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Post by girlyesterday on Nov 8, 2009 18:04:24 GMT -5
A curious question to the other writers here, how do you know which perspective to use when you write your stories? How do you know whether the first person, second person or third person is the appropriate one to choose for a specific story?
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Post by thelunarfox on Nov 8, 2009 18:34:53 GMT -5
Oh... that's a really good question. For the most part, I pretty much just start writing and trust my instincts. Sometimes, if it's not working out right, I might give it a try in a different way.
I suppose it depends on what I want to accomplish. First person is limited, but is more intimate. It's like inviting readers into the head of my main character. It allows for some surprises, and a lot of speculation on the part of the reader if I'm doing it right.
Limited third person is great when I want readers to follow along with a character like we're spying around a corner. It's distant, but depending on the character and what's going on, it can be the best way to attack a delicate subject or character.
I've found it also depends on the character too. Like, for a character like Michael I'd use limited third person. It makes more sense than his using first person.
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Post by raquelaroden on Nov 9, 2009 8:46:36 GMT -5
LunarFox: I can see how Michael would be extremely difficult to write in first-person....especially since he enters into the thoughts of others... Carnaxa: I think it depends on the story you're trying to tell, and like LunarFox says, the character you're trying to create....what you want the reader to know and how you want the reader to find out information. I think I tend to pick the perpective based on the scenes I conjure up when I'm thinking about a story. These scenes are usually completely out of order and context, but when they occur to me I focus on what is so gripping about them. Sometimes, it is what I imagine the main character is thinking, but other times, it is that there is something occurring of which the main character is unaware. Unfortunately, I have no principled way of choosing the perspective.
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Post by rad on Nov 9, 2009 13:02:25 GMT -5
I think it's an interesting question. With the Lazarus Dispatches, I chose to write first person as they are essentially messages from the characters to the wider world - but that means there are elements of the story that they can't tell, and it also means their perspectives on certain events are skewed, naive or misinformed at times. At the moment I'm wrestling with a decision about whether my new lead character will know things about other members of the family that her mother didn't and if so, how and when she finds out.
Sometimes I find it hard because my views on the situations and characters are not neccesarily the views of my narrators, or even the other characters - yet with one narrator per generation and a specific challenge they are working through I have to still communicate the sense of what's happening overall to the readers, particularly those interested in the challenge.
This style of narration thing is something I've always struggled with when attempting to start novels (I never get anywhere with them, mind) - whether third or first person is better and whether I can sustain the whole thing in that tone...
But yeah, like the others say, generally I think the feeling of the story and what you want your audience to know will determine how you write.
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Post by mdpthatsme on Nov 9, 2009 21:26:16 GMT -5
If you want the readers to get as personal as they can to a character and still make it belivable, the answer is first person. If you want an overview, showing all the points of a story when they happen and not in thought or blinded by judgement of your character, third person works excellent.
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Post by girlyesterday on Nov 10, 2009 2:39:54 GMT -5
Really great to see everyone's responses to this question. I'm working on a story right now that I am not sure which perspective would better serve the story as a whole, sometimes I know straight away which one to use but this particular one is being overly difficult.
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Post by mdpthatsme on Nov 15, 2009 1:02:53 GMT -5
I've rewritten several manuscripts because the point-of-view didn't fit the storyline correctly, or created conflict on points I wanted to show that first person couldn't, especially if the main character wasn't there.
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moondaisy
Full Member
locked in a moonbeam
Posts: 254
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Post by moondaisy on Nov 23, 2009 19:43:04 GMT -5
This is such an interesting question! In my first story I applied an active third person cum first person narrative. I actually had conversations with the main character of the story! In the second story, I went for fist person narrative. The fact that the main character was a female, different from anybody else and struggling with the concept of the world coming to an end only helped. In the third story I'm an independent third narrative, which allows me to show whatt happens beyond the main character's view or knwledge.
In my my particular stories , I am hugely influenced by the morality/lack of morality I want to portray.
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Post by thelunarfox on Dec 5, 2009 16:33:28 GMT -5
Okay, I came across a new insight to this as I was writing that expands on my earlier post. So I was thinking about the hows and why and different characters. I came across a character that was simply too "damaged" for me to get in her head and have her tell her story. When I tried, it felt like it was my own speaking voice I was hearing in my head. All the other pieces I wrote after that for her were in third person. Because she is so damaged, I would want the readers to be slightly disconnected from her. Third person is of course perfect for that. But first person-- I just realized that the way my characters used it varied also. With Edy, she tells the story to you as if she were confiding in the reader. Paula seems to seek comfort from the reader. And with Gina, she was more informative- "this is the way it is as I see things." I think realizing this helps me understand their voices as well. Paula is more likely to say something to the reader like she's talking to a friend. Edy is more likely to spill her heart out. Gina is all about the facts and what she can see rather than what she's feeling.
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