Which is Better: First Person or Third Person POV?
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Re: Which is Better: First Person or Third Person POV?
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The only thing I have ever written in first person is the book I'm working on now, and it actually started out as third person. I just had this feeling, as I was writing, that I should write it in first person POV, and it, surprisingly, works much better.
I guess it's really what you think your story needs, and how many major characters there are.
First person POV does lend you more intimacy in your storytelling, and it has a tendency to create a more casual feel, but it's limited, of course, to one character at a time. You can switch between characters in first person, with proper separation, but it's more difficult to get multiple characters' POV that way, unless you're going to retell or summarize whatever just happened every time you switch characters. The more major characters you have, the harder it will be to pull off first person POV.
Third person encompasses all of your characters, usually, and everything going on at once, which can be handy. It's also, I think, a little easier to write in third person - although, this may just be personal opinion. Third person POV's drawbacks are first person's upsides: Third person can leave you with a lack of intimacy with your characters, and doesn't always give you the personal, casual tone often found in first person POV stories.
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-- 16 Oct 2014, 13:36 --
To me, it depends on the story being told. It is easier for me to write in first person, but more difficult to read in first person if it isn't written well.
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