I wasn’t sure if this should be in the forums instead but here goes. What perspective is easier and better to write from and why?
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I wasn’t sure if this should be in the forums instead but here goes. What perspective is easier and better to write from and why?
You need to be a member of THE SKY FORGE to add comments!
Replies
Really depends on the author.
1st person can feel very immersive as you see the world, quite literally, through the character's eyes, however it restricts what you can and can't write as you're writing what the main character is doing, feeling, and saying to other characters- you exprience the story through their eyes and their eyes only.
3rd person frees up any restrictions while writing, and allows to switch between characters, events, and battles, though it removes, at least in my experience, the 'suprise' of a story/ can make obvious what the twist is (if your story has a twist). You can even write in first person to get a better understanding of a certain character. However, it can lead way to your story developing into blocks of texts as you describe multiple scenes, feelings, actions, and reactions.
Ultimately, both should be used in conjunction with each other in a balanced way- you can use 3rd person in a 1st person-perspective story to describe rooms and areas, and use 1st person in a 3rd person-perspective story to make characters their own person- to make them... real...er, and get in their heads.
Generally, third-person is easier to write, since it's used more widely and you don't have to limit yourself to a specific character's perspective and finite knowledge. As for "better", I do think that third-person is also easier on the reader and more likely to resonate with any given person.
I'd definitely disagree with Ramses that you should mix the perspectives; that often gets confusing for the reader in a hurry. It could be interesting if you mixed, say, first-person telling of a past-tense story, and the third-person current events of what that character's doing now, but that's hard to pull off.
Unless a perspective switch is used as a plot hook, such as "the first half was the character explaining how they got where they are, the other half is describing what happens after they finish telling their story." But even in that situation, it's probably better to just stick to the same perspective, and switch tenses if you need to.
First-person isn't without merit though; it can be a good way to introduce the reader to an unfamiliar or outlandish world by making a fish-out-of-water character who gradually learns about their surroundings along with the reader. And one fun thing about first-person present in particular is that it can leave the narrator's survival uncertain.
This discussion being here is fine, promise.
For me I've been writing in 1st person for years, at least 6. There are times where I'll go to the 3rd person if I'm writing something different. 1st person is all about delving into the person's PoV, seeing things as they do. It allows the reader to see through their eyes. Is it difficult? A bit but you get used to it, like many things.
3rd person, I feel, you're peering over the person's shoulder. You get to see things from you're own perspective without the PoV of the person who's leading the chapter. It lets you form more, perhaps, biased opinions b/c you're not in their head when something goes wrong and the blame seemingly falls on their shoulders.
As for which form is easier, the answer is simple: neither. That's for you to shape.