General Topic
POV or point of view is how the writer tells the story. There are three types of POV, which include the following:
- First Person
- Second Person
- Third Person
In this topic, we will discuss first person and second person. All of these types of POV have advantages and disadvantages. Some of these types are better than others. Before you write your story, poem, or essay, you need to decide which POV will be best for you.
First Person
First person uses the pronouns I, me, my, we, and ours.
The advantage of using first person is that it is a very intimate style of writing. You are already used to thinking in first person. For example, I went to the store and bought a red dress for the prom. Or, I went to the Grand Canyon for my summer vacation. Both of these sentences are examples of first person.
The disadvantage of first person is that you have to write from the viewpoint of the character that you pick as your protagonist. If your protagonist has never seen a certain building, you cannot describe it until he/she sees it. You can see inside your protagonist, but unless the antogonist tells his/her side of the story, you cannot show his/her emotions.
- First person seems easier to write because that is how we view the world.
- First person keeps you inside ONE character.
- First person gives you intimacy with one character, but does not provide understanding outside the one character.
First person fiction writing loses half of the advantages of third person writing. But, a well-written first person narrative can pull the reader into the life of the character.
Second Person
Second person writing uses the pronouns you and yours.
It is hard to keep readers interested in second person writing because it begins to sound like commands or instructions. And in fact, second person is best used with instructions. For instance, stand up, sit down, brush your teeth. These commands are all in second person.
- Second person is used for instructions and commands.
- Second person distances the reader from the action because it makes him/her feel that you are telling him/her what to do.
- Second person is rarely used in fiction.
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Next weeks topic will be about third person POV.
For more information about POV, go to the following links:
- Writing Styles for Fiction: Which Voice to Use by Kenneth R. Eaton
- What point of view? by Callum Shakespeare
- Who is Telling the Story, and Why?
Exercises
- Reluctant First Person: Write a first person story where you use a limited amount of the pronoun I, me, and my. Your narrator can either be in the middle of the action or observing the action. The point of this exercise is that your narrator needs to describe action, feelings, and personal understanding of events around him/her. 300-600 words.
- Imperative Second Person: Write a second person story using only imperative sentences such as "Stand on your balcony and watch two people steal plates from a car. Walk down the stairs to confront them. Call the police instead," etc. Even though you is not stated, it is still second person because you is implied. 300-500 words.
You can either do one or both of the exercises. On Tuesday, I will post my writings. Next week we will continue with the POV third person.
9 comments:
Hey Cynthia, good first topic!!!
Almost all of the fiction I've written so far has been in first person. I've been taught that this is an "immature" style of writing -- which is perhaps why I'm not a professional writer -- and who knows? Maybe I'll swtich to third person when I grow up... ;-)
But to be honest, I like writing in first person for some of the exact reasons first person is dismissed by some of the articles you've linked to.
My primary reason to prefer first person is that the narrator is never truly objective. Even if the author manages to avoid giving too much opinion and commentary, the choice of which details to mention is subjective.
So while reading a third-person narrative, the reader is left wondering "Who is this that's talking? Who is describing this scene? Whose perspective is this?"
The answer, of course, is that it's the author that's talking. The thing I don't like about having the author be the supposedly objective narrator is that you're expected to assume that the narrator's perspective is right and correct. It's a little like reading a story with illustrations that simplify the reader's task by limiting the ways the reader can interpret and imagine what's going on.
In a first-person narrative, the reader knows whose point-of-view is being shown, and from there can piece together his own opinion of what's going on. This is how narratives arrise in real life. If you're sitting at a coffee shop with your friend and she recounts a funny story of "... then my mother-in-law said blah, blah, blah... ", etc., you know that the mother-in-law has a completely different perspective on what happened, and the fact that you're not getting some sort of magical totally objective version of the anecdote doesn't make it any less interesting.
As for the following:
'You cannot let the reader in on things that the POV character doesn't know. When you go to the movies, and you know the homicidal maniac is waiting behind the door, but the hero doesn't notice, don't you hold your breath? Someone in the theatre is bound to shout, "Look out!" If you write in the first person, you can never set up that kind of suspense, can you?'
This, to me, make third person sound like a cheap device and a crutch. Are you not capable of building up suspense through things the main character notices, such as a noise or suspicious figure that may be the "homicidal maniac" but the main character isn't sure?
CL Hanson...
Good observations. :-) I found that when I first tried to write third person that my descriptions and characters felt stiff. It takes awhile before it becomes natural... at least to me.
To be honest, first person is also the thoughts of the writer... The best writing is when the writer is transparent and it seems that it is the thoughts and actions of the character/s. It can be done in first person. It can be done in third person.
One of the problems with first person is that some writers cannot sustain the momentum of a novel with one character. Of course, a writer can use mixed povs... but that has to be done gently. LOL
Now there are exceptions to the rule. Some of my fav. authors use first person: LKH,Gilman, and others in the paranormal field.
But you can be an ordinary writer using third person and get published. BUT you have to be extraordinary writer in first person to get published. So it is a good idea to learn how to use all of the voices.
But you can be an ordinary writer using third person and get published. BUT you have to be extraordinary writer in first person to get published.
Well that sux, but c'est la vie....
A couple of the articles you cite talk about how first person seems more "natural" to writers, but they should avoid it nontheless.
Whenever I hear something like that, it reminds me of how the male authors at the time of Lady Murasaki were forcing themselves to write in the language of literature (Chinese), while the women -- writing in their more familiar Japanese -- produced more memorable works.
I hear you cl. :-)
You know, it is great that you are willing to expand your barriers. You remind me of a master's student in a beginning class. I like the questions. It makes me think too. LOL
If you want to write first person, remember that there are some things you can do to enrich the writing.
1. Description: Many teachers of writing try to prune the description. However, the books I like to read, put me in the place, time, and mood. HOW? Good description of where the character is at any given time. I don't like to get lost. If the character is on the subway, then all of a sudden at home.. with only their thoughts getting you there. ARG!
Of course, there are things that you do NOT want to describe like toilet breaks. Unless it advances your story.
2. Decision/motive: Now some writers take awhile to write about motives. I think that if the reader is lost to the why, they are also lost to the character. Once you lose them... ding, dong the book is dead. OK... The motive does not have to be long. It all depends on how the character thinks. For instance, he decides to go into the Army. At this point, your story may be going well, but the reader is scratching his head... Why did he make this decision. If you go into his thoughts about how he can't make the money stretch, or he is attracted to the college money, or his family have all done a stint in the military... then the decision does not lose the reader.
3. Dialogue/Narration. My person preference is a good balance. When you have too much dialogue, you lose the action (sometimes). However, dialogue is a good way to become interested in the character and his/her friends. I know people who will look through the book and count how much dialogue there is in the book. They then will buy the book if it has the right amount of dialogue. Dialogue does make the book go faster for some reason. I have heard and read why... but I think it is because we understand our world through talk, talk, talk.. ;-) And the combination of white space.
All three of these ideas are good for third person as well.
Good discussion...
Congratulations on getting this up and running Cyn! Looking good - wish i had more time - but I will sometime soon and can join in - meanwhile i will be following with interest.
I love the header too btw!
chiefb... thank you.. I am excited and happy and I really appreciated the help with this blog. :-)
I'm late on this discussion, but tonight's reading was apropos. I've been reading "Characters and Viewpoint" by Orson Scott Card. He shares some strategies about POV:
"Who is telling your story?
You are, of course. You choose what sotry to tell, which incidents matter, which scenes to show, which events to tell about. It is out of your mind that all the invention comes, all the characters, all the background details, all the ideas.
But when it comes time to speak the words of the story, whose voice will the reader hear?
It is never exactly your own voice. The very fact that you're writing down the words rather than speaking them will make the style more formal. The fact that you write more slowly than you speak, that you can see your words as you put them down, changes the way you produce and control your language. It's another voice."
Later, he write:
"Your decision whether to use 1st person or 3rd person is not so much a grammatical choice as a narrative strategy. If you want the narrator to be a character who takes part in the events of the story, you'll use first person. If you either want the narrator to be a character who did not take part in the events, or want the narrator not to be identified as a character at all, you'll use third person."
Now... onto my own writing!
**hugs**
Excellent information Don. One of the reasons that I am doing this writing blog on the technical aspects of fiction is that I want to clarify this information in my own mind and writings. :-)
I appreciate any help... and if you'd like to write a guest blog piece please send me an email.
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