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Old 12-25-2019, 12:06 PM
 
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I write in third person. I am more like an old storyteller. Which do you prefer?
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Old 12-25-2019, 02:32 PM
 
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It takes a particular 'voice' to be able to pull off first person, but when it's on the mark it's a good read.
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Old 12-25-2019, 04:23 PM
 
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My reports are first person. Another agency I trained with writes them in the third person. It seemed off to me. I am more technical and used in court.
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Old 12-25-2019, 07:00 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SD4020 View Post
My reports are first person. Another agency I trained with writes them in the third person. It seemed off to me. I am more technical and used in court.
I write fiction short stories, so 3rd person is what I use.
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Old 12-25-2019, 08:51 PM
 
Location: North America
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Floorist View Post
I write in third person. I am more like an old storyteller. Which do you prefer?
It depends on the nature of the narrative and the needs of the story. I wrote a novel in the third person. I felt a neutral and limited perspective was appropriate to that tale. Later, I wrote a novel in the first person. It was a more personal endeavor, and it allowed me to be more casual in the narrative. It was more conducive to expounding upon the ideas I wanted to advance.

Neither is better. Each has certain attributes, and those respective attributes suit different narratives. Think of each as a tool. A hammer is useful, as is a screwdriver. But neither can do what the other does. So it is with narrative points of view.
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Old 12-26-2019, 10:08 AM
 
Location: Texas Hill Country
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Both have their uses. When reading fiction, I do prefer third person, but not exclusively. As long as first person does not read like the instructions to a game, I'm fine with it.

If you prefer to write in third person, go for it.
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Old 12-26-2019, 12:35 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Floorist View Post
I write fiction short stories, so 3rd person is what I use.
That makes sense.
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Old 12-26-2019, 08:11 PM
 
Location: Elsewhere
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Floorist View Post
I write in third person. I am more like an old storyteller. Which do you prefer?
I'm with you. I write in third person, and I consider myself a storyteller.

This thread made me think of any first-person novels I ever read and liked, and one immediately sprang to mind, probably because it came up recently for some other reason.

Wally's Lamb's I Know This Much Is True. It came up because I'd say it's in my top five novels list.

If you have reading time over the winter, I recommend giving a shot. It's long, and it's complicated but you will become attached to the narrator as he moves through his family story.
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Old 12-28-2019, 07:27 PM
 
Location: Old Mother Idaho
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After thinking about this subject, the Once Upon A Time nature of novels tends to allow either the first or third person to work equally well. I've read many that were written in both.
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Old 01-07-2020, 02:04 PM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
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I started writing a book in first person present tense because I thought it would be fun. Then I kept seeing things saying it is a terrible was to write fiction and difficult to read. One of the biggest problems is that you can only have a single persons perspective. Another is that you end up having to convey a lot of information through past tense flashbacks or at least occasionally jump to another person's perspective.

So I continued writing in "normal" third person past tense. Then I learned many authors successfully write fiction in first person present tense and I just stopped working on that book for a while and wrote other things until I figure this out.

One way or the other I need to re-write a major portion of the book.

I want to find fiction books written in first person and particularly first person present. Thanks for hte suggestion above. I will ask my wife (librarian) to find that book for me.
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