Writing 1st Person or 3rd Person

[Nihilo]

So I have been trying to write something again, and I was wondering what perspective I should write in? Because my brain just keeps freezing whenever I write!

 

[BlackKnightX]

So I have been trying to write something again, and I was wondering what perspective I should write in? Because my brain just keeps freezing whenever I write!

First person is very easy once you get used to it, and it also feels very intimate. Third person is more flexible and movie-like.

 

[SailusGebel]

Try everything and decide what is easier for you. It's that simple.

 

[CL]

I've read stories that have done 1st and 3rd person before and they were done well. How they managed this was by having 1st person devoted towards the protagonist, but if there were chapters without the protagonist then it'll be devoted towards 3rd person perspectives. I liked them because they carried the weight of the main character and also explained the behind the scenes for us readers when the protagonist couldn't be everywhere of interest.

 

[MissPaige36]

3rd perspective but I write in both first and third perspective

 

[Noel_Elitia]

i try writing in all three,
but i make sure to give major time to 1st person MC.
Its should be about what the writer feels comfortable in writing and makes the plot sound more lively and involving.
People will like the story if its good no matter in what way its written as long as the flow is maintained.

 

[Grandloaf]

Unless your characters have a really interesting perspective, you should just write in the third person.

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

Switch to a crowd POV. Where every action is criticized by a faceless omniscient mob with its own separate individual personalities.

 

[ArcanePunkster]

Write your stories in third-person limited. I had this problem as well and made a thread about it and a lot of people here suggested I try that. The reason being is I wanted to keep a first person perspective, but switch between multiple viewpoints.

Third-person limited is ideal if you want to keep the essence of a limited perspective, but have the freedom of writing in third person

 

[bibrosko]

Unless it'ssah Choose Your Own Adventure, who writes in 2nd?

 

[Horizon42]

You should have a reason to write a certain way. 1st person is more personal, it can reveal direct thoughts. But you cant always show things to the reader you don't want the mc to see.

You typically want to write 3rd person or write with extra POVs if you want to get creative.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Try out different POVs and see which one is easiest for YOU to write in. Our brains are not wired the same.

 

[NitroxDarks]

As long as you go for first person, you can't be biased whenever your MC is thinking... is like you can't put suspense into the difference between narration and a character's thoughts when important matters happen. And as third person, you can still write MC's thoughts just as you would with other characters, of course it has to NOT be completely copy-paste from previous narrations (which I see lots in old chinese novels) as if the novel and the MC are one. I probably don't explain myself well.

 

[Topgun1908]

I tend to always write in the first person because it allows more freedom when fleshing out my story. The readers only know what my character know so it's more understandable for me to pull some plot point out of my ass that was never mentioned before just because the mc didn't know about it. I only switch to third person if I'm giving more of an infodump chapter for world building. When it comes to switching which character's pov I'm following I still use first person because there's not much of a point for me to switch povs if I don't dive into a more personal experience of how the different character thinks and reacts to the situations around them compared to the protag.

As long as you go for first person, you can't be biased whenever your MC is thinking... is like you can't put suspense into the difference between narration and a character's thoughts when important matters happen. And as third person, you can still write MC's thoughts just as you would with other characters, of course it has to NOT be completely copy-paste from previous narrations (which I see lots in old chinese novels) as if the novel and the MC are one. I probably don't explain myself well.

Maybe I'm not understanding correctly but wouldn't not being biased in first person kinda make no sense? The whole point of the first person point of vies is to view the story's events the same way the character does and the it's natural for the character to be biased against different events or characters based on their own experiences. I think that it's third person where you don't want bias because the perspective is detached from any specific person.

 

[CubicleHermit]

First or third person past tense, either is good.

As was already said, unless you're writing a choose your own adventure type thing, don't write in second person.

Similarly, unless you're doing experimental stream-of-consciousness stuff, don't write longer works in present/future tense.

The readers only know what my character know so it's more understandable for me to pull some plot point out of my ass that was never mentioned before just because the mc didn't know about it. I only switch to third person if I'm giving more of an infodump chapter for world building.

You can write in tight third person, and you can write in a non-tight first (e.g. if your narrator is specifically the MC in the future telling the story knowing how it ended. It's kind of a Victorian way of writing, but some modern authors have pulled it off - the first set of Amber books by Zelazny* are almost all tight first person but break that occasionally in ways that initially seem old fashioned but are explained internally if you get through to the end.

(* and for those who like western fantasy and haven't read his stuff, the first 5 Chronicles of Amber books, Jack of Shadows, and Lord of Light are all "run, don't walk" works; the first two are also really great examples of how to use first person effectively.)

 

[wingedcatgirl]

I've tried writing in all three from time to time.

First person is obviously good for self-insert fic, as well as any time you want the readers to identify strongly with the protagonist. It's the easiest for me when I'm writing a literal self-insert fic (as in, the protagonist is literally me Sylvi wingedcatgirl who is gay and doesn't go to bed on time) but for obvious reasons most of what I write isn't that.
Second-person is obviously good when you want the readers projecting themself on the protagonist, or when you want the story to feel like a text adventure. I don't use this one often, honestly - I think the only times I have were when I was writing Homestuck fanfic, and that's entirely because Homestuck was written that way in the first place.
Third person is a good default choice, and the one I usually go with. It's easy because it reads like you're telling the readers what happened. Which... you literally are doing that.