First Person, Or Third Person?
Judy Ramsook
June 07, 2006
Writing can be a thankless task. People engaged in this creative endeavour can spend hours, weeks, months or even years trying to perfect that one tale that will impact masses of readers everywhere.
Sad to say though, but most writers go undiscovered because they might not have the time and patience needed to send out copies of their manuscripts or query letters to various big name publishers and or agents only to find out their work has been rejected. Regardless, writers continue to write anyway, because they love writing, but when they sit down to pen that work of fiction some might ponder which should they use, the first person singular, I for that protagonist or should they pick the third person singular, he or she?
Personally, I have always felt more comfortable using the third person, he or she. This gives me more to work with as far as narration is concerned.
In this way the reader does not just get one person’s view of what is happening in the story. It’s almost like being omniscient. He gets a glimpse into what each of the key characters is doing, feeling and so on to push the story forward.
In fact this is one way for the reader to see what, say one evildoer in the work is doing that the other key characters in the work do not know of.
One character, for example, might be plotting a trap behind the scenes for the protagonist who obviously has no prior knowledge of any trap.
Thus giving the reader more knowledge and information about what is happening than the main and supporting characters themselves. It helps build the suspense for the reader.
The first person viewpoint, on the other hand, has to rely on other things such as his or her level of perception. In addition, the reader has to depend on what this first person viewpoint is telling him.
Also, the writer can employ certain techniques while usung the first person view to inform the reader of what is taking place.
For instance, he can have the protagonist in an eavesdropping situation, or show him learning from other characters in the work about what is happening through conversations with them. There are other techniques that are used, but too many to list and discuss here.
Some writers feel comfortable using the first person and others prefer the third person. We are all different.
I have also always felt the third person perspective better shows the reader what is taking place in the story as opposed to being told what is happening. Not all readers like to be told what is happening, they might prefer to be shown what is taking place instead.
Sad to say though, but most writers go undiscovered because they might not have the time and patience needed to send out copies of their manuscripts or query letters to various big name publishers and or agents only to find out their work has been rejected. Regardless, writers continue to write anyway, because they love writing, but when they sit down to pen that work of fiction some might ponder which should they use, the first person singular, I for that protagonist or should they pick the third person singular, he or she?
Personally, I have always felt more comfortable using the third person, he or she. This gives me more to work with as far as narration is concerned.
In this way the reader does not just get one person’s view of what is happening in the story. It’s almost like being omniscient. He gets a glimpse into what each of the key characters is doing, feeling and so on to push the story forward.
In fact this is one way for the reader to see what, say one evildoer in the work is doing that the other key characters in the work do not know of.
One character, for example, might be plotting a trap behind the scenes for the protagonist who obviously has no prior knowledge of any trap.
Thus giving the reader more knowledge and information about what is happening than the main and supporting characters themselves. It helps build the suspense for the reader.
The first person viewpoint, on the other hand, has to rely on other things such as his or her level of perception. In addition, the reader has to depend on what this first person viewpoint is telling him.
Also, the writer can employ certain techniques while usung the first person view to inform the reader of what is taking place.
For instance, he can have the protagonist in an eavesdropping situation, or show him learning from other characters in the work about what is happening through conversations with them. There are other techniques that are used, but too many to list and discuss here.
Some writers feel comfortable using the first person and others prefer the third person. We are all different.
I have also always felt the third person perspective better shows the reader what is taking place in the story as opposed to being told what is happening. Not all readers like to be told what is happening, they might prefer to be shown what is taking place instead.
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