Matthew Bryant is secretary of GFW Writers group and also is our in-house professor of the new Grammar Etiquette blog series,
posted the second Wednesday of every month. He is an English teacher in
Denton, TX. When he isn't teaching he is ghost writing and working on
his novel. He says with small children he has learned to write fast.
If you have a question or a comment, please leave it in the comment section at the end of this article.
So you've created a
protagonist, an antagonist, a laundry list of conflict and crafted a
killer setting. There's still one uber-important feature that you're
missing. The HOOK, right? Right?
Well yes, there's that
too... but before you can set a hook, you have to assign a narrator.
This seems like a simple enough task... but look again.
Before you start hitting up
your 60wpms on the word processor of your choice, take a moment to
consider the differences and what they might mean to your story and
audience.
To help my students remember
the differences, always remember, “I come first, you come second,
everybody else comes third.”
First Person – I've
heard it told that this is the folly of new authors, kind of a
comfort and safety net. My take on it is that it is the most
restrictive way to tell a story. All thoughts and visuals are
limited to the perspective of the protagonist/narrator.
I prefer to look at books
written in the first person perspective as a means to heighten the
experience. Being a science fiction and horror enthusiast, I want my
readers to become immersed in the story to the extent that they can
reach out and feel the steady hum of technology or cower under the
humid breath of the unknown directly behind them.
These are the deepest
experiences because the writer is forced to show a lot more of the
inner workings, the personal feelings, thoughts, fears, hopes...
everything the main character wishes to hide about him or herself is
on display. All faults from in-opportune boners/menstruations to
unhealthy feelings of lust, hate, self-depreciation and despair.
Done correctly, first person
is the hardest to write because we spend our entire lives hoping
nobody sees our faults for fear of rejection, only letting the
closest to us get a glimpse.
Second Person – What
do you mean nobody writes in second person? Haven't you ever read a
Choose Your Own Adventure book?? If you haven't you're missing out.
But alas, second person is probably best limited to direct address
from a first-person narrator.
On
the other hand, this form of writing is a LOT more frequent than
you'd think. A vast majority of copywriters use these in
advertising. It makes sense if you think about it. If you want to
sell something, be it a product or an idea, make it personal. Let
the reader believe, consciously or subconsciously, that your writing
is speaking directly to them.
Third Person – The
all-encompassing sandbox of writing. Ranging from very limited to
omniscient and all places in between, third person lets you do what
you will with your story.
While
this perspective is more geared towards a fly on the wall atmosphere
and feel, it gives a much broader view of what's going on. You can
still share the views of the characters, and now are free to share on
multiples. You can jump perspectives as well, following a number of
protagonists instead of just one. With first person, following
multiple just comes across as confusing and annoying (I'm looking at
you, Myers)
But
try not to get too carried away. The more groups you follow, the
more likely people will get lost, especially if the characters
haven't been properly established, are not memorable, or are flat out
annoying. Inkspell comes to mind. As much as I absolutely loved the
premise and a majority of the characters, too much time spent with
characters that I really just wanted to hurry up and die so I could
get back to somebody I cared more about made it almost unreadable and
a flash-forward race to parts that actually interested me.
I
still haven't cracked open my copy of Inkdeath...
But
I digress.
First-Person
– Extremely limited, but a more emotional experience
Second-Person
– Probably selling you something.
Third
Person – I was already playing God to begin with, lets go all out!
6 comments:
Well-said breakdown. I saved it and I thank you.
Well done Matthew. Good job.
You're absolutely right, first person is more difficult and is limiting. Almost always, I end up switching from first to third person when I find I want to to show another protagonist's feelings. Although I hate reading books which switch from first to third person everyother chapter, it seems to be a trend with certain authors.
Excellent thoughts from an author noted for his gift and command of writing in the first person. However, I like playing God, because well...
Never mind. Good POV analysis Matthew.
Rhanks guys. Glad ya got something out of it
Matthew, I especially like first person in cozy mysteries. I use third person for other writing.
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