First Person Or Third Person?

[InBetweenRealms]

First Person Or Third Person? What do you prefer and why?

 

[John_Owl]

Both and for different reasons and scenarios.

1st: I prefer this for stories that focus primarily on one character's perspective, without much thought for other characters. That may seem like the typical definition, but it's subtly different. The use of *I* statements tells the audience the MC's perspective, as though someone telling a story to someone else - like around a campfire, over a mug of ale, etc.

3rd: I prefer this when a story is intended to be told from the perspective of a 3rd party relaying it - think of it like a bard telling a story to an audience. The audience isn't intended to feel like they're *IN* the story, so much as they should feel like they're watching it unfold.

Personally, I use both, even in the same story. My current work, Fursekai (link in sig), uses 1st with the MC, but anytime I switch to the Antagonist's side I switch to 3rd. Why? Because the story is, more or less, framed as the MC telling someone after the end what happened. So during his scenes, He'd word it as "This is what I did, that is what they did".

Edit: Wanted to add for anyone that might've missed it - This perspective swapping is why I like using 1st. It makes a change in scene obvious to readers. If I say "I", it's my MC. If I use 3rd person, it's the other party they're following.

That said, I'd be remiss if I didn't expand on it - there are 5 total perspectives (4 different, one of which is split into 2). There are more, but these are the big ones. Others have specific, limited use.
1, first person - "This is what I did."
2, second person - "This is what you did."
3, Third person - "This what what (s)he did."
3a, limited - You only see actions. This can be further expanded with semi-limited, where you learn one persons thoughts.
3b, omniscient - You see action and learn all/most thoughts.
4, fourth person - "This is what someone did." You generally won't find whole stories written in this, but it has been done and can be... intriguing to read, but can also be a headache.


Side note: This is probably the 4th or 5th perspective thread i've seen in a year. But I haven't seen a tense thread - past, present, future. there's like 9ish different tenses.

 

[Anonjohn20]

First Person Or Third Person? What do you prefer and why?

View attachment 33854

Both are great, but third-person has a wider appeal. If your character in first person does something different from what the reader would have done, you'll get a bunch of low-IQ readers going, "I can't relate to this character! He's doing things so differently than I would have! First person is awful!" Because they don't understand that in a first-person novel, the reader is supposed to put himself in the characters shoes, not expect the character to behave exactly like the reader.

Just warning you, you'll see those people complaining in the comments and leaving negative reviews.

 

[Isometric]

I can tolerate first person, but I greatly prefer third person. I was surprised to find out that so many English original webnovels are written in first person when I first started reading them, since I don't think many or even any of the sci-fi or fantasy novels I grew up on were written in first person. I haven't read a print novel since Terry Pratchett died, though, so I have no idea if those are also mostly first person these days.

 

[InBetweenRealms]

Both are great, but third-person has a wider appeal. If your character in first person does something different from what the reader would have done, you'll get a bunch of low-IQ readers going, "I can't relate to this character! He's doing things so differently than I would have! First person is awful!" Because they don't understand that in a first-person novel, the reader is supposed to put himself in the characters shoes, not expect the character to behave exactly like the reader.

Just warning you, you'll see those people complaining in the comments and leaving negative reviews.

Man, I can't really understand that, I mean I was a reader and I understand what it feels like to be a protagonist when you're reading, but how "first person" turns you off, it should put you in the head of the protagonist, I got a comment saying your writing is Not fun, look at the most rated books To know how they writing, I took a look and most of them write '3rd person', at least say you don't like the style, just say it's not your thing, sigh

 

[TreasureHouse]

For me it just has to be good.

Howerver, my personal bar is much lower for first person than 3rd person.

I really like 3rd person limited, but absolutely dread 'average' scribblehub 3rd person omniscient, because it can often be used as a big ass crutch/lazy writing.

Here's this random ass detail during an scene about the character because I can due to it being distant 3rd person omni

Spoiler: Idk this was supposed to be an example, but it turned into something..else

"Wow what a girthy tumescent sword you have," Darrion said pulling John's blade from the corpse—btw he's gay, and he hates red velvet cupcakes; but he eats one every Sunday with his mum. He also has a cow name Jay.

His secret crush is a Hetero brotherhood initiate named Courty that he makes sure visit everyday at the local Hetero Magnus Cathedral during the Owl Hours.

"No homo." John's voice tickled his ear and their fingers intertwined over knobby pommel of his blade. "Oh I could kill for a taste of you right now..."

"You just did." He in fact did just that by plowing and repeatedly thrusting his blade deep inside the now dead ASSailant that lay before them buck naked for some reason. His Free hand slid beneath his belt, the very belt worn by his very straight and very dead reverend father. It barred a magic mark for every brother that stood and gave to their end to the legion, but what about a brother on his knees and about to receive? John was about to find out.

The mood was set and...

And I'm going to bed before I write anymore... things

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Depends on the type and style of the story. The biggest "flaw" of First Person is that you know the narrator will probably survive. May go insane, become something else at the end (e.g. "The Shadow Over Innsmouth"), or even be set up to die, but, unless they're a ghost or something at the start, they will survive.
The biggest strength of first person is that the reader is privy to the narrator's inner thoughts (unless said narrator lies to them - which does happen), and the narrator can sometimes address the reader without being too "silly."

The biggest strength of third person is that you can follow multiple characters, show scenes that don't directly affect the MC, and have a much bigger scope to the entire story - but these can be double-edged swords as you can get a muddled mess that way.

 

[Puji-Maki]

3rd person omniscient because that's the easiest way to write a novel, in my opinion.

 

[Tsike]

I like first person if it's mostly about the protagonist and the story is mainly about him.
Third person for anything else.

 

[ThisAdamGuy]

It depends on the story for me. First person is good if it's a very introspective story. Since you're literally inside the main character's head, it's only natural that a good deal of the narration would consist of their innermost thoughts. I doubt Henry Rider would work as well if it were in third person because Henry being the one telling you the story gives you a glimpse into her not-quite-normal personality, opinions, beliefs, etc, even while she's making stupid jokes. But third person is almost mandatory for books that feature more than one POV character. Sure, you could have more than one POV character in a first person book, but unless the narration style for each of them is so different that the reader can immediately tell whose head they're in without being explicitly told, that's going to result in a very confusing story.

I used to think that third person stories were easier to write action scenes for, for the same reason a game like Devil May Cry wouldn't work as a first person game. I thought that being stuck in the main character's head instead of having a full "view" of the entire scene would be detrimental to conveying the action, but after writing Henry Rider I've changed my mind. You can still have over the top action in first person, you just have to remember to limit it to what the MC is aware of.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

Second person! It's the absolute best for porn.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Sure, you could have more than one POV character in a first person book, but unless the narration style for each of them is so different that the reader can immediately tell whose head they're in without being explicitly told, that's going to result in a very confusing story.

Wish I hadn't lost the files in a computer crash - I was working on a horror novella entirely in first person, with each chapter from a different character... well, sort of. There was a bit of DID going on so not as many characters as it seemed initially but still, on the surface, three brothers, a couple with some odd quirks, an elder god, a cop and a psychiatrist all took turns with chapters.

 

[TheBestofSome]

My preference swaps depending on what kind of story is being told, or more precisely, how the story is being told. That said, I do believe you can tell any kind of story from either first or third person perspective. It just might be a little more difficult.

Second person... I tolerate. Almost every story I see that's written in second person I feel would benefit more from either first or third. Not least because the actions the story's telling me that 'I'm' doing is something I very much wouldn't do. So I end up doing some perception jutsu and just imagine the 'you' the story's talking about isn't actually me. Or I mentally swap the 'you' for 'I' or 'him/her'.

What interests me more (at the moment, at least) is the use of tense. By far the majority of stories are told in past tense. That's the generally accepted medium, and that's where most writers (including me) will or have started. However, I was recently awakened to the fact that a story in present tense feels much more personal and dynamic, since you're not listening to a chronicle of events, you're watching them unfold right now in front of you.

I have a story bouncing around in my head that would make use of this fact, and I'm a little excited to try it out and see what I can do with it.

What I haven't ever seen is the use of future tense. Have any of you, and did you think it was done well?

 

[MarekSusicky]

When the story follows one character, first person. Otherwise third person limited.

I like to write in past tense first person, but thoughts are present tense. Looks cool!

Wanted to add for anyone that might've missed it - This perspective swapping is why I like using 1st. It makes a change in scene obvious to readers. If I say "I", it's my MC. If I use 3rd person, it's the other party they're following.

This.
Thank you for doing that, I use the same technique, I wish more authors did that.
Or at least said in which head they are right now.

However, I was recently awakened to the fact that a story in present tense feels much more personal and dynamic, since you're not listening to a chronicle of events, you're watching them unfold right now in front of you.

Can you share where it was done well? I would like to read something in that tense, but what I have found here was subpar at best

 

[Deleted member 84247]

My preference swaps depending on what kind of story is being told, or more precisely, how the story is being told. That said, I do believe you can tell any kind of story from either first or third person perspective. It just might be a little more difficult.

Second person... I tolerate. Almost every story I see that's written in second person I feel would benefit more from either first or third. Not least because the actions the story's telling me that 'I'm' doing is something I very much wouldn't do. So I end up doing some perception jutsu and just imagine the 'you' the story's talking about isn't actually me. Or I mentally swap the 'you' for 'I' or 'him/her'.

What interests me more (at the moment, at least) is the use of tense. By far the majority of stories are told in past tense. That's the generally accepted medium, and that's where most writers (including me) will or have started. However, I was recently awakened to the fact that a story in present tense feels much more personal and dynamic, since you're not listening to a chronicle of events, you're watching them unfold right now in front of you.

I have a story bouncing around in my head that would make use of this fact, and I'm a little excited to try it out and see what I can do with it.

What I haven't ever seen is the use of future tense. Have any of you, and did you think it was done well?

I made a second person future tense thread before, and that was pretty funny.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I made a second person future tense thread before, and that was pretty funny.

Oh come now, you would never be able to get away with that; nobody would know your future or be ever reading about you moving along.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

Oh come now, you would never be able to get away with that; nobody would know your future or be ever reading about you moving along.

That's the point. It's a fun thread for shenanigans.

 

[beast_regards]

Just warning you, you'll see those people complaining in the comments and leaving negative reviews.

Rule 1 of interacting with Royal Road: The only winning move is not to play.

 

[Anonjohn20]

Rule 1 of interacting with Royal Road: The only winning move is not to play.

Oh, the first-person haters are on all reading sites.

 

[beast_regards]

Oh, the first-person haters are on all reading sites.

Yes, but only on the Amazon Road they could invoke the dark algorithm invented by the demon lord Jeff Bezos himself.