When writing a novel, is it better to write from the first person perspective or the third person perspective?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
xXLeeBee: Thank you for that great suggestion, but I excluded omniscient on purpose because I thought it would be a little more difficult to pull off. I may reconsider, though, but thanks again:)
- Emkay
Tags: Advantages And Disadvantages, First Person, Person Perspective, Suggestion, Writing A Novel
August 17th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
It’s better to write in whichever style you’re most comfortable with. Both styles have been used successfully in writing by many different authors and in every genre of writing out there.
Write what you like, ad if you like it, chances are others will as well.
August 21st, 2009 at 5:14 am
Depends on what kind of story your writing. First person can sometimes draw the person in, make them feel the action more, while thried person can make the reader feel all knowing.
August 23rd, 2009 at 7:25 pm
If you are writing about someone else then it has to be in the third person as it is an objective perspective. With the first person perspective it would be about yourself, so the subject matter is subjective.
August 25th, 2009 at 5:57 am
well… it really depends on the person who’s writing it! and you forgot another point of view, omniscient, its where the author is all-knowing, it says the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters, try writing about the same thing but with these different points of view, then have someone read it and tell you which one that you write the best
August 25th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
i think it is easier to write in first person because you kind of become the main character. third person to me is just to formal.
August 27th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
It totally depends what kind of story it is. I find that third person is often extremely interesting because you have a broader knowledge of the outside influences on a character. However writing in first person allows the reader to grasp such a remarkable and in-depth look into the mind of the central character that cannot be achieved by writing in third person. Overall both styles of writing produce wonderful works of literature. Use what style you find most comfortable with and just run with it.
August 27th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
I like writing from both I like first person maybe a little more but I think its harder to stick with it. You can’t make it sound too third person and in first person it’s only one pov (unless you do a book that switches povs). You’re a little more limited with 1st person.
August 29th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
The advantage of first person is that you get the feelings/thoughts of the character straight from the source. However, first person is not objective–the thoughts/opinions/biases of the character are very easily reflected in the story. Third person can be either objective or subjective, depending on how you write it. Third person also has the advantage of being able to describe events for which the main character is not present. I generally like to use first person for stories if I want to be really descriptive of emotions, but that’s just a personal preference.
September 1st, 2009 at 10:05 am
First person you can write it with more sights and experience and so on. But you can’t get into the thoughts of your other characters. Personally I find myself writing my stories this way more because I find it more my style and easier for me to keep my thoughts flowing. I can’t suddenly skip things because I have to make my character go though things to get to point a to point b.
Third person you can get into the thoughts and motives of all your characters. You can control more of what they are doing and can let your readers into whats going on before your other characters do. The only thing is that I find that I can’t get into it as much. I don’t really care about the characters as much even with a main character. And this way your readers can’t see the story through the characters eyes.
September 1st, 2009 at 12:47 pm
as someone already said earlier, you should write the story in a way that suites you and the story best. for instance , biographies are usually good when they are written in first person perspective. also when you use first person perspective it brings out a lot of suspense because the reader and even the character does not know what goes on in the minds of other characters and this creates a mystery that the reader would like to get to the bottom of. in third person too, though every intention of any character is known to the reader, it creates dramatic irony within the characters and is fun to read knowing who’s the bad guy or whatever and trying to find out how the irony would be resolved. all have their pros and cons so just go for what suites the story and you best.
September 3rd, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Generally the third person is better, because the reader thinks that if the first person is writing of the events, after the fact, he can’t die.
Yet, one of the most famous novels, Moby Dick, was written in the first person. But the manuscript was turned down by most every publisher he showed it to. They probably thought, “How do you maintain the dramatic tension when Meville is saying Ishmael wrote this down after sailing on the whaling ship Pequod.”
September 5th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Writing in first person:
*1. Advantages -
a.) Tension–because this limited point-of-view [POV] provides a good source of ‘not really knowing’ what might happen next.
b.) Active-voice writing–if the writer uses first-person in an active way = the ‘I’ does a lot, and thinks a lot, about what goes on via action and reaction.
c.) Inner-voice POV–a reader knows what the main character thinks, sees, feels, hears - all the senses and thoughts of the body and mind of the main character in this POV.
*Disadvantages -
a.) Such a limited POV doesn’t allow the writer to ‘flesh out’ any other characters beyond what the ‘I’ sees or thinks of others.
b.) Motive is limited to the ‘I’ and there are no real motives stated for anyone else, except what is expressed and/or thought by the ‘I’ character, which is (or should be) somewhat suspect: the ‘I’ could be wrong and fooled.
c.) Nothing happens beyond what the character chosen for this POV is aware of or learns about.
Writing in third-person:
ADD: I went directly to third-person omniscient, since it’s most common. If you meant third-person limited, etc., sorry… and… oops. End ADD
*Advantages -
a.) Omniscience. The writer can be ‘in’ any character’s ‘head’ and ‘behind’ any scene, ‘go’ anywhere, etc., at any time, including ‘out of time’.
b.) It’s a good way to set up conflict. Conflict is the meat of most written pieces. This POV lets the writer show even slight but meaningful differences with more ease.
c.) Active-voice writing can more easily be done with this POV for many authors, because the choices are so increased for action and reaction.
*Disadvantages -
a.) For some writers, lack of a strong main character leads to lack of a strong focal point.
b.) Over-use of ‘change’ in this POV.
c.) The writer of third-person must be good at ‘getting into the thoughts’ of characters without upsetting the ‘rules’ of third-person POV: in other words, use omniscient POV wisely and well, othewise the ‘thoughts’ parts. will. not. work.
September 7th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
It would depend on the kind of story you’re writing.
It would also depend on which one you’re more comfortable writing with. if you find it easier to write in first person, then I would suggest writing in that perspective. If you find it easier in third person, then use that one.
The advantage of using the first person point of view is that you don’t need to describe everything as it was. It could just be everything as one person saw it. And you can just act like it was you in the character’s shoes. This is something that I really like with using first person.
The disadvantage is that you can’t directly tell your readers what the other people are feeling, except through making them do certain actions that the character speaking will interpret later on.
The advantage of using third person is that you get to bring up the emotions of any person you want.
So, I guess that’s it. I still love using first person, but I think that third person is nice, too. I usually alternate with using them.
Anyway, hope I helped.