3rd Person vs. 1st Person - Which Is Best?

It is funny how this whole 3rd Person vs. 1st Person debate can give novel writing beginners such problems.

The chances are that you could write two versions of a novel - one in 3rd person point of view, the other in 1st - and both would turn out fine, just differently.

And the beauty of fiction writing is that you can always change your mind...

The great American novelist John Irving (I'm a fan, in case you were wondering) initially wrote Until I Find You in the first person, not changing it to third person point of view until a much later draft. And Until I Find You is over 1,000 pages long!

If you have already read the comprehensive information looking at the advantages of First Person Point of View, and Third Person Point of View, you have probably more or less come to a decision on which viewpoint is right for your own novel.

The purpose of this summary article is to help you make up your mind once and for all.

So Which Viewpoint Is Best?

If you have come to the conclusion that I am trying to persuade any fence-sitters out there to jump down on the 3rd person side, you are not far wrong.

Taking all of the arguments into consideration, they stack up in favor of using 3rd person point of view - almost overwhelmingly so:

• First person pov might generally be considered to be the easier viewpoint to handle, but it simply isn't so. Once you have mastered the theory behind each viewpoint, there is nothing difficult about either of them.
• First person is certainly more intimate than third person, but it is possible to virtually replicate this intimacy in third person prose.
• 3rd person is more immediate than 1st person - even using the past tense doesn't destroy this illusion of being rooted in the here and now. (Although this advantage really isn't a deal-breaker if you want to write a first person novel.)
• Third person isn't claustrophobic like first person can be - and it is more objective, too, presenting a more rounded portrait of the central character.
• Most important of all, using third person point of view gives you the greatest freedom as a storyteller.

Is Using First Person a Bad Idea?

Absolutely not. Sometimes, writing in first person will be exactly the right choice for a novel.

If your viewpoint character has a quirky and compelling voice, for example, and a unique (and subjective) way of looking at the world - like Holden Caulfield and Huckleberry Finn - 1st person point of view is the viewpoint for you.

Or perhaps you really don't care about all this "moving the camera around" business and simply want to tell an intimate story through one pair of first person eyes.

Whatever your reasons for choosing first person point of view might be, if you truly believe it is the best way to tell your story, you must follow your instincts.

So long as you are aware of the limitations of the voice, and you are happy to work within those limitations, you will be fine.

But if you are unsure of which viewpoint to use?

If you can see your novel working equally well (just differently) in both first and third person?

Then my advice would be to go with 3rd person point of view.

Whereas a large majority of novels written by beginners use the first person viewpoint, a large majority of published novels are written in third person point of view.

Go figure!

Next Step...

And so that has dealt with the two major viewpoints. Now it is time to take a closer look at some of the less common viewpoint choices available to you, beginning with Omniscient Point of View...