Fic Talk > General Discussion

First Person vs. Third Person

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Mariah:
God, first person is my best friend. What I found most surprising about it was like it felt as if I was writing from a diary entry. Third is a little more challenging. You have be more general as opposed to first which breaks down the actions and feelings of the character. I can't write actions for the life of me. But normally a lot of my stories don't need a lot of action in the more general sense. I think a lot of first persons tend to be more human stories. Not knocking other stories with different points of view, just saying there's sort of difference IMO. Whether its a comedy, drama, mystery or whatever. Its a selective point of view but I feel like the reader can relate to the story more when the writer injects personality and spunk into the setting. It comes through more clear through the character's thoughts and feelings.

shadesmaclean:

--- Quote from: Sevily on November 09, 2010, 12:16:57 PM ---Let me start off by saying that I suck at first person narration.  At least I think I do.
--- End quote ---

Yeah, I know what you mean. Unless I'm actually writing about myself, I also have the same problem. I've only written one story in FP, and I think the only reason it turned out as well as it did was because I put a lot of effort into getting into the main character's shoes.


--- Quote from: Sevily on November 09, 2010, 12:16:57 PM ---I have a hard time showing and not telling.
--- End quote ---

Of course, that's really the trick, no matter which perspective you take. Your choices of what to show vs tell is also critical in third person, though the dynamics are a lot different. First person does, I must admit, reduce the all-too-common temptation of Third Person (especially Omni) to try to tell too much by narrowing the perspective to the vantage of only one character.


--- Quote from: Sevily on November 09, 2010, 12:16:57 PM ---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.
--- End quote ---

Hmm... I guess that's not been my experience with Third Person. Sure, back when I started, I tended to treat my characters like video game characters, but after I started taking the time to actually get to know them, they started acting more and more of their own accord, like real people. Even revisiting my old stories, they've developed a tendency to surprise me by doing things their own way.

The difference in challenge is that Third Person is more about observation, whereas First Person is all about looking at the world through that character's eyes and speak with that character's voice. (Which is why I think Third Person works better for me, as it just flows more naturally in my own voice.) My only piece of advice, from my limited experience, is to try to spend a lot of time imagining yourself living the life of your character. The challenge level is often directly proportionate to how well you can relate to and think like your own character.

Pengi:

--- Quote from: shadesmaclean on December 09, 2010, 03:30:22 AM ---My only piece of advice, from my limited experience, is to try to spend a lot of time imagining yourself living the life of your character. The challenge level is often directly proportionate to how well you can relate to and think like your own character.

--- End quote ---

Knowing your character is really important. Before I write a new character, I write an entire biography and usually will keep a "journal" in that character's perspective for a couple days to build up some backstory and get a feel for how the character acts.

Important to notice too is that every character should have a slightly unique vocabulary. For example, in my fan fics, Nick <i>very rarely</i> will use a big word. When he does, it's usually close-but-not-quite the word he was <i>trying</i> to use, or else someone makes a comment about him using it. Unless I'm trying to make a different perspective on him (like in Time Watcher, where he's actually much older than he appears), that's how Nick rolls. Nick tends to talk more in a sentence, too. He'll ramble. AJ uses a lot of swears - fuck is his favorite - and Brian tends to talk dorky - "ohmigawsh", "heck", etc. Howie and Kevin are my big-word users, because they're older, but Kevin uses more in a single sentence than Howie will use in a whole paragraph.

Stuff like that is really important to capture because no two people - even people who spend a lot of time together - will speak exactly the same way.

But then again, too, because they DO spend a lot of time together, they're also going to speak a little similarly. There's going to be certain phrases and figures of speech that they share - fake words they both use - slang they've picked up from each other, etc.

Tiny little things like that add IMMEASURABLY to the reality of a character whether it's first OR third person. But inner dialogue is really important to pay attention to when you're doing first person, because you HAVE to stick to the same speaking style as they speak aloud with throughout the whole story or it looses its authenticity. Ie., Nick can't be dumb when he talks, but a genius on the inside - unless you have a REASON for that - like he's hiding his inner intelligence.. . *snickers*

That said, I find first person narratives easiest because it lends the most creative opportunity. You guide your reader through this person's world and make them see from a new perspective. IMO, that's the true purpose of literature of any kind. :)

yorkielover88:
Love what you just said! That is like crazy good stuff! Wow!

Pengi:

--- Quote from: yorkielover88 on December 11, 2010, 12:05:53 PM ---Love what you just said! That is like crazy good stuff! Wow!

--- End quote ---

I had a writing professor in my freshman year that pointed out that people can make HUUUGE fact-checking errors and hardly anybody will notice it - but they'll notice if your character is acting "out of character" in a little way like vocabulary or some small detail (i.e., making your character afraid of water but have a scene where they're swimming, stuff like that). The little minute details like that are pose more of a threat to your story's authenticity than the BIG stuff that we all tend to focus on. :)

I really like the idea of that, because entire stories can be built on minute details and so many people overlook those and go whole hog at a big dramatic storyline.

Minute details were one of the major driving points behind my story Something Beautiful. I mean, yes, it had a big overlording storyline, but in the end what was the story really about? It was about Nick and Brian and the connection that exists there. That's what people are meant to come away with. Those minute details could've been set against almost any backdrop -- the storyline wasn't the part that made the story, it was the relationship.. .and that took working with minute details to build. :)

Love, love, love details!

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