I inadvertently gave into a writing false dichotomy. That false dichotomy was that stories were either close third person, or first person.
This wasn't something I was consciously aware I was doing. I was consciously aware of omniscient third person, and recently had objective third person pointed out in a book (incidentally, this got me reading The Maltese Falcon).
When I was assigning perspective to things I wrote or read, however, I claimed either close third person or first person. This was in spite of the fact that many things, including most of the things I was writing, were omniscient third person.
Most of the fan fiction I've written on here have been obvious omniscient third person, yet I wouldn't have said as much prior to today due to subconscious false dichotomy nonsense.
which is more ok? changing povs between paragraphs or chapters? thank youu
Hello!
This will absolutely vary depending on who you ask and the type of POV you are using. For instance, I use Third Person Limited and I do a scene break/switch POV whenever the story would be better suited to be told from a different person's view. Sometimes this is 2000 word POVs and sometimes it's 200 words.
I think, the answer has to do more with are you completing a thought before you switch POVs? If you have completed the scene, or at very least gotten to the end of the scene-equivalent of a sentence, then switching POV is fine. If you're cutting off a moment to switch to another person's view and then cutting them off to switch back, that gets exhausting.
Final answer is unhelpful, but they're both good. They both have their uses. It just depends on the type of story and style you're employing.
I just found your blog and have been trying to come up with a question for you! I finally did it, so here goes:
I only write stories in third person, so I've gotten pretty good at it. I know exactly how to describe things and I'm really good at writing how characters are feeling. It might be because third person doesn't have to be so characterized?
I have a couple of projects that I want to work on that are in first person. I read a lot of first person books and know the general vibe that each of the characters would give off as they narrate. I've started writing multiple times, but here's the kicker: I just...can't do it.
Everything seems flat and just not like anything the character would ever say. Descriptions that are definitely necessary for the story are completely out of character and all the parts that say what the character does just end up looking like I replaced all the uses of pronouns with "I".
What can I do to learn about first person and get better at it?
Hi void-fireworks!
Thank you for finding a question for me! And oh boy, did you find me a question. First off, high five for the third person (limited, for me) perspective solidarity! It is also the perspective where I write almost everything because it's the most comfortable and natural for me.
Almost to a fault, because like you, any time I try to write in any other perspective it suddenly feels like I'm pushing a square boulder up a steep frozen incline.
A few things to keep in mind, maybe:
I think its important to clarify the difference in characterization needs between third person/first person. It's not that you need less characterization for 3rd person, it's that you deliver it in different ways. You're not inside their skull experiencing life through their skin, you're standing like right behind them watching them live their life.
3rd person is this:
Deborah was just like all the other girls clustered together outside the amphitheater doors. From her fresh paint peach nails to her tight, high pony tail, she was as much a slut for Singer McSingson as the screaming girls around her.
1st person is this:
The girl to my right must have done her shopping at Polish Inc because the gleaming peach of her fingernails was identical to mine. I'd bought, and she'd bought it, because it was Singer McSingson's favorite color for a girl (so he said in Horny Teens volume 121). I had a pointed elbow digging into my ribs and frayed ends of a store-bought pony tail sticking to my tongue. It didn't matter how crushed and indistinguishable I was in the crowd, once one of us started screaming, all of us were screaming.
In 3rd person, your characterization is how your character looks from the outside and letting your reader interpret that themselves. 1st person, your characterization is both the physical attributes you give your character but also how they choose to describe what they notice and what they actual notice. The end result of both is that Debbie views herself as one of the gals, isn't at all embarrassed by it and probably really wants to bang the boy band.
I think, since you feel confident in your ability to describe things and you have a good understanding of your characters, the best thing you can do to get used to 1st person is character studies? Basically just use the character outside of the story to write 200-500 word scenes where they do basically anything.
(Again, this is where those writing practice/writing prompt challenges all over the internet come in handy.)
Since this is a new skill you're developing, if you start out trying to manage learning how to use 1st person, how to use it for this specific character and developing character/plot/setting for your story it easily becomes overwhelming. Take that pressure off. Start small.
Oh man, this last part of your ask haunts me all the time. Every time I'm doing 1st person it gets to the part where they have to do something and it comes out like:
I stood up and my feet hurt. I needed socks because the floor was so cold. However, my dresser was across the room and the floor was very cold. I could not get back in bed. I had to go get socks. I got the socks and I put them on.
I'm okay if the story is short or if they aren't moving around a lot but you can't really write a novel based around a person giving the first hand account of never getting out of their chair.
Ultimately, I think it just comes down to practice. When/if you decide to do character studies or try writing out 200 word scenes, challenge yourself to describe character action but limit the number of times you can use the sentence structure "I verb..." to 5, then lower it to 4, then 3, then 2, then 1. Force yourself to learn how to describe action/motion and even description without relying on "I verb" sentences.
Once you get to a point where you've developed a bit of confidence with it, start writing your story again. If you get that feeling that it's too much and everything is bad, hit the pause button, do a few practice rounds again, find your groove and get back into it.
I hope that helps. I don't have a ton of confidence with 1st person myself. If anyone else has ideas that have worked for them feel free to reblog or reply!
Something I so often notice is:
People don't treat characters as people when it comes to discussing writing perspectives.
The best stories are written, if you treat characters like they're actual people. So many horrible stories are out there, where the characters aren't written as genuine human beings and treated with respect by the person writing it.
It's okay if it's fanfiction and you just wanted to make something for shits and giggles or to tell a certain narrative, or whatever, but published work?
No. Treat characters of published works as actual people IF we are discussing them from a writing standpoint. It's fine if you want certain things to be different in the story, you can write your own fanfiction.
But you cannot sit back, criticize the author and their work with a personal disagreement and say that this and that needs to be altered to their characters. That's entitled and it disrespects the characters as people from a writing perspective.
They're not your middle school OC.
Hey, hey writers! We've got a new post up on our blog! You can read all about perspective by Kahlo Smith right here!
Excerpt:
You’ve got the perfect idea for a story. You’ve nailed down a setting, plot beats, even characters. There’s one big question left to answer: who’s going to tell it?
Perspective is the narrative lens through which readers view a story. A reader might experience the perspective of the protagonist, an antagonist, a child, an animal, or something else entirely! What sets a narrator apart is their role in the story’s events and their perception of a world and its characters.
Sometimes, when people talk about perspective, they’re considering point of view-- the kind of narrator used to tell a story, which might be a floating head in third-person or an involved character in first-person-- but perspective as a literary device specifically means how that narrator perceives the story. A narrator speaking from any point of view will have a unique take on the plot depending on who or what they are, and will talk about it to a reader in a distinct way.
