| User | Tradia | | Topic | Third person better? | | Message | I have been writing sometimes in third or first person. I finally had the guts to show my work to my friends..but someone told me that my first person writing is stupid. They told me that to write in first person is because you have no imagination and lack the skills to write. Now i ask you this. Is third person better? |
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| User | joeyalphabet | 2008-03-11 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | he feels third person can be, well, impersonal... |
| User | audiblescholar | 2008-02-14 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | First person is much more intimate. When you want your story to be characterized by a single person’s view, then that’s the way to do it. Sometimes it just fits the theme better (like in Kite Runner).
Third person is excellent when you want to express something beyond the scope of a single character’s view, whether thematic or literal. Also when you have several major characters you want to write from the perspective of. (Works much better than a switching first-person perspective, in my opinion.) |
| User | UnderINK | 2007-11-10 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | Third person is annoying. I think it’s overdone. It depends on what you want the reader to feel. Third person keeps a distance with your readers; those should be for regular fantasy/fiction stories. First person is unique and is good for things like psychological thrillers or just stories where the point of it is to get in the character’s head. It takes MORE creativity to write in first person because you have to be able to make your reader feel exacty what your character feels, whereas with third person you don’t have to bother with that. Keep writing in first person. People who complain about it are idiots. |
| User | Blue Monk | 2007-11-07 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | It’s a matter of what tells the story best. Third person is kind of a default so if anything lacks imagination, that would be it. |
| User | Darth Zeus | 2007-11-07 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | thats just stupid. I mean, you can also invent a character (which i= using your imagination) and then write in first person..
i agree that this is just a matter of opinion and style
one is not better than the other. that totally depends
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| User | Tradia | 2007-10-24 | | | Subject | thanks | | Message | I was getting overly angered at him. But in the end my other friends told me he was a stupid ass and to ignore him. Well he did win the writing contest but no matter. |
| User | fan | 2007-10-24 | | | Subject | edit | | Message | near the end of my comment, I said author. It’s meant to be reader. |
| User | fan | 2007-10-24 | | | Subject | he/she is so wrong! | | Message | Argghh!!! I hate it when people say something like that. Had to comment.
Obviously this person barely knows anything about writing or is so bad at first person they have to ruin it for others. He/She may be your friend and I am sorry if they feel insulted, but what they said is utter nonsense.
First person is not for those with ’no imagination’ or those that ’lack writing skills’. Plenty of authors who have written in first person where great hits. Take Jonathan Stroud and his ’Bartemaeus trilogy’ for example. Sure it’s not all in first person, but it was a great hit and the person who narrated in first person was the favourite character of most people. I myself write in first person, it’s a matter of style and taste.
First person helps to understand a character better but third is not so limiting in what you can tell your author. Both take equal amounts of skill to pull off.
So ignore whoever said that to you and do what you feel is best. |
| User | GoKart Mozart | 2007-10-23 | | | Subject | ... | | Message | give us some examples |
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