The official first person versus third person thread of goodnes.

The official first person versus third person thread of goodness.

So, a pretty simple idea; you try and prove that third person is a better way to write, and I along with the other sane people will effortless pwn you, as we, the smart ones, explain the great ways that 1st kicks the crap out of any thing else.

So, you ready?
The Ferret is ready.
Bring it on...


(I realize, fully, that neither is actually better than the other, but this is just for fun. :

 

Well, third person is obviously better because it has two more people - and the three of us can beat the crap out of your solitary little first person as-

-pect.


Besides, in "3rd Person Omnipotent" I get to be, like it says, omnipotent; and what could be cooler than that?


- Evelyn, trying to get into the full and proper spirit of this thread

 

HOE finds this thread pretty retarded. Those who agree raise their hands.

 

I like Third Person, limited omniscient. It feels more natural to me to read third person than first, and so I like the effect better. The only person I recall that I've seen effectively use first person is Steven Brust, and I know that I'm not up to his level.

 

Yet here you are typing in first person.

 

I like both, but I generally prefer writing in third person. Since I write horror and gritty fantasy, sci-fi, I can kill a person off more easily if they aren't the narrator.
But I have some ideas that would work much better as first person, and I'm not afraid to use either when the situation calls for it.

 

That's true. I should have specified in fiction.

 

What about a story that relates "how I died..."?

 

First person is a lot more limiting. You are restricting yourself to the narrator's POV, which also limits the element of suspense.

Hitchcock has spoken about suspens in terms of a scenario of a bomb taped under a table. It the protagonist knows the bomb is there, suspense is absent. If the neither the protagonist nor the audience knows the bomb is there, still no suspense. If the audience knows but the prtagonist does not, suspense is finally present.

That separation of knowledge is critical to suspense.

Of course, there are ways you can circumvent that. For instance, the first person narrator may be relating facys he or she did not know at the moment being described (future narrator). Or the point of view may shift among multiple narrators for differnt parts of the story.

However, the reader may find these strategies distracting from the story. Patricia Cornwell has used a first person voice in some of her novels, and although it makeds for a better emotional canvas, it is noticeable and does not feel quite natural.

 

i've been annoyed to the max by cornwell's occasional use of 1st and wish she'd stick to 3rd!...