Planetfurry BBS

[GriffinX]

i have been writing some of my story thoughts down lately and i started in third but was wondering if i should do it in first person i would just like to get everyones thoughts and prefrences.

please give exampels to fether my understanding.

[Teric]

Most of the fiction that I have read has been written in third person. I think a good reason for third person is that it allows the author to change perspective and viewpoints during the story.

For example, take a look at Aslaug's 'Transitions' stories. Each section of each chapter is told from a different character's perspective. The author explores the thoughts and feelings of Gabrielle, Jean, Zig Zag, Esteban, and many others. In this manner, she is able to tell a very complete story, with a lot of well-rounded plot development. Moreover, she allows the reader to experience the thoughts and feelings of many of the different characters.

A first person story can be great (and I've read some really good ones), but it really limits the author to a single point of view. Every part of the story, every bit of dialog, everything the reader sees will be from one character's point of view. If that character is interesting, complex, and well-developed, then the author can certainly keep the reader interested and emotionally involved in the story. It just requires a lot more skill on the author's part.

[Sigurd Volsung]

I have read books where the book was written in first person, but the person changed each chapter. Kind of confusing but when done right it can be very very effective.

[mwalimu]

First or third person? This is definitely a case of either can work, and it depends on which approach works best for the way you'd like to tell the story. I've used both at different times.

[Virmir]

As a writer, I find myself enjoying using first person more and more. I usually use it when I feel a deep personal connection to the character I'm writing for, and/or feel his private thoughts and reactions are equally or more important than the events of the story.

[RunningCat]

I am in process (the story is on hold as I got burnt out by it) a first person story where everything is seen from the character. This makes the story VERY hard as for several times I had to use the "I" and in some cases it got tiring. When I put that story of for a while I then began writing in third person narrative with some first person entwined in it. I believe you can use what ever makes you feel conferrable with you writing or it could be how the story is needed to be written.

[GriffinX]

thanx guys believe it or not this helps trumendisly now i have one other question in my story my charicterhas changed his name but you still know his real name do you think it would be confusing to the reader if i still used his real name for exampel: chris walked in to the room every face blanched as he began to feel their eyes upon him chris desided to try and brake the ice "hi my name is Griffin Centaur and i represent the four trialin galactic counsel..." <ok this is gona sound really chessey>thought chris "...we come in peace."

[Rabbit]

I write all of my novels in first person, though I sometimes write shorts in both second and third. All three can be effective; the key is matching the "person" to the tenor and theme of the content, and also what the author is most skilled at working with.

One of my fave things about first person is that you can make the character learn facts as time goes along. It's an effective and useful way to keep stuff hidden until you need to reveal it, when used skillfully.

[mwalimu]

Second person is pretty rare, as that implies that the viewpoint character is the reader (whether the "reader" is the actual story reader or an implied character). It could be done but is most often relegated to special situations, or something a writer might do just to see if he can, and I'd be surprised to see it used for anything longer than a short story.

Third person comes in three flavors (well, maybe more, but we'll start with these three):
1. Viewpoint - this is essentially similar to first person, except using third-person pronouns. We related events based on one viewpoint character sees, including his thoughts and emotions. You can switch viewpoint characters from one scene to another, but within a scene you should stick to a single viewpoint character. Switching characters mid-scene is sometimes referred to as "head hopping" and is a common beginner mistake, especially when done frequently.
2. Omniscient - aka "God mode" - you know everything, every character's thoughts, the future. Or at least more than you would using Viewpoint.
3. Limited - there is no viewpoint character, and you relate only what a disinterested observer (a proverbial "fly on the wall") would see or could reasonably infer.
'Viewpoint' is the most common. If you're relatively inexperienced, I recommend using it and being careful to avoid head hopping.

Aside - in one of my earliest works, a Lion King fanfic, some of the first scenes I wrote had severe cases of head hopping, and now I cringe when I look at it. More recently while a chapter of On Location I noticed I had accidentally started a scene with Clarence as the viewpoint character and ended the scene with Wanda as viewpoint character. That would be considered head-hopping, but it was a gradual shift that took place somewhere in mid-scene, not the line-by-line back-and-forth I had been guilty of in that early TLK fic. I don't recall whether I fixed it or not.

[Teric]

Speaking of which, mwalimu, when will the next chapter of 'On Location' be posted, hm?

/nudge

[Rabbit]

[mwalimu]

[Nameless]

I think that the third person perspective is kind of the "default" option, the one you want to use unless you really feel that a first or second person perspective is better for this kind of story. In many ways it is also the most flexible option in what and how much information you give to the reader unless you decide on a very strict viewpoint "locking". For example if you switch viewpoint characters, then it makes sense to write about the feelings of the current viewpoint character or include important information that only he knows. If you don't want to provide that information, then you simply use a different viewpoint.
In contrast, it would be weird not to include important information that the VP character has if you write in first person.

A first person VP is best if you want to explore the VP character in depth, his/her emotions and so on. Of course you need an interesting character for this to make it work. Personally I'm very fond of using this option as the main character's feelings are what is most important in a story for me. It also allows you to play some interesting mind-games with the reader since the VP char will usually lack a lot of information about what is going on (unless he's a really powerful telepath) and the reader won't find out about these things until the character does.

Second person is basically a first-person VP with a twist. In one of my (barely partially finished) stories, the VP char is part of a couple and is telling the story to his lover. This puts the focus very much on the other person while basically using a first person VP. It also begs the (not yet answered) question of why exactly he is telling his lover their life story.

You can use some twists on the basic options, such as a first person VP with more than one VP character. This can make a very interesting story if done right, but it's rather easy to mess up and simply make the story difficult to read and understand rather than interesting.
In one of my stories I use a first person VP for the main character but a third person VP for scenes that he isn't present for. Or even for some scenes that I simply want to present from a different VP. I'll leave it up to the reader to decide if that improves the story or not.