Fic Talk > General Discussion
First Person vs. Third Person
Sevily:
I'm not which category to post this in. Sorry if it's the wrong one.
Let me start off by saying that I suck at first person narration. At least I think I do. I have a hard time showing and not telling.
The two stories that I have posted on here are written in the first person because I wanted to try and get better at it. I understand that no one likes to read a horribly written story and I'm sorry for those of you that have given my stories a chance and couldn't do it. Because I agree, my first person narration skills suck infinitely.
But we're not here because we have to be. We're here because we want to be. We want to escape and read about people and places that we love. We want to write worlds that we can control. At least in the third person we can, because our characters don't have a mind of their own, we tell them how to feel and what to do.
But with first person, it's so uncertain, and that's what I have a hard time with. The antagonist may or may not be trustworthy, or heroic, or sane enough to tell a story, and the readers watch everything unfold through their eyes. Descriptions, events and anything else may be tainted because we're only seeing one perspective. And this is why I need help.
Those of you who do write in first person, what steps do you take to do that? Do you put yourself in their shoes and just write. Do you have any exercises you do to prepare yourself? How do you show instead of tell?
Any advice would help! :shrug:
Rose:
With first person? You have to solely put yourself in their shoes, description is tricky, cause you can't get too flowery with it. Instead you gotta describe it like you feel they would. When you create that character, you need to write like they think, if that makes sense. Once you create that voice, that needs to be what tells the story.
Hopefully that helps?
mare:
I feel more comfortable writing in first person than third. I always put myself in the character's shoes and say the lines and do the actions as I write. I find it helps. I also make sure that the story really does revolve around that person and that he or she can stand on their own before I commit to writing it in first person, because nothing sucks more than starting a story in first person only to realize that the character really isn't all that interesting. *coughlikeforexampleBellainTwilightcough* lol
Rose:
^^ That is so true, always make sure your character is gonna be intriguing enough to go with. Cause a bad narrator means a bad story. Also make sure the full story could be told in their POV, cause you could run into problems if vital stuff happens but they can't tell the readers about it.
An alternative to that is switching POVs, but that also takes some finesse. Such as establishing it from the beginning, so it's not awkward. And then you need to make sure that the voices are distinct enough that the reader can tell them apart. Not to mention, don't switch it up too much, cause then it just gets confusing.
RokofAges75:
This is a great topic. Sevily, I feel a lot like you do about first person. When it comes to reading, I don't really have a preference as long as it's written well, but as a writer, I usually stick to third person.
That said, I am actually writing a story in first person right now, Curtain Call. I think it's the first novel I've attempted to write in first person in like ten years LOL. I'm enjoying it a lot because it gives it a different feel, but it's also challenging. I'm actually switching between the two main characters' points of view, to show both perspectives, so I've had to not only get the hang of writing in first person, but also writing from two different characters' points of view.
I basically do what Rose and Mare said and try to put myself in their shoes as much as I can. I find it a lot easier with my female character, Cary, because she's not so different from me, so I use a lot of what I would say and do if I were her. Nick is a lot tougher, being that I'm 1) not a guy, 2) not in the music business, and 3) not going through the stuff he is in the story. With him, I just research as much as I can. Sometimes it helps just to watch videos of him in interviews and read his tweets and stuff and pay attention to his mannerisms and the kind of stuff he says and the way he words things. Not that I spend hours watching and studying Bsb videos intently LOL, but now and then they can be inspiring to help you get a better picture in your head. If I can picture the character doing things in the story and imagine them saying the dialogue in my head as I write, it's a lot easier and seems a lot more realistic.
As far as showing not telling, I know it's tempting to have the character tell all about themselves at the beginning... if you can space that out among something actually happening in the story, some action and dialogue and such, then you can still tell what you need to tell without it seeming like "TELLING, NOT SHOWING." SHOW something happening AS you tell the back story, and try to blend the two in a way that seems natural. Easier said than done, I know! I'm definitely not an expert; I've just been muddling through the same thing you are.
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