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Who Said That? (First, Second
Or Third Person)
By Jeff Colburn
I often have writers ask me which person they should write in,
first, second or third. Deciding if a story should be told with
"I said,you said, or he/she said" can be daunting
to many writers. This question is most difficult to decide in
fiction.
For that reason, I will address this article to all of you fiction
writers.
There are pros and cons to each person. Let
me give you some examples so we are all talking about the same
thing.
This example comes from a short story of mine
called "First Blood."
Third Person, also called Omniscient (This
is how it was written for publication.): "Damn them all
to the seven hells of Anthion," Klempf yelled, as he took
another direct hit. His head throbbed from being thrown against
the control panel. A small trickle of red blood ran down between
his blond eyebrows.
Second Person: "Damn them all to the
seven hells of Anthion," you yelled, as your ship took
another direct hit. Your head throbbed from being thrown against
the control panel. A small trickle of red blood ran down between
your blond eyebrows.
First Person: "Damn them all to the seven
hells of Anthion," I yelled, as my ship took another direct
hit. My head throbbed from being thrown against the control
panel. A small trickle of red blood ran down between my blond
eyebrows.
As you can see, each paragraph has a distinctly
different flavor.
Second person is very seldom used in fiction.
To me, it seems to be paternal and distancing when someone keeps
saying, "You, you, you." It lacks involvement of the
characters in the story. Don't get me wrong, it can be used
in a story, but it must be done very carefully.
The most frequently used persons are first
and third.
First person has the advantage of being very
personal. "I did this. I did that." The reader will
know exactly what the character is thinking and what they believe,
even if the story shows the character is wrong. One of the disadvantages
is that
the reader doesn't know anything that the character doesn't
know. If a character is standing in one room, he doesn't know
what is happening anywhere else. You couldn't say, "Darek
stood in the living room, unaware that Jim was in the garden,
with a rifle aimed at Darek's chest." That would be third
person. Now you could say, "I stood in the living room
facing the bay window. A glint of light from something in the
garden caught my attention. Too late, I realized the glint came
from a rifle scope, the bullet ripped into my chest, and the
world darkened." This would have to be the end of the story,
because there wouldn't be anyone left to tell the story, unless
you have the character's ghost continue the story.
With first person you must be very careful
to stay in each characters head, and know only what they know.
This can be expanded if you jump from one person to another.
However, you must be sure that the readers knows whose head
you're in. It's easy to confuse the reader, and just a little
too much of this will have your reader lost, frustrated and
putting your book on the shelf forever.
Third person is the easiest to use; at least
that's what many writers, including myself, think. Third person
allows you to know everything. That's why it's also called the
omniscient view. You are like a god, and know everything that
everyone in the story knows, plus everything going on in their
universe. If you want the reader to know that Jim is in the
garden with a gun, you can just say so. You don't need Jim to
shoot, or have someone else see Jim. It allows you to paint
your story with a much broader brush.
A good writer can, with a lot of work, combine
these different views, but it must be done just right and for
a reason. I suggest staying with one view throughout a story,
just to make things easier on you, and the reader.
Find out what voice you like to write in.
Do what I did above. Write two or three pages of a story in
each person, and see which you enjoy the most, and which sounds
most natural to you. Which person you choose may even vary from
story to story.
So go out and write. Whatever person you choose
to write in is up to you, just be sure to write.
About the author:
Jeff Colburn is a freelance business writer. He can be reached
at his site, The
Creative Cauldron, or at JeffColburn@CreativeCauldron.com
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