Okay, guys. I need your help. I'm roughly two chapters into my latest project, and I can't decide whether to continue using first person or switch to third. I originally planned to tell the whole thing from one point of view-my 17 year old female protagonist-but now I've decided to use multiple points of view, so I'll be adding chapters told from my main character's mother's point of view, as well as her 18 year old love interest (the daughter's, not the mother's BTW!).So how do I decide whether to use first person or third?
I'm pretty sure I want to use first person for my main character. It's more intimate, and I think that's what I'm going to need in order to help the reader make an emotional connection. But what about her mother and her on-again/off-again boyfriend? Should I use first person for them as well? Or might it work to switch to third?
Opinions, anyone?
10 comments:
First person POV's are nice because they are an intimate reflection into the characters and it really expands the story if done correctly.
However, it takes talent (which I know you have!) to do the multiple POV's without making the book confusing...or, causing the reader to lose interest because the MC is the only character whose feelings really impact the conflict.
I know that I wouldn't recommend "re-telling" parts of the book from multiple POV's. I would use them only if you will have a different POV for different stages of the story.
I guess what I'm saying through all this rambling is...I have no idea what you should do! LOL. I would try writing a few pages from each character's POV to get a feel for it.
This is always a tough decision. I think that you can make 3rd person intimate if you use deep POV. I prefer books with 1st person POV to only have one POV character. That's just personal preference. It's a tough decision. Go with your gut.
This is a tough one. Agree with Angela that you don't want to do a lot of re-telling. I'm trying to think of novels with multiple POVs off the top of my head and the first that comes to mind is ALL UNQUIET THINGS by Anna Jarzab that using 1st POV for two characters.
I personally like 3rd POV close for a book that has multiple characters.
You may have to try both POVs out and see what works.
Good luck!
That's a difficult question. Personally, I'd say to choose whichever PoV(s) best suits the novel, though it can be hard to tell.
If you are very much decided upon telling the story from multiple PoVs, I'd suggest sticking to all first or all third -- switching between the two, especially for many chapters, can be very jarring. However, you should try out all the options and see which one best fits!
Such a personal decision... as a reader, I am thrown off when another first person POV is introduced... but I really like it when the alternate POV is told in 3rd. The thing that has always helped me is to find a book that does what I want to do and follow that example. Good luck!
Hmm. From reading multiple POV books I would go with the same all the way through. It may confuse readers going from first to third then back again. Then again, maybe that's just me ;)
Jack Bickham used the first person POV for his series featuring Brad Smith (ex tennis pro turned sometime CIA guy), but he peppered them with third person insertions throughout the story. Not a lot of them, but enough to impart information. The first book, Tiebreaker, was published in 1989 and it's the first place I ever saw such a thing.
Michael Snyder published a book called Return Policy last year in which he presented the stories of three main characters and he used first person for all three of them. That was a very unique and interesting treatment.
I've recently started writing suspense and find a lot of books in this genre benefit from the first person main character/third person antagonist combination.
All of that to say this.
If you are looking for a way to present information that the reader absolutely positively needs to know but the main character doesn't know, adding third person chapters into a first person narrative might be the answer.
If you're trying to decide between one or the other for the entire book, you might want to ask the character. I've 'interviewed' characters before and have been surprised by the information that comes to light.
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Personally, I would only use first person POV for the main character. I'd use third person for the others.
Usually I write my stories in first person, because I find it easier to portray their thoughts as they witness the events that occur to them in this matter. I've even had a few stories that began in third-person and at some point during the writing process, I rewrote it to fit for first person.
However it really depends what you're comfortable with. For me, first person is easier to write than third person.
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