Well aren't you a special little ducky I love writing in third person. I think it's always been easier for me to explain things and create the setting... More like I know what the scope of the world is where in first person I have to limit it all down to only what the main character sees, thinks and feels. In truth I want to practice 1st person since the limitations of reading through that one person's eyes seems to make things a bit more exciting. Easier to create some mystery to the environment; like how Character A watches Character B - In first person you can really display what A is thinking of B as a person... Or something. Something like that though.
I prefer the third person because you can show different aspects of many characters and you can hide what you want to hide to give more mystery to a particular character or to a particular situations. If you use the first person you can focus only on one character and on his/her point of view. Instead is interesting discovered the thoughts of other characters and their points of view about situations. Then, thanks the third person, you can choose to focus on any character you want in according to the situations.
First person for the main narration, which I have found to be far more immerse than third. Yet for stories I read and those I write, I find it good to have sparse third-person interludes from others characters. That way, the interludes can give a lot of information that the narrator can't have while retaining the first person immersion.
I definitely default to third-person, and, frankly, seeing people default to first-person freaks me out. I would only write something in first-person if I had a specific point in doing so, and if I did, I would definitely approach it very differently; I see no point in writing a book in first-person if you don't approach it more like writing a novel-length monologue for an actor rather than a regular novel.
Right? There are certainly specific projects which benefit from a first-person narrative, like if you're playing with an unreliable narrator. But for most projects, I need my audience to have a wider perspective than one character's perception, otherwise particular scenes become near-impossible to implement.
I like 1st person because I enjoy showing the persons silent opinions and thoughts. How they'll say something and mean something completely different. I do dabble in third person though, but its not my favorite to write in.
Just FYI: You can do this just as easily in third person. (Edited to add: OK, I can't say what is easy for what writer--for me, showing a character's silent opinions and thoughts is easier in third person and harder in first. The opposite is probably true for some writers. But in any case, the third-person product can read just as naturally as the first.)
It doesn't matter; if your story needs to be told in third person narrative, do it. If you find it easier to write in first person narrative, do it. I don't think there's a general consensus on the point of view of the narrative. Once I read a first person book, I was so hooked into it I thought I could read no third person book for the rest of my life. But I can. Don't be afraid to give it a shot. I myself am working on a project narrated in first person, since the story is partly psychological and portrays the MC's personal experience, memories etc.
Writing in first person is actually significantly more difficult due to the fact that everything has to be implied, and not just known. It is much more difficult to structure a plot and lay the foundation. It really comes down to the focal point of your story. The best aspect of your story. If it is plot or setting, you should sure as hell have the POV be third. If it is the development of your protagonist, and is more emotional, first person would be the way to go.
It's all about personal preference and what you feel more comfortable with. You can pretty much do anything effectively with either first or a close third person POV.
I agree. It is also very difficult to do well. I bought a few books on recommendation in the last two month and had to abandon ALL of them after a couple of chapters. They were all (by two authors) in the first person and deeply irritating to read. I find that writers who write in the first person have enormous difficult telling stories without getting completely caught up in the hubris, self obsessed and 'knowing' nature of the first person.
Before I started writing full-time I naturally grew into a habit of always writing in the past tense, mostly through school, and though I don't want to rely on always doing that way, I still prefer it, if only slightly.
Or present tense. Future tense would be an interesting trick. I've seen some very short sections of it in published fiction, but I doubt I'd enjoy a longer work that way.
It's very popular in YA - little series called The Hunger Games ring a bell? But there are lots of others, too. Something a bit more classic? I'm pretty sure All Quiet on the Western Front is present tense, and I think One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is, too. The Handmaid's Tale... Best Sellers? I think Room is present tense, and The Night Circus. And lots of others, of course. It's really pretty common.
Well, I had present tense in mind, but it goes for future tense too. And, yes, I know this thread is about person, not tense. So, for the record, I'm more of a third person kind of guy, though I'm not a fanatic about this either.
It's so popular in YA that there seem to be young people who see present tense as the most common tense.
There seems to have been a backlash against first person present. My current grand masterwork is 1st present, simply by necessity. It seemed to work best. I also thought it was rather different. However, being a non-reader I wasn't aware how popular it has become in contemporary books, and mainly YA. It is scorned by many literary groups and critics. The odd thing is that I generally agree with those who are critical of the use of 1st present, because often it isn't needed.
Most of my favorite books, which are also some of the greatest novels of the 20th century, are in 1st. To Kill a Mockingbird. On the road. Catcher in the Rye. Women. Factotum. Characters have MORE depth. Far more. Buckets and baskets more. 1st tends to really suit lit fiction and deeper, more meaningful stories. 3rd suits entertainment fiction more, such as the aforementioned fantasy and romance.
I have to very firmly disagree with this. First and third are both perfectly suitable for both categories of fiction that you mention.
