Alright, so here is the deal.
I am writing a doctor/mystery story in which many characters are involved in solving the case and everyone place a vital role in the capture of the said criminal. Now, here is where my problem comes in. I can't seem decide rather to write in first person or third person. It's much easier for me to crank out 50, 000 words in first person point of view, also I found it would be a bit more mysterious reading from this point of view because the reader is just as clueless as the main character - thus things will come more as a shock. However, third person point of view which I have a harder time writing in - will sort of pull the story together more and I can write about other characters doing their part in helping with the mystery rather then only have them shown interacting with the main character.
To shorten it up, should I write first person which is easier. Or I should I do third person which to me would make the whole story more clearer - and possibly make the story much longer.
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50,010 / 50,000
Okt 12, 2008 - 11 32
Honestly, I often play around with the different POVs at the beginning of the story and then see which characters take over the story and how.
For one novel, I changed the POV about three or four times as the characters got stronger and stronger.
Sometimes though the first person narrative isn't strong enough because the character isn't strong enough and I've ended up either ditching the character or going to third person or third person omniscient.
So I'd play around. Get to know your characters. Generally first person needs a quirky strong character with a good voice to carry the story.
Third person narratives needs a set of strong characters to carry the story, but not necessarily a strong internal voice.
You can also mix the two POVs and alternate in a given pattern between first person and third person. Diana Gabaldon did so for her books and it works because she uses one character to switch off the third person narr5atives and you know the first person narrative is only one character. (What is know as a cheat).
In general, the characters who are giving their perspective or voice to the story should have enough of a different perspective and way of thinking that it's easy to pick up in a short amount of time.
POV definitely carries more on the group of characters than the type of story you have, at least in my experience.
----------Telling someone you're a writer is like telling them you're an obsessive compulsive bipolar schizophrenic that goes to AA meetings once a week.
50,528 / 50,000
Okt 12, 2008 - 12 22
You seem to have found your style, first person, so use it.
Mix in third person to enlighten the reader, ensure the reader is aware they know something your MC does not.
E.G.
I watched the reaction of the crowd, they were thrilled; people cheered, raised fists flung in the air, cheers pounded my ears.
Around the corner, it was a difierent story as police vehicles silently gathered. Hulking men in huge back suits holding plastic shields and flesh pounding batons gathered.
Back home, sitting almost nose to glass with the television, dad screamed to mom "Has she picked up yet?"
I felt the vibration of my phone in my purse, but the moment was too intense.
50,979 / 50,000
Okt 12, 2008 - 19 56
Point of View (POV) is not the same as viewpoint.
If you are head-hopping from character to character, using "I", then you're using First Person Multiple POV. (If you stayed with the MC's viewpoint and used "I", then it would be First Person Central POV.) First Person Multiple POV is rare because it is difficult for both the writer and the reader to keep things straight.
If you are hopping from the viewpoint of one character to another, using "he", "she" and "they", then you're using Third Person Serial Limited POV. Third Person Serial Limited POV gives more freedom than Third Person Limited (where you delve into the mind of only one character) but there can be viewpoint confusion. Best to use one character at a time, maybe in separate chapters.
If you are head-hopping in and out of different characters' viewpoints and showing scenes that no character can see (like the table setting in a room that no one is in), then it's Third Person Omniscient POV. Third Person Omniscient POV is now rare, once highly prized. The narrator (you, the writer) is all knowing. Can lead to lack of focus and loss of intimacy. Modern readers tend to disbelieve an all-wise narrator.
All that said, I have to agree with Kimberly Dawn. Experiment, develop the POV you are most comfortable with.
It might seem easiest to tell a story using either multiple viewpoints or third person omniscient. But the straight-forward stick ing with one character or narrator's viewpoint, whether first person or third person, throughout a novel, is actually the less convoluted way to go.
----------"Many people hear voices when no one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing."
- Margaret Chittenden
52,946 / 50,000
Okt 12, 2008 - 19 58
"If you are head-hopping in and out of different characters' viewpoints and showing scenes that no character can see (like the table setting in a room that no one is in), then it's Third Person Omniscient POV. Third Person Omniscient POV is now rare, once highly prized. The narrator (you, the writer) is all knowing. Can lead to lack of focus and loss of intimacy. Modern readers tend to disbelieve an all-wise narrator."
I should note here that the "head-hopping" in omniscient is NOT at all the same as head-hopping in third person serial limited. With any of the "limited" points of view, the narration is really like being *in* the head of the character, seeing through their eyes, using their language, etc.
With omniscient, you are NOT in any of the characters' eyes, but rather the eyes of the all-knowing narrator (who, it should be noted, is not *always* the writer). This means there is distance.
3rd limited:
Nancy shuddered. The army was just too close, and she could smell the dust being kicked up from the hooves. She looked up to see impending clouds. Not a storm, too.
Omniscient:
As the army appeared from the west, Nancy began to get nervous. Even the sky seemed threatening to her. Meanwhile, Joe was in the garage, getting his gun ready. If only they knew how futile all their preparations would be.
The reason you can "head-hop" more seamlessly and without scene breaks in omniscient than you can in third person serial limited is because you really aren't head-hopping. You're in one head - the narrator's - that just happens to have the ability to see into other heads.
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Don't write badly, write madly
32,011 / 50,000
Okt 13, 2008 - 01 23
Edit: Nevermind, ignore. Posted something stupid. :)
----------2007: 28,513 words
2005: 50,916 words
2003: 12,078 words