First or third person?

[Wildheart107]

Do you prefer reading/writing in the first or third person? I often go with present tense third person for most of my stories, but occasionally write a diary style first person past tense. I find that makes the writing seem more personal, but not as good for action scenes. That worked pretty well for a horror diary I wrote (not on here because it was too much apparently, pm if you’re interested)

What’s your preferred style?

 

[Bramblethorn]

Depends on the story. For erotica I usually write in first person, but third has advantages for horror (since it gives less clues about whether the protagonist's going to survive) and I have one here with a complex structure that's effectively mixed first & third.

For reading, either is usually fine, as long as the writer knows how to use them effectively.

 

[SimonDoom]

I use both, but my favorite is third person, because it's more flexible and it gives me the option as the narrator to tell whatever I want to about the characters in the story. With third person I can portray what the lead character or characters are thinking but maintain an independent narrative voice, and I like that.

 

[John988]

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[ElectricBlue]

Both, depending on the story. In my last really long thing, both first and third, in the same story (with a very unreliable first person narrator).

More recently, I'm tending to write third person, where the narrator gets close in alongside one protagonist for a long while, then shifts to another protagonist for the next long section.

 

[NotWise]

I write in both 1st person and 3rd person, but always in past tense. I find present tense to be awkward reading.

I use 1st person to emphasize the erotic element in some stories. I use 3rd person in most cases because there are fewer restrictions on how the story is told and I find it easier to develop characters.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Anyone ever written first-person omniscient?

You can't, unless you have a solipsist or a god complex (or both).

 

[Voboy]

I default to FP because I find it more enjoyable to write, and because I enjoy experimenting with my narrators’ biases. But some stories just call for TP, and for me those stories are generally SF/fantasy. Not sure why.

I find omniscient boring to read and uninteresting to write, whether it’s FP or TP. SP I’ve got no time for.

 

[KeithD]

Do you prefer reading/writing in the first or third person?

.Yes.

 

[Hypoxia]

Whatever works. I'm still cooking POVs of inanimate objects like auto back seats, motel mirrors, bed frames, sex toys, etc. Is a tale told by a dildo "first person"?

 

[John988]

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[ElectricBlue]

Well, yes, actually, you can; it's just weird.

"I said, 'blah blah blah.'

"He thought about it, his brain mulling it over thinking all about how... and so on."

There you go: first-person omniscient, not something you were taught in school, but it's something that is not only possible, but can be found out in the wild.

That's just first person with the character thinking thoughts. Omniscient means your narrator knows what is happening five blocks away, but a first person narrator can never know that, because they are in this room, not the one five blocks away.

Meanwhile, in a room five blocks from where Johnny stood, a sniper took aim. "Let's see if he knows this one is coming," the sniper whispered to himself, his finger easing down on the trigger.

You can't write that from Johnny's point of view.

 

[Handley_Page]

Do you prefer reading/writing in the first or third person? I often go with present tense third person for most of my stories, but occasionally write a diary style first person past tense. I find that makes the writing seem more personal, but not as good for action scenes. That worked pretty well for a horror diary I wrote (not on here because it was too much apparently, pm if you’re interested)

What’s your preferred style?

Third person; as the Narrator of a tale.

 

[Voboy]

You can get away with FP omniscient if you’re writing something like Lovely Bones.

 

[Hypoxia]

You can't write that from Johnny's point of view.

You can in Vernor Vinge's universe. Sensor motes overhead feed sounds and images to Johnny's VR headpiece. He knows what the sensor-set sees and hears. Listening to sub-vocalization is almost as good as mind reading, so Johnny can scan his targets' thoughts, too. See, no problem!

 

[John988]

[This content has been removed due to a copyright violation.]

 

[Emirus]

Depends on the story.

Four words that give the definitive answer.

 

[ttvttp]

So far just third person. I want to tell everyone's tale and how they are thinking in the moment.

 

[Hypoxia]

LIT authors with literary aspirations might compare use of 1st vs 3rd person in published mainstream works of target genres. Count-em and consider.

 

[rebel_code]

Third person is useful when you need to follow two or more characters who are acting independently and whose actions are important to the story and not meant to be hidden--that is, not a plot surprise or something similar. The alternative to that is first person with switching viewpoints, which is not something I'm normally fond of.

 

[Maeven_quinn]

Anyone ever written first-person omniscient?

Wouldn't that be literally god's perspective on the story? A first person narrator who knows the inner and outer lives of all characters? As well as all details of the setting, and other goings on?

 

[Maeven_quinn]

Do you prefer reading/writing in the first or third person? I often go with present tense third person for most of my stories, but occasionally write a diary style first person past tense. I find that makes the writing seem more personal, but not as good for action scenes. That worked pretty well for a horror diary I wrote (not on here because it was too much apparently, pm if you’re interested)

What’s your preferred style?

First person, past tense is about 85% of what I write. I also write 3rd person limited, past tense if I want some distance between the main character and the reader, or if the story requires significant info dumps.

I can't read present tense anything, and dislike third person omniscient.

 

[SimonDoom]

Third person is useful when you need to follow two or more characters who are acting independently and whose actions are important to the story and not meant to be hidden--that is, not a plot surprise or something similar. The alternative to that is first person with switching viewpoints, which is not something I'm normally fond of.

Agreed. It usually comes across as forced. If you want to present more than one point of view, use third person, not switching first person.

 

[Hypoxia]

The alternative to that is first person with switching viewpoints, which is not something I'm normally fond of.

I've a successful series where every episode, sometimes two per chapter, are told by different observers. Other successful pieces feature distinct people telling their stories to a group. I've written tales from a sequence of 3rd- and 1st-POVs. Switching viewpoints is no problem -- IFF (if and only if) the POV is clear.

1st omniscient is monotheistic or telepathic. 3rd omniscient is easy. 3rd limited focuses on one player but I may switch minds and places. The MC is on the phone; we see the listener's reactions, briefly.

The story you write should tell you whether the MC is me, he, she, or it.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

For me it depends on how many characters are in the story, although I have broken that self imposed rule on some.

Third person you can tell the story and with dialog find out how the characters are reacting and thinking.

First person, well that person tells the story, gives you the feelings of their POV, then the other person(s) have to tell you via dialog about their experience.

Shifting first person... I use this sometimes. When I have two to four people and I want to use first person, I have it shift around among them. As the scene changes so might the story teller.