From Writers in the Storm:
A source of discussion that always comes up at the beginning of my classes is whether the writer should use first- or third-person. The short answer I usually give, is: “Whatever the material calls for.”
. . . .
First, I ask the student who wants to employ first-person why they chose that stance. Almost without exception, they’ll state, “Well, it’s just more intimate. Third person is too formal for the character I want to create for the story.”
That’s when I proceed to knock holes in that theory.
Before I do that, here are a few things I’ve observed. More beginning writers than established writers tend to write in first-person. Far more people who’ve been published are aware that third person is considered the “professional” POV and that first-person is often considered the “amateur” POV.
. . . .
The chief reason many agents and editors prefer third person and call it the “professional” POV, is that the overwhelming percentage of successful books and bestsellers are written in third person. This isn’t an accident. There are reasons this is the case.
Actually, the overwhelming majority of manuscripts that arrive in a publisher’s or agent’s office are written in first-person. If that’s so (and it is), then why would more third-person efforts become published? Well, because many more manuscripts are submitted by beginners than by pros. By the time one goes from the beginner’s group to the published group, the numbers in the second group have dramatically diminished. That means the second group is going to be predominantly writing in third person. Fewer people by far in that group, but a much higher percentage of publishable manuscripts. Most in third person…
. . . .
That means that when a gatekeeper encounters a first-person manuscript, it goes without saying that a little red light goes on (from his/her past experiences) that chances are pretty good this mss came from a… less seasoned writer. And, it’s just a fact of life and the business of writing that the newer the writer, the less likely the mss will be of publishable quality.
Link to the rest at Writers in the Storm
I never heard of a more stupid reason of why third person is better than first. It should be what best narrates the story. Each one of us lives in a first person reality. Are we amateurs then?
I find it depends on the story. I’m not opposed to first person, but I tend to write in close third person (usually multiple POVs). First person can really make it tempting to tell when you should show. Which may be why it correlates to less-good, inexperienced writers. Some people also seem to be under the impression that you can only have “voice” in first person, which is not the case. Even when writing close third, I change the “voice” based on whichever character’s POV the scene is from.
All the blogger managed to convince me of was that he’s not able to write well in first person. His examples on the full post were extremely convincing on that point. (Either that or he’s rigging the ‘test’ to make his case true)
Thus he has childishly concluded that because he’s bad at writing first person, first person is bad.
Unless it’s well written. And what is well written first person? You know it when you see it.
Oh, and also he says “There are people today who don’t realize that self-publishing is just another word for vanity publishing.”
Who can not fall in the face of such convincing rhetoric?
(you can probably tell that I have no problem with reading in first, and I write in first person when ever I feel like the narrative calls for it.)
Pfui on “expert opinion.”
As a reader, I almost always prefer fiction written in the first person.
Sometimes a story’s structure includes things outside of the primary character’s view; third person is appropriate there. But mostly, I think third person is the refuge of writers who can’t do first person.
The OP is a stuffed shirt…
Slippery Jim DiGriz. ‘Nuff said.
I like first person in the hands of the right author, but a lot of writers don’t handle it nearly as well as they think they do. And I really detest the recent fads of first-person/present tense and the rotating first person (that’s like giving several characters the same name.)
I’ve only written one thing in first person and that was a short story. I was well into it before I realized I was writing in first person, but that’s just the way the story came. I suspect that’s the only way I’ll ever choose to write in first person.
I was recently reading Tales of Pirx the Pilot (or maybe it was More Tales…) by Stanislaw Lem, and the story I enjoyed the most out the whole lot was the one told in first person. His personal voice had more charm than the rather dry third person pov.
Over the years, I’ve found I prefer reading first person narratives, and this is the main reason I prefer writing in them. I write what I want to read.
However, my early attempts to write in first person were awful, because I hadn’t yet developed any kind of voice or a character someone would want to any spend time in. I switched to third person because it was easier to mask my weaknesses and write something passable in that mode. Only to finish my first novel and realize it was meant to be in first person all along. Now I have to rewrite it all over again, after writing four or five more novels in between and developing the chops to finally tackle it.
My first novel, I wrote the first draft in first person, the second draft in third person, the third draft in first person. I found I did not have to use the lead character’s name as frequently in first person and that made some passages easier to write. On the other hand, there were some parts in which I had to work on long and hard in first person to bring information that the lead character did not know, to the point that I gave up on including some plot twists that I liked and were easy to manage in third person.
I finally settled on first person because I liked the novel better that way. That’s not an analytic statement, but I would be making it up if I went much further.
Mickey Spillane and Michael Connelly laughed.
Three of my top fave novel series of this century are all first person–Dresden, Hunger Games, Odd Thomas, Bridget Jones (the odd non-SF one out)
Melville, Charlotte Bronte, Twain, Poe, Du Maurier, and Harper Lee –among a host of others–are laughing from their graves. Is Salinger dead? Not sure if he’s snorting from here or beyond.
And honestly, I’m so used to seeing 1st person in YA, that I almost expect it.
If I enjoy the writing, I don’t care the POV used, as long as it’s used well, though I do have a preference for a tight-third or first with an interesting narrator voice.
I’ve written in mostly third person (both the Justice Security series and the Tales Of Sardis County), first person (“Empty Eyes” and “The Devil’s In The Details”), and a hybrid that utilized both (“The Night Chicago Died”).
Each has its own merits, and I use them as the story dictates.
First person IMHO is best for thrillers and mysteries where the writer wants to hide things from the reader or provide his story with an unreliable narrator. Of course 3rd works well for those as well.
Third really is better for most stories since it allows you to show things the POV character doesn’t know, build tension with hidden knowledge or provide the ability to world build without having the POV character act like a crazed college professor giving a lecture.
I started out writing in first person but find myself mainly in third these days which allows much more flexibility in my writing.
I do read the odd story written in 1st person, but the good ones are rare. For me, the reason is that 1st person provides too much of some things and not enough of others.
The ‘too much’ comes from the over indulgent navel gazing of the character. Rather than enjoying the ‘intimacy’, I simply end up not caring, or worst case scenario, actively disliking the character. The ‘not enough’ comes from not being able to see that character as others see him/her.
Our self-perception is always biased, but accidental slips can often reveal our true selves to others – e.g. the gruff old-timer with a heart of gold, the sweet young thing with a streak of malice, etc. You can’t write those moments of revelation in 1st person, but they work beautifully in close third.
I tend to write from the pov of one main character and a couple of near-mains. The near-mains provide insights and information [needed for the plot] that the main character cannot, or perhaps, should not know.
The trick with close third is not to head hop and to keep the balance between the major characters consistent. I’ve read some stories that started out being about one character and swapped mains half way through. Not nice. 🙁
My favorite thrillers were written in first person- the Travis McGee series, and Lee Child’s Jack Reacher many times.
I’m unable to write in that POV; wish I could.
BUT
My current favorite thriller series (by an Indie to boot!) is in 3rd. The books are just as exciting…well, no, not really; they’re better. John Milton by Mark Dawson is even more enjoyable to read that McGee or Reacher.
Lee Child writes some books in first person and some in third, which is interesting to see. IIRC, so does Robert Crais in his Elvis Cole series.
I wonder how Lee Child makes his choice, though. I’d have thought it would depend on whether a particular story called for more than one POV (in order to provide the necessary information to the reader) but I don’t think that Lee Child plans out his stories (as per Andy Martin’s ‘Reacher Said Nothing’) – so I don’t know how he’d know he’d need more than one POV.
Does anyone know?
Most often, I choose first-person writing because it’s the “voice” that tells me the story. I also prefer reading first-person tales.
Same.
That is coincidental timing. I’m writing the 11th and final book of my urban fantasy series right now, and all the books have been in 1st person. That said, if I ever return to that setting, the books will be in 3rd person.
1st person is really restrictive because it’s hard to tell the reader things that the character doesn’t know, and the POV has to be interesting enough to carry the entire book by itself.
Third person just works better if you have more than one pov character. I’ve seen three first-person characters – and don’t like it. With first person, the main advantage is an identification with the character (it’s great for short stories) – and having that ripped apart with every pov switch just doesn’t feel right.
Shifting characters requires far less guiding of the reader when in third person.
I don’t think it’s any faster to write – and the complexity of a novel with several main characters makes it always a decision of whose pov to use when feeding the reader the bits and pieces of story to be assembled in mind. But there are more choices – and reasons for them – which makes third a better tool. IMNVHO.
On the other hand, I read the novelization of Forbidden Planet. Written in first person and the POV character changes every chapter (3 different characters). I thought it a masterpiece and enjoyed it thoroughly.
YMMV and it evidently does.
That sort of thing depends entirely on the skill of the author. I’ve noticed an alarming increase in the number of stories written in the present tense or the second person (particularly short stories), and very, very few are well-crafted. Yet every once in a while, a story comes along that’s so deftly handled, the tense and PoV don’t matter; they’re unnoticeable. That’s the mark of a great writer.
FWIW Ian McDonald wrote one of two POVs in The Catherine Wheel (Our Lady of Tharsis) in second person. Only instance I have seen where it worked.
Yes, but alternatively, professional writers write in 3rd POV it’s because it’s quicker.