Hi there, I guess I'll introduce myself first. I'm a college student (freshman) and played WoW from release till a week or so after the expansion came out and I realized I wasn't even having fun playing. But this isn't about WoW, this is about books!

So, my question to all of you is what kind of narration do you like, and what would you want to see? For example, I've never read anything narrated strictly in first person perspective, and think it would be interesting to only know what one or a few main charactors know. I'm used to the narrator who's following from a 3rd person perspective but who can seemingly read the minds of the other charactors, or pop over to the bad guys and reveal their plots.

The reason I ask is that I had a good idea for a book and started writing, but after a few pages I went back and read over and realized I was writing it all in strictly first person perspective! Trying to figure out if it would be more interesting if I continued in this way or went to the third person narration instead.

What do you all think?

I would imagine writing first person would be pretty hard. How would you flesh out the other characters? I always find it easier to write in third person so your audience won't get bored with just a one sided perspective. Plus it's away fun to keep track of the villain and find out things that the hero doesn't know. Adds suspense to the action scenes where you know the villains going to pull an ambush, but the hero blindly walks into it even though the reader is shouting at the book "DON'T GO OVER THERE!".

Just my opinion though.

meh, 3ed person is... tricky. really i prefer the first person perspective in books... though the best is one that jumps between characters on chapters. this is how most book's i've read handle it. and if not chapters, than sections. heres this character's perspective on whats going on, along with his thoughts. then new section we jump over to another guy, or even to a "villian" character.

for example in the Zahn Trillogy, the first three books that started the new wave of Star wars novels (very good reads by the way) were mostly in the "good guy's" perspective. but every so often, it would switch to the main "bad" guy's henchman, captain pelleon. and we would get those great scenes with imperial commanders.

in George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire serries, each chapter is done in the perspective of a character (it anounces which character your reading at the chapter page). in fact he chooses one character that will be the main focus of the story for the book, and write's that character's chapters all at once. then he does another character, and then another. they all take place over the same span of time, and in the end, he puts them together so its like scene cuts in a movie. IE, jumping to whats happening around the same time, somewhere else. song of ice and fire (the first book is A Game of Thrones) is pretty cool, but graphic and vulgar at times. less high fantasy, more Dark ages (of high fantasy). very, very good serries. i read all three of the biggies (wheel of time, sword of truth being the other two) and i like ice and fire the best.

what books have you read? most i have read are first person. dealing with that person's thoughts, and feelings.

If you're looking for a good example of writing from a first person perspective, look at the Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust (start with The Book of Jhereg.) He does a good job with it, although it's usually trickier to do that writing in the first person. And Owl, just because the book focuses on one person's experiences, that doesn't make it first person.

uh...yeah that's what I meant, either way you go be sure to round out all of your characters not just the main one, makes for a better story, hence the different points of view

I was plannin on switching perspective between the three main chars, though a bad guy or two isn't a bad idea at all...
What about how I refer to the chars, do you think that "I" should be a no-no outside of dialogue, or is it okay?

I've read The Bronze Canticles by Tracy and Laura Hickman, The Vampire Earth and The Age of Fire by E.E. Knight, I think all of the Redwall books by Brian Jacques (I might have missed some... good books!), and probably my favorite, the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind...

I dunno, some of those seem kind of like they are first-person...ish. Like the person involved is telling you the story all in the past tense, while I am writing in a present-tense first person perspective. "I feel the wind...<whatever>"

I've read a few first person. They are okay, but lack something I can't put a finger on.

Third person is nice, but can be tricky as well

I very -rarely- write in first person. the one and only time I did, well I ended up re-writing it and it was 10xs better. It all depends on your style, not what everyone else thinks or does.

Hmmm I guess you're right, depends on what I'm comfortable with... I didn't even think about how I was going to write when I started, maybe I'll try rewriting the first chapter or first few pages in a few different way and see how it turns out.

I just finished the Tales of Otori series and I think that author had a unique idea. He used first person perspective and "I..." format for chapters about the hero. For chapters about everyone else he used third person. That maybe an idea to try if you want the reader to empathize with the main character.

Hmmm that's a good idea too... I dunno maybe I can figure out something new to do =D

Most of what I read is in the third person. Sometimes in a first person omniscient (Follow one person's way of thinking, with little add ons when you need it.) Pure first person can jog me a bit at first, but as the story progress... I'm not sure if normaly the author ditches it, it becomes less relevant, or I just notice less.

Some strong examples are Robin Hobb's works. I'm not sure about the Live Ship Traders, but the Farseer series and her most recent Soldiers Son series both have a first person perspective (Recomendation: Farseer and Live Ship Traders, awesome. Soldiers Son, garbage)

A lot of writing is not full on third person omniscient, I think most of it follows a character, and mostly what they know. The first or third perspective is merely a tool. I've seen both well done. When it's well done enough, after the first couple pages you don't even notice.

Here's a neat idea I just thought of. Tell the story in third person, but every other chapter or so have journal entries from the diary of the main character. It might be kind of difficult, but it would give insight to the main character's insights (first person) while still being able to focus on other characters and the action of the story(third person).

First-Person
Third-Person LIMITED

Basically because they both revolve around one person.

Read the Wind-Up Bird Chrincle. The perspective switches and styles blew my mind.

I just finished an English paper on this...
First person allows you to tell a story on a more...well, personal level. Young authors usually use this, as some shortcomings in literary technique can be hidden by the human (as opposed to omnipotent god like 3rd person) aspect of the character telling the story.

Third person allows more choices as to what you want to convey, but as everyone else has stated, it is difficult trying to handle showing every aspect there is in the story. If you don't do this, you will lose credibility with your reader.

You should post some drafts and let us shoot holes in it ^^

uh, yeah i know that focusing on one character doesnt make a story first person. first person would be when we (the reader) are shown the story through the eyes of a character, as oposed to a more narative view. when we watch (mosT) movies and TV, it is shown in a 3ed person perspective.

as its been said, first person is more personal, and allows for people to see and know things... from their point of view. what they see, or think they see, and what happens can be two different things. the first person lets us into the mind of the character, and thus his thoughts, feelings, and museings. 3ed person in writeing is just a little strange.

i find the first person usefull, and comfortible. we live our lives in the first person. so when we are watching a world through one, or more, first person perspectives, it is like we were the character.

i cant think, off hand, of something i have read that wasnt in the first person. then again my memory has a tendency to forget about stuff that is didnt like.

Thud! wasn't in first person.

My personal preference is of the tight third person.

Robin Hobb, an excellent author, has three series with the tales told from First Person. Two series follow Fitzchivalry, and are about his life as a bastard son of a prince and his occupation as a royal assassin. The third follows Navare, the titular Soldier Son. I enjoyed all three immensely, but my favourite of her works is the Liveship Traders series which is in tight third person.


Same way you have a concept of other people even though you only hear your own thoughts. You observe. First Person, when used well, actually draws people in quicker than the more distant third and gives you freer reign to comment on the emotional state of your protagonist as well as offer misleading interpretations of other characters' actions.


This is a masterful example of the tight third person, which contrasts with the more traditional omnipotent third person used in noves.


Generally, you want to avoid writing in the present tense. Our storytelling in English is generally done in the past tense, and it is jarring when the tense switches over quickly. As for using words like "I" or "my" in a story outside of dialogue, you either do it all the time or none of the time. Consistency is crucial. Nothing says amateur more than someone who can't stick to a tense (unless the change is to make a point).


It depends on what you're more comfortable with as well as what you're more practiced at. The type of story also plays a factor. I have had some notable success in writing comedy in the first person, whereas I find the tight third person more useful for drama and action.


You notice it less. You brain reads First Person stories as though someone were telling you their story once they adjust to the oddity of it. Third person are more common, though, and so it takes much less adjustment to read those smoothly.

Wow. That was a thoughtful, well written and articulate post. Who are you, and what have you done with Verbose?

Ohes nos he's recharged his brain!

I've mentioned before that I'm a writer. It's not my fault that people seem to think that my hobby would consist of being the same as my personality. Most of the stuff I did write was romantic comedies and PG13. I didn't write any pr0n at all for the first three years of writing, and even after that I didn't do it often.

It was totally hot when I did, though.

Was there gingerbread involved?

Not to my recollection, but I believe I did do one with a mentally retarded girl with a sexually abusive father.

Not to my recollection, but I believe I did do one with a mentally retarded girl with a sexually abusive father.