully written 3rd person stories with a female protagonist, I find writing sex scenes from first person female to be impossible for me.

The other final word of caution is that readers often assume first person stories are true in a way they don't for third person stories.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

I always advise new writers to use 3rd person simply because it's much easier to write well. However, there are stories where 1st person is appropriate. I have used 1st person occasionally and there are a number of writers who have been here a while who use it regularly and effectively.

It all depends on what you are comfortable with, how the POV affects the story and how well you write.

 

[Austin8]

The other final word of caution is that readers often assume first person stories are true in a way they don't for third person stories.

How true this statement is James, I try to keep the voice as one of the characters in my stories for this very reason, it's fiction, but people really think you are re-counting a actual event in your life.
Go figure!

 

[sr71plt]

I think James hit it dead center.

I don't find first person any harder to write than third person--and never had. So, I think those saying it's harder are projecting their own experience on everyone else. Both have their advantages and pitfalls. For erotica, first person seems much easier to make intimate and sensory.

 

[sr71plt]

Perhaps this "it's easier to write 3rd person" is just missing the point of what is harder. Perhaps the issue is that it's harder to write intimacy, sensory, and emotions than it is to write clinical. Erotica is more of the former and porn more of the latter. Maybe the real point is that it's easier to write porn than erotica. If that's the case, those going for the perceived easier might just stick with writing porn.

 

[FunCouple02703]

Wow, I hadn't thought about the porn vs. erotica angle.

 

[__Lisa__]

I have composed several stories that are in notebooks in longhand. I recently decided to type up and submit them to Literotica. I'm nearly through the first and i've been thinkinking about the appropriate voice / person for my stories.

As a reader do you prefer first or third person?

As a reader I prefer third person. It doesn't matter whether it's from the female or male perspective, though. I'm happy reading either.

As a writer, I prefer third person, too. I'm just now tackling my first story in first person perspective. I'm finding it to be a fun challenge.

 

[Stella_Omega]

The challenge in first person is that, for it to sound authentic, you must never be aware of anything you can't actualy experience. This means you can't magically know what someone else wants, or thinks, or feels, and that makes ascribing motivations to that person a bit more difficult.

You can't tell us what went on offstage around the corner, unless you were there.

There are tricks you can use-- you can report what someone else has told you-- it's just a different set of tools.

I wrote in first person for so long that it's been difficult for me to learn to write third, and be comfortable with any sort of omniscience.

 

[sr71plt]

The challenge in first person is that, for it to sound authentic, you must never be aware of anything you can't actualy experience. This means you can't magically know what someone else wants, or thinks, or feels, and that makes ascribing motivations to that person a bit more difficult.

You can't tell us what went on offstage around the corner, unless you were there.

There are tricks you can use-- you can report what someone else has told you-- it's just a different set of tools.

I wrote in first person for so long that it's been difficult for me to learn to write third, and be comfortable with any sort of omniscience.

It's good to write your characters so well you can be inside them no matter what voice you write in.

 

[Stella_Omega]

It's good to write your characters so well you can be inside them no matter what voice you write in.

I've been fighting my way out of limited third...

 

[Typo Fu Master]

I enjoy both pretty much equally. I guess it depends on how good the story is.

Can't stand 2nd person though.

 

[Iftheshoefits]

I enjoy both pretty much equally. I guess it depends on how good the story is.

Can't stand 2nd person though.

Forgive the stupid question, but what exactly is second person? I don't think I've ever read such a story.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Forgive the stupid question, but what exactly is second person? I don't think I've ever read such a story.

That's telling "you" what "you" did.

It's a tough one to pull off of course, because if there's one thing every reader is an expert on it's themself!

Ive done it successfully once-- for a very short passage, and I made it pretty clear that the character was thinking of himself as "you."

 

[jomar]

I had to laugh.

I'm writing a new story in third person but have to reread and catch/correct myself from writing in the first person, which most of my stories are.

I think the new story probably has a male feel. Even so, my main issue has been remembering to flesh out the female character's thoughts/feelings.

ETA: FunCouple - I don't think first or third matters. What matters is which "person" does the job for you, which is most effective in turning you two on. Don't worry about the audience here.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I like writing as if I am a movie director. I can see anything that I want whenever I want. If I want to follow a man around for the first half, and then pop inside a woman's head, and then fly through seven main characters thoughts from God's point of view, I will.

I don't like to be bogged down by rules (just because there has been a severe lack of dancing bananas on these boards lately ).

 

[sr71plt]

I like writing as if I am a movie director. I can see anything that I want whenever I want. If I want to follow a man around for the first half, and then pop inside a woman's head, and then fly through seven main characters thoughts from God's point of view, I will.

I don't like to be bogged down by rules (just because there has been a severe lack of dancing bananas on these boards lately ).

I will write in first person from several different characters' perspective. I just sectionalize it. My writing partner and I have published quite a bit where we alternate viewing events in the 1st-person perspective of one character and another.

 

[penandpaper]

James summed it up very well. The tricks Stella talked about are great, but I find it hard to segue them naturally. They need to be camouflaged and not nonrepetive, and the only way to do that is to make them fluid and interesting. That's not always easy.

 

[SixtyMinuteMan]

As a reader I don't know that I have a preference. Good writing is good writing, whatever voice it uses. As a writer, I work almost exclusively in first person, especially for porn/erotica. For me, it's just easier to convey the emotion in a believable way.

There's definitely a knack to the writing, though. Can't tell you how many times I've gone back to read what I've written and found ten sentences in a row that start with "I...", especially during sex scenes. My second gay story, "Ski Trip," probably got worked over 5 times just to get rid of the abundance of "I"s.

I've already run into what James mentioned; people seeming to think that the story really happened simply because it's told first person. Maybe I can flatter myself and think the strength of my characters has something to do with it, but given the improbability of the story I kind of doubt it.

 

[sr71plt]

As a reader I don't know that I have a preference. Good writing is good writing, whatever voice it uses. As a writer, I work almost exclusively in first person, especially for porn/erotica. For me, it's just easier to convey the emotion in a believable way.

There's definitely a knack to the writing, though. Can't tell you how many times I've gone back to read what I've written and found ten sentences in a row that start with "I...", especially during sex scenes. My second gay story, "Ski Trip," probably got worked over 5 times just to get rid of the abundance of "I"s.

I've already run into what James mentioned; people seeming to think that the story really happened simply because it's told first person. Maybe I can flatter myself and think the strength of my characters has something to do with it, but given the improbability of the story I kind of doubt it.

Just need to bone up on the glories of the "my" sentence starter.

 

[SixtyMinuteMan]

Just need to bone up on the glories of the "my" sentence starter.

Hell yeah. And "we", and the implied "I". We've just quadrupled my lexicon, if we're not careful I'll end up sounding literate!

 

[DG Hear]

To be honest, I feel a little out of place trying to give writing hints. I never paid much attention to wether I wrote in first or third person. I just get a story in my head and start writing it.

Looking back among my stories I guess I write mostly in the first person. I seem to always be telling the story from my perspective. I seem to use a lot of dialogue, my editors have suggested it. I know I have also wrote some in the third person.

After reading the suggestions from real writers, (those who know what they are talking about) I'm surprised that I still write anything. Of course I only write for fun and have no intentions of doing more.

One day in 2005 I was reading some stories and got tired of reading the same thing over and over. I told myself, "Self, you can do that good." So I started putting my thoughts in print.

Lit rejected my first two stories at least twice each for writing errors. They finally got approved after asking at least ten editors if they would look at my stories. Finally Techsan (God rest his soul) took me under his wing and helped me.

I eventually thought it would be good to have a woman's point of view and asked LadyCibelle to help me out also. After she became sick I was about to give up when I asked Mistress Lynn if she would edit for me. She agreed to look at my stories and now helps me tremendously.

I'll never be a writer and understand all the ends and outs of the craft but as long as they have dedicated editors like the ones I have mentioned. Writers like me still can have fun and write their thoughts.
With deep respect
DG Hear

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

I will write in first person from several different characters' perspective. I just sectionalize it. My writing partner and I have published quite a bit where we alternate viewing events in the 1st-person perspective of one character and another.

I know you write in first person, SR and do it well. The problem with the new writers is they fall into the "I" trap. Every paragraph begins with "I" in first person. It becomes tedious. After they get a story or three under their belts it makes sense to them and they can write it anyway they want.

 

[sr71plt]

I know you write in first person, SR and do it well. The problem with the new writers is they fall into the "I" trap. Every paragraph begins with "I" in first person. It becomes tedious. After they get a story or three under their belts it makes sense to them and they can write it anyway they want.

And in third person all of their sentences start with "he" or "she." If they are going to be minimally developed, they might as well have the enjoyment of narcissism.

 

[driphoney]

I know you write in first person, SR and do it well. The problem with the new writers is they fall into the "I" trap. Every paragraph begins with "I" in first person. It becomes tedious. After they get a story or three under their belts it makes sense to them and they can write it anyway they want.

I have very limited experience, but I understand the "I" problem. Don't you think a 3rd person story can fall into the she, she, she/he, he, he problem?