Writing POV Pros and Cons

[Ten_over_10]

So, I am writing a story that is going to be semi-autobiographical and I do not know whether to write in First Person or Third. It is not about me but using a lot of my life experiences as inspiration. The story is going to be along the veins of a film like Black Swan or the book Stepping From the Shadows by Patricia A. McKillip where reality and the main character's perception and fantasies kind of blur together. I have a twist in mind where her "best friend" ends up not being real and there will be clues here and there through the story but the main character's interactions with him will never indicate that he is anything except a real person. Even in first person she will think of him as real, never hinting at his imaginary status until later on in the story.

My first thought was to write it in first person but I read somewhere that first person POV is perceived as weak writing. Some advice about this would be appreciated.

 

[JustaSCOUNDREL]

10/10 nothing against the posters on this board, but you may get better feed back and advise were you to post in the Author's Hangout.

You may try writing a few 1,000 words written in 1st person and then rewrite the same thing 3rd person. See what is best/easiest for you and which you prefer. I usually do not care vey much for 1st person and think you need to be a very good writer to do it well. I am not saying you are not a good writer, I just don't know.

Good luck to you no matter what you decide.

Mike

 

[HeyAll]

Based on that brief description, in my opinion, it might best if the story was told in 3rd person.

The reason being, if the story deals with perception and reality, then you can take the reader on a journey of what the main character is dealing with.

If your write it in first person, the reader might think, "Hey wait a minute, I thought you just said that this happened, now you're telling me that it didn't???"

But if you do it in 3rd person, you could write something like: Patricia's eyes widened and her jaw nearly dropped when she saw the room empty. Moments earlier she could have sworn that her best friend was living there.

Just my opinion. Best of luck.

 

[CWatson]

Anyone who tells you that First Person is "weak writing" is full of shit. They think that, just because most conversational English takes place in 1P, it's boring or easy to write. But the truth is that in 1P, your authorial voice has to be incredibly confident: you have to understand not only the character's personality but how that personality would be reflected in things like word choice and sentence structure. Every word on the page has to express those things in 1P, whereas in Third Person, even Third Person Limited, you can step back for varying amounts of authorial omniscience. 3P leaves room for objectivity. 1P does not; it has to be not only subjective but convincingly subjective. It's harder to write.

I don't think there's a "correct" choice for the story you want to tell, so I'd honestly follow scoundrel's advice: try it in both voices and see which one feels more natural to you. The easier it is to master the perspective, the easier it will be to write the story. There's no need to set yourself unnecessary challenges. =)

 

[SamScribble]

My vote would be for first person. Despite Hey All's reservations, it is not that difficult to make a first person account 'unreliable'. If you do it well, your reader will soon twig to the fact that they can't trust all of the narrator's account of events. And, from that point, they can involve themselves in a little detective game of 'what's real and what's not?'

If you think you can write a convincing first person account, that's the way I would go.

Good luck. And have fun.

 

[Bramblethorn]

My first thought was to write it in first person but I read somewhere that first person POV is perceived as weak writing. Some advice about this would be appreciated.

First person is a perfectly respectable option, as long as you think you can convey the author's unreliability when you need to. If not, one option is to switch to a different perspective for that revelation: "Here ends the journal of John Smith. I have checked official records and it seems no 'Jane Doe' ever lived in the town of Jonesville, but Smith did have a friend of that name who died when he was six."

 

[oggbashan]

The advice given in post #2 is valid - write it in one POV and then change it to the other and see which you prefer. You don't have to RE-write it. You can edit some of it just to see the effect.

I think 1st Person POV is more immediate and moves the story on faster than 3rd, but it depends on the plot. Almost every time I have edited from 3rd to 1st I end up with 1st, but there are exceptions.

I don't agree that you have to be a great writer to use 1st, nor to use 3rd. But writing 2nd Person POV is more difficult to get right. It can be done but 1st of 3rd are easier unless you are very confident of your abilities.

As with all advice on writing - whatever works for you is good.

 

[emap]

What they said, with an addendum. I write in first person because I put myself in the shoes of a gal and react to things how she would. It's not easy to do this which is why 1st person is not an easy POV to do. It's not as easy to get it right. If you can get it right the only people who won't read it don't like first person view stories.

Nothing wrong with that, it's just what they like. Try writing stuff and figure out which way flows easier. That is the only thing that matters, how well you can enjoy using that view. Ignore what others think and just write for you. You can't please everyone all the time and it's not worth the effort anyway.

 

[Ten_over_10]

Thank you for all of the advice on this. All of my writing is actually 3rd person and I have never actually written anything in 1st before(I mean, I blog, but that is not the same thing). The only reason I thought it might be the best choice was for the immersion, sort of going for that "unreliable narrator" type thing, where the reader feels like they are in her shoes as well.

10/10 nothing against the posters on this board, but you may get better feed back and advise were you to post in the Author's Hangout.

You may try writing a few 1,000 words written in 1st person and then rewrite the same thing 3rd person. See what is best/easiest for you and which you prefer. I usually do not care vey much for 1st person and think you need to be a very good writer to do it well. I am not saying you are not a good writer, I just don't know.

Good luck to you no matter what you decide.

Mike

I think this is what I will do, though to just see which fits me best for this particular tale. Thank you again for all of the advice!

 

[CWatson]

Just as an FYI, you can have an unreliable narrator in 3rd-person as well. It's not easy, but if you've read Pride and Prejudice you've seen it done well.

 

[fire_breeze]

So, I am writing a story that is going to be semi-autobiographical and I do not know whether to write in First Person or Third. It is not about me but using a lot of my life experiences as inspiration. The story is going to be along the veins of a film like Black Swan or the book Stepping From the Shadows by Patricia A. McKillip where reality and the main character's perception and fantasies kind of blur together. I have a twist in mind where her "best friend" ends up not being real and there will be clues here and there through the story but the main character's interactions with him will never indicate that he is anything except a real person. Even in first person she will think of him as real, never hinting at his imaginary status until later on in the story.

My first thought was to write it in first person but I read somewhere that first person POV is perceived as weak writing. Some advice about this would be appreciated.

It all boils down to personal preference, ease of expression and intended audience. I personally am not a fan of 1P or even 3P omniscience, but I've written both *shrugs*. Your kilometrage may vary.

Unreliable narrator is difficult to write. Or perhaps, more precisely, it's difficult to write well. Your audience tends to associate themselves to the narrator, so to write unreliability well all the while drawing them in to believing it is hard. That said, there are excellent examples of the unreliable narrator in both 1P and 3P. The Great Gatsby is first person and Nick is completely unreliable. As Watson mentioned, Pride and Prejudice is 3P, and also unreliable.

That said, I strongly suggest that you take Scoundrel's advice and write each section in both persons. Another spin is to write certain sections in 1P and others 3P - eventually, you will find an ease and lean towards on POV. This is what I did, and then when I was done, I just edited the story to fit my chosen format.

Ultimately, you are writing for yourself. Do what pleases YOU and not others.

Happy writing.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Just as an FYI, you can have an unreliable narrator in 3rd-person as well. It's not easy, but if you've read Pride and Prejudice you've seen it done well.

Albeit in a different medium, "The Sixth Sense" and "Shutter Island" are also examples of how it can be done.

 

[blulilacgrl]

I would say the the hardest part of writing in 1st person (and especially if that person will be unreliable) is the way to show that without being omniscient. Everything must be through the perception of the narrator. Many authors lose this because they want to impart information that a 1st person narrator should not have. So you might want to think about a counterpart to the narrator, a character that can present an opposing view. Good Luck!



Oggbashan~ the most difficult aspect of 2nd person pov writing that I have encountered is keeping the reader with you. There is such a great chance of the reader saying "I wouldn't do that" and you've lost them.

 

[Noira]

Anyone who tells you first person is weak writing is full of shit. You have to be on your fucking GAME to get it right, especially with an unreliable narrator. It's best to show their unreliability through their interactions with other people, and their perceptions of how other people are reacting to them can give them away, you know? You have to rely on mirroring things off of other people, because you're stuck to how the first person narrator thinks. First person omnipotent... doesn't work, in my opinion. I am not a fan of omnipotent narrators period, to be honest, I prefer the intimate view.

I think this story would work best in first person, from how it sounds to me. I very frequently pull twists along the lines of 'this is not what it really seems'.

Honestly, though, if it's destined to be a novel, you will NOT be writing only one draft, so why not flip for it, and if it doesn't feel right, write it in the other POV for the next draft.

Pick the POV that flows best. Try writing a section. If you don't feel it, write it in the other POV. Rinse and repeat. But my vote is for first person, because if you get their voice right, much like listening to any person--we'll know they have their reservations, their misbeliefs, their lies.

 

[Dylan_Anderson]

Anyone who tells you first person is weak writing is full of shit. You have to be on your fucking GAME to get it right, especially with an unreliable narrator.

I agree. All I have to say is Chuck Palahniuk. He wrote Fight Club. Same twist ending, first person. Absolutely brilliant book.