McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

First Person or Third Person?

(1/3) > >>

Dresdenus Prime:
This has been a battle within me from the beginning. I have over 60k words written in first person but this is a rough draft in which all will probably be revised. My writing is inspired by the books I've enjoyed so much in the Urban Fantasy genre like The Dresden Files, Twenty Palaces, and Iron Druid Chronicles.

Initially I was certain that writing in first person was the easiest way to begin my first novel, since I could easily picture the words in my head being that they were in the first person view, but recently I've begun screwing around with another idea which would be in third, and found it's actually not that difficult.

With the numerous UF books that are set in 1st, I'm almost wondering if writing mine in third wouldn't give it a slightly better chance of getting noticed, (assuming it's actually good).

Maybe I'm just being paranoid. What's everyone else think? I know writing in third would allow me to write from more than just my hero's perspective, which would certainly open a lot of doors, but would that leave me with any disadvantages?

Haru:
In Urban Fantasy, I prefer first person. It gives it that noir, down to the ground, "you are in the middle of everything" feel. Third person just has a really hard time doing that, and in my opinion, it is something that Urban Fantasy needs.

Figging Mint:
Is your third person viewpoint omniscient or limited to knowledge an observant human might have?

the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
Depends on how close each of them are;  they have overlapping ranges, with on the one hand options in first for realtime headlong braindump that's not really doable in third, and on the other ways of pulling back from third that one can't in first; I think most published novels are in a space where it could work either way.

I have a feeling there are some things first makes easier, but I am not at all sure of having a handle on those things well enough to specify them yet.

Aminar:
For you I would say write out a few sections from third and see what it feels like. 

Personally I can't write first person.  I find it uncomfortable, but my own thought processes don't work well for describing events in first person, I've always made up stories in my head as third.

Have you read Jim's livejournal on the subject.  It makes all the points I could, but it comes from Jim-which means much much more.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page