First person vs Third person

[timothytebow]

i'm a newbie writing my first story. it's going to be a bro-sis incest story.

what are your thoughts on the 1st person 3rd person issue? which is easier to write? i suspect first person is easier to write. on the other hand my thinking is third will allow me to get into the mind of more characters (basically the sister and her friends).

 

[al_Ussa]

Depends.

I've gotten very used to first person from Lovecraft (of all authors) and find that it can be a very straight forward way of doing erotica.

That said, there are some limitations to first person. Unless you are omniscent, you are limited by what the narrator can see/hear/sense/feel/think. He cannot possibly know what other people are thinking (unless he has telepathy or something), nor can he describe things he can't see.

A third person, omniscent narrator can describe the setting and characters with a little more detail. The narrator can come out and say that a building is a hundred years old, that one of the characters is an orphan, whatever. He is omniscent. He knows everything and can include more details because of it.

There are ways around these limitations, and some can be quite fun for the reader, but really the difference is...

Do you want to focus more on the narrator and his thoughts and feelings and perceptions

Or do you want to use a narrator who can describe the characters and setting and history.

 

[sr71plt]

There's a divide on that question here, with a couple (two, by my count) on the "3rd person is the only sophisticated POV for erotica" side, and lots more on the "1st person is the most visceral and intimate and thus is natural for erotica" side. But also a large subset saying, what the hell, use them both (but rarely at the same time)--they both can be made to work (and they both can be botched).

Whatever seems natural to smoothly roll out your specific story probably works best.

Experiment. Writing is a renewable resource and this Web site has tremendous capability to showcase variety and creativity.

As far as dicussion, you just need to do a little digging here, and you'll find that question has been worked over here three ways from Monday about twice a month.

 

[timothytebow]

thanks for the quick responses. i think i'll go with 3rd for my first story. i just read a book by dostoevsky where he sort of alternates... but he did it quite well and i really don't want to do it and have it be a distraction to how the story reads. we'll see i guess. but thanks again.

 

[Boxlicker101]

i'm a newbie writing my first story. it's going to be a bro-sis incest story.

what are your thoughts on the 1st person 3rd person issue? which is easier to write? i suspect first person is easier to write. on the other hand my thinking is third will allow me to get into the mind of more characters (basically the sister and her friends).

Hi, Timothy, and welcome to Literotica and to the AH. For incest stories, I think third person works better, but I have done some in first person and they went quite well. As somebody else said, whatever feels comfortable. After a while, you may want to branch out and try both. I would suggest you not try second person, though.

 

[Rubyswallows]

I used to avoid first person fiction because I always felt gypped by not knowing the other characters' minds/motives. However, in recent years I've become a fan and even started writing my own fantasies in first person.

I think ultimately the 1st vs 3rd person pov depends on what's easiest for you. Do you feel comfortable slipping into the "I" persona? Or do you like exploring all your characters' motives and lives through their own eyes and experiences?

 

[sr71plt]

So, those of you who gravitate toward third person omniscent don't sort of feel the chill in the room in a sex scene with a third person sitting there and doing a running commentary? Your legs don't get tired from running back and forth between participants capturing their individual inner emotions on tape?

You feel it best that the reader be tied down off to the side and not be permitted to fill in any of the dots him/herself? Or be given a chance to put themselves in the place of one of the partiipants?

I guess this would have voyeur covered, though.

 

[al_Ussa]

So, those of you who gravitate toward third person omniscent don't sort of feel the chill in the room in a sex scene with a third person sitting there and doing a running commentary? Your legs don't get tired from running back and forth between participants capturing their individual inner emotions on tape?

You feel it best that the reader be tied down off to the side and not be permitted to fill in any of the dots him/herself? Or be given a chance to put themselves in the place of one of the partiipants?

I guess this would have voyeur covered, though.

Big Brother is watching you...

Welcome to panopticon

 

[Rubyswallows]

So, those of you who gravitate toward third person omniscent don't sort of feel the chill in the room in a sex scene with a third person sitting there and doing a running commentary? Your legs don't get tired from running back and forth between participants capturing their individual inner emotions on tape?

You feel it best that the reader be tied down off to the side and not be permitted to fill in any of the dots him/herself? Or be given a chance to put themselves in the place of one of the partiipants?

I guess this would have voyeur covered, though.

That depends on the skill of the author, natch. I grew up reading romances I snitched from my grandmother's bedside table where you only read the female's p.o.v. I always wanted to know how he was feeling, thinking, etc. I'm a nosy person at heart- I like to know everyone's reactions. Of course, I've also read sex scenes that made me dizzy - the author head-hopped so much I wasn't sure who was moaning and who was thrusting.

 

[oggbashan]

You can do alternating POVs, giving 1st person from one, and then from the other.

You have to make it clear when the change occurs.

Og

 

[Liar]

I like 1st person perspective, because it gives me a convenient excuse to leave things out. I only have to tell and explain to the reader the facts and connections that my main charachter is aware of. No "little did she know..." or "meanwhile, at the mansion..."

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I find third person the easiest to write. I'm one of those people that will jump from character to character at a whim, and first person doesn't work for that unless you really know how to weave a great tale.

As a reader though, I will only read first person if it is done by the woman's point of view. I really don't like the way men see the world, and I don't want to hear about their conquests.

 

[OnlyByMoonlight]

I prefer what I've heard of as "third person omniscent" (ok I know I didn't spell that right) Which means its in third person, but you tell what each character is thinking:

"She thought he was telling her the truth, though she didn't know for sure. After all this was a guy who worked for the US government..." This allows you to get into the head of each and every character.

Though for the real character heavy pieces I'll do 1st person just cause its more intimate.

And then there's always second person. Through my experience though its one of those things that either it works perfectly or it just makes it sound awkward.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

I've made my position abundantly clear many times. For a new writer trying to get his feet on the ground, third person is best.

Have I written in first? Yes.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I've made my position abundantly clear many times. For a new writer trying to get his feet on the ground, third person is best.

Have I written in first? Yes.

But I wanna know when is my story gonna be posted? Fuck this other stuff.

 

[JackLuis]

But I wanna know when is my story gonna be posted? Fuck this other stuff.

AH James, first ya got's to post one!

 

[DeeZire]

I like third person limited because I like writing about flawed characters, and doing that in first person can be rather awkward.

 

[CMatthews]

Just write like you are there and make people believe the things you touch are in their hands

 

[sr71plt]

I like third person limited because I like writing about flawed characters, and doing that in first person can be rather awkward.

Not if you are writing in showing rather than telling mode. That's what third person omniscient does--it lets you slip easily into telling rather than showing. Sort of the lazy person's writing. That's the main reason folks say third omniscient is good to start in--because it enables easy, bad habits you later have to beat out of your writing if you really want to be good. If you start out writing in first, being forced to show the emotions and scene, it's more likely you can write later in third with less problem in showing.

::amended later to slip in "omniscient" by "third." There are different varieties of third person. Third person limited (sticking in characters head at least within distinct section) is closer to first person in technique. Third person omniscient isn't given much respect in U.S. market mainstream fiction (especially literary fiction) currently.

 

[driphoney]

There's a divide on that question here, with a couple (two, by my count) on the "3rd person is the only sophisticated POV for erotica" side, and lots more on the "1st person is the most visceral and intimate and thus is natural for erotica" side. But also a large subset saying, what the hell, use them both (but rarely at the same time)--they both can be made to work (and they both can be botched).

Whatever seems natural to smoothly roll out your specific story probably works best.

Experiment. Writing is a renewable resource and this Web site has tremendous capability to showcase variety and creativity.

As far as dicussion, you just need to do a little digging here, and you'll find that question has been worked over here three ways from Monday about twice a month.

That part in bold is the best thing I've read all day.

And as for your last comment, I would have to say this probably does win out in frequency over the Brit/US English discussion. But only barely.

But since we're on it, I think the reason some oppose newbies attempting first person is because in order to pull it off effectively you really need to work the emotional element, and that's not so easy for some, especially new writers. What do you think? Are both voices equally awkward for the beginner? Then again, if you don't ever do it, how will you ever learn?

 

[driphoney]

Hi, Timothy, and welcome to Literotica and to the AH. For incest stories, I think third person works better, but I have done some in first person and they went quite well. As somebody else said, whatever feels comfortable. After a while, you may want to branch out and try both. I would suggest you not try second person, though. [/QUOTE]

Ahhh .... come on, Box!! You should try it!

 

[Boxlicker101]

Hi, Timothy, and welcome to Literotica and to the AH. For incest stories, I think third person works better, but I have done some in first person and they went quite well. As somebody else said, whatever feels comfortable. After a while, you may want to branch out and try both. I would suggest you not try second person, though. [/QUOTE]

Ahhh .... come on, Box!! You should try it!

I have, and it felt weird, so I have never finished a story in second person.

 

[driphoney]

I have, and it felt weird, so I have never finished a story in second person.

SR did one recently and did a good job with it. There have been several recently that have come up on the Feedback forum. I did one before I knew you weren't supposed to! I think, to pull it off, you have to be in the right frame of mind, and before I saw SR's I didn't think you could do much more with it than a scene, especially not erotica. Funny how you can be turned on reading something in 3rd which is completely detached from yourself ... you can place yourself in the role of one of the characters, but if a writer is directly speaking to me, well, pulling me into living the story is not so easily done.

Weird, as you say.

 

[evanslily]

For a short story, writing in first person can be a doddle. You don't have to pay too much attention to any other character other than the one from whose viewpoint you're writing, other than to describe that person's interpretation of the other person's expression, tone of voice, etc.

In a longer story though, one where you want to do more with the plot, it can be very challenging indeed to use first person. If you want to foreshadow things, for example. Sometimes, you have to include a detail without your hero or heroine realising its significance - one where the reader goes, "Aha!" but your hero appears to remain completely oblivious to what might be coming next.

I've spent many a happy hour (and unhappy hours, LOL) trying to weave in stuff like that. In third person, that sort of thing is a lot easier to do. In first, you only get to know the motivation of other characters by seeing 'through' the hero or heroine's understanding (or misunderstanding) of the events that are unfolding.

It's all good fun though.

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

I have written from both points of view. As a writer, I most definitely prefer working from the third-person omniscent stance because you are able to provide a more global sense of what is happening and how the characters are dealing with each other and the situations they find themselves in. It also allows some running commentary and descriptive elements that I like when the third-person view is used. It gives the writer distance and the reader involvement.