The Point of View questions thread

I've read the bold ones and enjoyed them all, so my statement about first person isn't entirely true. I can't remember if Gatsby was 1st person or not either.

 

You may or may not like the others, but I think Lolita is certainly worth a read.

 

I was told in university that most publishers prefer third person stories nowadays. I prefer to write in first person, because the way I write tends to go dark and delves into the sanity (or insanity) of the human mind. There's no better way to do that, than in first person.

 

Well..maybe no better way for you and your writing preferences and writing style. I wouldn't say that that's generally true.

 

Yes I probably should have said there's no better way for me, but I thought that was fairly obvious.

 

I much prefer 3rd person because I have this strange mental block where I am always asking myself who the first person narrator is talking to. WHY is Bella Swan narrating everything? Who does that? Unless it's a story being told like Interview With the Vampire or John Dies at the End, or a journal entry I can't get into it as much as 3rd person.

 

I'm now using first person simply because that's what my story is insisting on. I tried changing to third person to see the difference but just kept switching back to first person without thinking. Its just the way the story is in my head. I have no preference either way when I'm reading and if I EVER get this story finished I will no doubt write another and try third person.

 

Just joined the forum because of this discussion! I prefer to read first person (Mary Stewart, Dick Francis) so naturally lean towards telling my story that way. But part of it involves shared dreams, so limiting the POV to one character isn't going to work. I realized that while formulating the question I wanted to post here. So now the challenge is to write third person so that readers feel intimately connected to several characters.

 

Welcome to the forums. Depends what I'm writing but I usually stick to third person. I write more compelling stories in third then I would in first.

 

I have a few short things in third person, but in general I tend to write in first person. In fact I've gotten so used to it I ended up scrapping an attempt to write something in third person since I kept switching back to first person anyway.

I think it's easier to make something sound natural in first person, but I have trouble avoiding having all my protagonists sound the same.

 

True, but aside from a select few stories, what most people read isn't like that. But those stories are in first, yes.

 

Reading third person scenes places me there; as if I was standing next to that observer relaying the actions of a character.

 

Well, not that my two cents add much, but I'm pretty sure it's still all about the story and the people involved... first person (and of course, when done well) gives it a more... intimate(?) feel. At least more informal, usually more personal. But, it does limit some things, perspective, surprise element (this person is alive at the end of the story?) etc. And yes, 3rd person is definitely more common...

 

I am a new one here and I also prefer first person, however my little kids can't listen to my first person narratives

 

What on earth did you read that created this prejudice?

Funnily enough I can't think of any prejudices I may have... First or third person, past tense, present tense - I honestly don't care much. I read a lot of YA and am starting to develop a prejudice against that though...

 

Yes, that's exactly what I like about third person. I find it easier to get into a story that way, which is odd, considering first person is supposed to be more "intimate." But when you think about it, "I" isn't actually the reader, is it? "I" is the person telling the story TO the reader. I think it's more intimate for readers to watch what's happening and decide for themselves what is going on, rather than be 'told' by somebody what to think. And in essence, that's what the First Person perspective does—it offers a single point of view that isn't actually the reader's own. Nothing wrong with that, but I do find myself feeling slightly distanced by it.

 

Only second person story-telling deserves the bile dished at the first person narratives. I hate them all. So clever, in a not very clever kind of way. I shall not be swayed in my considered opinion:

'You, you lift the cup to drink your tea You, you look out of the window to see...'

'What? What do I see?'

'You see a tree, leaves blow in the wind like, like infants they cling to the mother branch. Yet, she shall be felled, chopped by axeman.'

'Me, I saw all that out of your window?'

'No, no, YOU did not. YOU have your eyes to see, it was your window. You, a person in a house, you wear...absolutely nothing...'

'How dare YOU.'

 

2nd person works well with instructions, not so much for stories. Though, I thought it was done well in The Night Circus. She used 2nd person for short chapters between the story.

 

Found myself shifting between "Cam", and "Will" (you will see them in the story) role playing both of them while typing the conversations. I stopped to read, and only then realized I was using first and third person. Read it thorough a couple of times. Tried changing everything to third person but it did not present the correct exchange and attitude developing between Cam and Will. The way it is just just makes everything flow easier.
The plainclothes guy said, " I take it your name is Cameron Holderman, the Eagle Valley Air pilot, am I right?"
...Cam said, "Yes, but I do not know either one of you"
Rowan and Oga exited the plane, and stood by Cam listening to the conversation.
" Ah yes," well this Ortega Phillip,. the Tizimin Chief of Police, and area Customs Inspector, He will be looking at your passports. I am William DeLaPlant, everyone calls me Will. I work security at the Granfold lodge, and will take the three of you there after Inspector Phillip logs your entry into Mexico.”
Cam shook hands with Will and the inspector.

 

There has been some quite good use of second person in stories. I don't think a generic "everything in that POV is bad" makes sense, no matter what POV you're talking about. You just have to judge each use on its own merits. Charles Stross has written some stuff in second person. Nick Sagan used it for a POV in his scifi series. You even find it in some very mainstream novels (like one of the Jack Reacher books). If the author does it well, then fine. Second person is harder to do well and sustain than the others, but it doesn't mean it can't be done.

 

I tend to write in third person, and I usually prefer books written in third.

My main problem with 1st person is that unless the character is well executed it become tedious to read the inner-workings and opinions of sub-par writing. I'll pick the easy target of 50 shades to demonstrate what I mean.

What makes 3rd person so rich to me is the story and characters can be developed beyond what the MC sees or thinks.

But I've also read excellent 1st and 2nd POV writing so it's by no means an all or nothing.

 

In 1st person, you can develop beyond what the main character sees as well, though, and in much the same way as you do in a tight third person view. For a tight third person story, to move away from what the main character experiences, you switch POVs. Plenty of first person stories switch POV as well, either to another first-person viewpoint character (such as a secondary character), or to a secondary character presented in a different viewpoint.

 

I feel more involved in third person. It is like I am standing looking over the shoulder of the POV; and it allows multiple POVs. In 1st person I am reading someone else's account of events, a diary entry. While there are some very good 1st person novels, the mediocre ones really stand out as being bad in a way that your standard 3rd person page turner doesn't.

I have also read books which switch between different 1st person characters and I just found it too jarring. It felt somehow disingenuous from a story telling perspective. I gave up on them instantly.

 

I stopped thinking that one POV is better than the other. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, and the writer's task is to exploit these strengths and mute its weaknesses.

Also, some stories beg for one POV over the other. I was really uncomfortable with reading Hunger Games for the first time. As I got more into the novel, I found out that the present tense gave that little unease as if I were really there with Katniss. The First Person POV also heightened that sense of dread and unease since we are limited to her thoughts alone.

Then you have Lolita by Nabokov where you are dragged with his memories and his manipulations. We are unsafe from his thoughts because we are inside it. But he hides his words from us sometimes, making Humbert Humbert unreliable for us.

Think about Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; it would be less humorous if it were narrated in First Person POV rather than the Omniscient POV. The little asides and universal facts would be lost if we were only seated in Arthur or Ford's head.