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Wednesday 11 June 2008
First-Person Narratives: Yay or Nay?

Posted in Posted by Edgar Allan Poe

I have a question, one that many of you have no doubt faced in your writing 'career'.  When it comes to narratives, do you prefer first-person or third-person?  The reason I ask this is because I am beginning a new story, but cannot decide on which narrative to use.  I have been longing to experiment with first-person for quite some time now, but understand that it has its limits.  On the other hand, I am more familiar with third-person, and it gives you more freedom.  (When you're writing first-person, only one character's point of view (POV) is usually open to you, whereas when writing in third-person, you can write from the POVs of many different characters.)

In case you're wondering what on earth I'm talking about, here are some examples of different narratives:

First-Person
I turned to behold a strange sight.  There, standing right in front of me, was a creature of the likes of which I had never seen in all my days.  Shocked, and more than a little frightened, I immediately took a step backwards, only to find myself tripping on a jutting tree root...

Third-Person
Miranda turned to behold a strange sight.  There, standing right in front of her, was a creature of the likes of which she had never seen in all her days.  Shocked, and more than a little frightened, she immediately took a step backwards, only to find herself tripping on a jutting tree root...

You get the idea.  Sorry if my examples were a little long -- I couldn't help showing off my prowess with words!  (Haha, just kidding.)

So, which narrative do you prefer?  Any tips are greatly appreciated!

-Edgar Allan Poe

Comments

Thursday 12 June 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by MaidenCapitolaBallot

I myself, always use third person. I used first person for one story, the Hemlock one on my blog, and it was fun to try it, but sometimes I would switch over to third when the main character was not around. Confusing probably, but I can send you an example of how it works if you like.
Still I prefer thrid person, but first can be fun to try! I probably was no help. Maybe if you try a story with first, just to see how you like it.

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Friday 20 June 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by StoryMaiden

I also prefer third person, but for some things, such as certain short stories, I find first person works best for me. And sometimes first person is just the best way to tell the story. I think Altariel's short story, Tears, wouldn't have been nearly as powerful in third person. First person can tend to make the story more real, however, for an epic or a romance, I think I would definately go with third person.

However, there are ways to tell what other characters are thinking when you write in first person, such as having the main character say, "I found out later that he thought..." -- you get the idea. I don't know, personally, since I haven't really written in first person very much, I don't know what to tell you. :)

~Cherise

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