Writing First Person and Third Person POVs - What’s better?

[Pluuphs]

In all honesty, I’ve been writing in first person for most of my personal works and I’m wanting to know the current view on either point of views. Whether one is more preferable, or is able to express things the other can’t, et cetera. Put simply, how the community feels about either.

My personal opinion is that while I’m more comfortable with First Person writing, I feel I should try out writing in third person too. Or maybe I should venture out into more writing styles first.

 

[Paul_Tromba]

1st person if you want the reader to know the MCs personal thoughts and views.

3rd person if you want the reader to only know what is going on with everyone.

 

[PancakesWitch]

i switch around between the two all the time, usually concentrating on third person only when i want to show large event with many characters, or to show the perspective of something important happening where the main character isnt present

 

[DubstheDuke]

I've always used 3rd person for one simple reason - flexibility.

If I want people to see the story from my MC's point of view, I can just write third person limited. But it allows me to shift to third person omniscient to show the stories of other characters or to tell additional information that my characters may not be aware of. Though I almost always write third person limited and "Select" a particular viewpoint for each chapter or scene.

 

[Corty]

I don't think there is a 'better' of the two. It depends on how it is utilized, and both can be good and entertaining. Each has its pros and cons; it depends on the writer how much they can bring out of them.

 

[CarburetorThompson]

To me first person really slows down the story, but is good for developing emotion, I think it works best in romance type stories because of that.

I prefer third person omniscient for a lot things. For me third person omniscient is written most closely like a comic or movie, and easily lets you develop multiple converging plot threads.

Third person limited is an okay mid point, but I feel that often if you replace it with either first person, or omniscient, it improves the story a lot.

 

[SPS4]

I personally find first person easier to write and for the readers to engage. FP is better for writing experiences as they occur. I steer clear of first person narration because I feel that it inherently becomes unreliable narration.

Third person limited to me is better for having a "top-down" view of things. I find TPL very good for description heavy/event focused writing.

I never liked third person omniscient for anything other than serving as a narration tool.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

3rd person omniscient.
Reliable, yet smarmy, narrator.
Past tense.
Only way to fly.

 

[BlackKnightX]

Love both. Third person is more versatile, though.

 

[DemonOppai]

Depends on the story I want to tell. For a more emotional story.. first person. For a more world building with multiple characters.. third person

 

[Story_Marc]

1st person if you want the reader to know the MCs personal thoughts and views.

3rd person if you want the reader to only know what is going on with everyone.

You can let the reader know the MCs personal thoughts and views in 3rd person. It's called indirect internal dialogue.

 

[Anon2024]

I’m writing first person omniscient.

 

[someawkwardflame]

I think its super subjective and very dependent on personal preference - while certain things are easier to do in one style or the other, it all comes down to personal preference, and what angle you want the reader to view the story from. I don't think there's one that in any way can be stated as universally better - whichever you are more comfortable with probably is the closest you can ever get to that answer.

 

[PancakesWitch]

its also a thing of writing styles i believe, some people do first person really amazingly well, and the whole thing about it "slowing it down" is subjective, if written well the story can move by leaps and bounds in first person (which i always do), i've even done timeskips in first person, no problem. its about just being able to handle it, both writing styles are not limited at all, it just requires creativity

 

[TsumiHokiro]

Second person here. Got a problem?

 

[Temple]

As others have said, it depends on your plans for the story. I think third person is more common in webnovel writing (more common than usual) because it's better for immersion, given that many (most?) webnovels are for reader wish-fulfillment. Another reason why third person is more common in webnovels is because of chinese novels. First person and third person have few differences in Chinese, and translators usually default to third. Given the huge impact of chinese webnovels to english ones, it isn't surprising that third person is the go-to for certain genres.

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

In all honesty, I’ve been writing in first person for most of my personal works and I’m wanting to know the current view on either point of views. Whether one is more preferable, or is able to express things the other can’t, et cetera. Put simply, how the community feels about either.

My personal opinion is that while I’m more comfortable with First Person writing, I feel I should try out writing in third person too. Or maybe I should venture out into more writing styles first.

depends on how you do it. But try things out

 

[TheMonotonePuppet]

First person

 

[patrick_lansing]

Second person here. Got a problem?

I recently read a novel called The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. And, honestly, when I completed it, I had to put the book down and take a breather.

It was wonderful. I realized I will never write anything quite like it. Nor will I read anything quite like it. Entirely second person point of view. "You travel here", "You go there" - There was a point, a narrative and plot reason, why it was happening, and it was used in such a beautiful way.