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deborahjrossThis should be required reading for beginning (and not-so-beginning) writers. Not only is there much wisdom, but the contributors do not agree. This is so important, I cannot overstate it. Each writer must come to a personal understanding of what works for them and for the individual story. Once the story is done, we can argue about whether the choices worked optimally, but the process of getting there is as unique as each creative voice.
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suricattus: First person also gives you the opportunity to play with the unreliable narrator. You can lie to the reader, and be totally believable. ... At the same time, first person limits what you can tell the reader, outside of what your narrator knows or observes. And that is the exact strength of the third person narrative. ... Writing in the third person voice allows the writer to use multiple points of view to tell the story, creating a larger canvas.
From Natania Barron: what I find most frustrating about writing in the first person is that drawing other characters is more of a challenge, since you’re constantly forced to see them through the eyes of your narrator (unless your first person narrator can, in fact, get into the head of your other characters by some magic!). Everything becomes filtered. So, as a writer, you may know that one of your characters has a huge flaw, but your narrator doesn’t. They have to find that out.
Fromdavetrow: Omniscient third, when done well, is an awesomely supple tool with which one can weave the most intricate tapestries of emotion and motivation. Done poorly, it induces the literary equivalent of seasickness.
From Violette Malan: So why do so many people use 3rd limited? Well, they don’t. Often what happens is there’s a little 3rd omni thrown in, usually at the beginning of new chapters or scenes, where you start off with a little intro and then zero in to the mind of the POV character. You’ll see the rest of that bit through that person’s eyes. But what happens more and more nowadays is that we don’t have just one POV character. We have a whole slew of 3rd limiteds, and we switch from person to person as we need to know things like, say, what the characters look like, what others are thinking, what’s going on in Rohan while Frodo’s in Mordor – that kind of thing. So, unlike with 3rd omni, we can learn things for ourselves, especially things like character, and unlike 1st, we can learn things even the main character doesn’t know – a great way to introduce some dramatic irony into the narrative. We can get whole new perspectives on the problems of the story.
From Elspeth Cooper: Some would argue that first person is the perfect POV in which to develop character because it is so intimate and allows for such forensic examination of motive and emotion. However, I find it restrictive: whilst the first-person lens focuses so well on the protagonist, like a magnifying glass it distorts and obscures the wider view. Other characters risk becoming two-dimensional, and you have only the protagonist’s perception of him/herself, unless you can pull off a mixture of first and third or otherwise convey the truth beneath the character’s self-delusions without ruining the reader’s immersion in them. In which case you’re probably a better writer than I’ll ever be.
Check out the whole article (part the first of two!) for lots more:
MIND MELD: Point of View in Genre Fiction (Part I of II) - SF Signal – A Speculative Fiction Blog
From
suricattus: First person also gives you the opportunity to play with the unreliable narrator. You can lie to the reader, and be totally believable. ... At the same time, first person limits what you can tell the reader, outside of what your narrator knows or observes. And that is the exact strength of the third person narrative. ... Writing in the third person voice allows the writer to use multiple points of view to tell the story, creating a larger canvas. From Natania Barron: what I find most frustrating about writing in the first person is that drawing other characters is more of a challenge, since you’re constantly forced to see them through the eyes of your narrator (unless your first person narrator can, in fact, get into the head of your other characters by some magic!). Everything becomes filtered. So, as a writer, you may know that one of your characters has a huge flaw, but your narrator doesn’t. They have to find that out.
From
davetrow: Omniscient third, when done well, is an awesomely supple tool with which one can weave the most intricate tapestries of emotion and motivation. Done poorly, it induces the literary equivalent of seasickness.From Violette Malan: So why do so many people use 3rd limited? Well, they don’t. Often what happens is there’s a little 3rd omni thrown in, usually at the beginning of new chapters or scenes, where you start off with a little intro and then zero in to the mind of the POV character. You’ll see the rest of that bit through that person’s eyes. But what happens more and more nowadays is that we don’t have just one POV character. We have a whole slew of 3rd limiteds, and we switch from person to person as we need to know things like, say, what the characters look like, what others are thinking, what’s going on in Rohan while Frodo’s in Mordor – that kind of thing. So, unlike with 3rd omni, we can learn things for ourselves, especially things like character, and unlike 1st, we can learn things even the main character doesn’t know – a great way to introduce some dramatic irony into the narrative. We can get whole new perspectives on the problems of the story.
From Elspeth Cooper: Some would argue that first person is the perfect POV in which to develop character because it is so intimate and allows for such forensic examination of motive and emotion. However, I find it restrictive: whilst the first-person lens focuses so well on the protagonist, like a magnifying glass it distorts and obscures the wider view. Other characters risk becoming two-dimensional, and you have only the protagonist’s perception of him/herself, unless you can pull off a mixture of first and third or otherwise convey the truth beneath the character’s self-delusions without ruining the reader’s immersion in them. In which case you’re probably a better writer than I’ll ever be.
Check out the whole article (part the first of two!) for lots more:
MIND MELD: Point of View in Genre Fiction (Part I of II) - SF Signal – A Speculative Fiction Blog
