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1st Person or 3rd Person?

7 years ago

I've been wondering for a while now what point of view I should do for my story games. Which do you think I should use?

1st Person or 3rd Person?

7 years ago

Well, first person is tricky to use, but I've seen it pulled off well on here.
Make sure you don't start every sentence with "I", however. That's a occurring problem with most first perspective stories-not just in storygames.

For example, which paragraph do you like better?

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"I woke up and brushed my teeth. Then, I walked downstairs to go eat breakfast. I was on my way downstairs when I noticed a book left on the stairs. I couldn't recall having ever seen this book before. I picked it up, and that was when everything went black...

I had a pounding headache. I opened my eyes, and I was somewhere else. I was in a forest somewhere. I felt like this had to be a dream of some kind. But...it felt too real to be a dream. I closed my eyes and tried to will my surroundings away, but this wasn't just another bad dream."

****************************************************************

"I woke up and brushed my teeth. Then, I walked downstairs to eat breakfast. On the way down, I noticed a book left on the stairs. I couldn't recall having ever seen this book before. Curious, I picked it up, and that was when everything went black...

The first thing I noticed when I woke, was that I had a pounding headache. Opening my eyes, I discovered I was somewhere else. Trees surrounded me, and I realized I was in a forest somewhere. 'This has to be a dream, right?' I thought. 'But...it feels too real to be a dream...' Closing my eyes, I tried to will my surroundings away, but unfortunately for me - this wasn't just another bad dream."

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The second one should be the better one since it doesn't have all the redundant "I"'s. It's a good one if you want to convey emotion.

 

3rd person is one of the easiest ones to use imho. However, make sure not to confuse your reader too much with the "he's and she's" :)

For example,

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"He gave her a snarky smile. In response, she just glared at him, refusing to admit defeat. He took a step closer to her, sword raised- when suddenly someone charged into the room. He attacked him and easily brought him down with a single blow.

"Are you alright," he asked her, extending a hand to help her up.

"I'm fine," was her curt response. She took his hand though, and shakily stood up.

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See? It's rather confusing about who's who. XD

 

And yes. These are terrible. I wrote them in 5 minutes to explain things, you shouldn't expect them to be very good.

1st Person or 3rd Person?

7 years ago

Second one is full of passive language, though. Another thing to watch out for.

 

But I have no idea how to answer the OP, honestly. Second person is traditional, and I'm not a fan of first person, but Matthias, go with whatever works best for what you're writing. I mean POV isn't just a random choice, it's an integral part of your entire story and I assume you'd have your reasons for whatever you decide on.

1st Person or 3rd Person?

7 years ago

Oh yes, about passive voice...I usually use this when writing. 

If you can insert "by zombies" after the verb...well, you have passive voice.

Found that technique on the internet somewhere. Let me find it and link it.

Right here.

I hope I helped ^-^

1st Person or 3rd Person?

7 years ago

The second passage actually has more "I"s than the first.

1st Person or 3rd Person?

7 years ago

Yes, but there are less sentences that start with I so it is less repetitive.

1st Person or 3rd Person?

7 years ago

There would have been way more "I"s in the first one, but I couldn't write like that for long.

It really bothers me xD

1st, 2nd, or 3rd Person?

7 years ago

To understand which one you should use, you should first understand what they are. There's actually three types of narration, but I assume that you either combined the last two or mistook one for the other: First person, Second person, and third person.

First of all (lol), let's start with first person. This is probably the least used point of view, and I personally don't enjoy it all too much. This one is from a single person, and is mostly used in autobiographies. It uses "I" when referring to the main character and "he, she," or "they" (or whatever other bullshit gender pronouns) when referring to others.

Secondly (lol again), there's second person. This is commonly used for CYOAs. It is addressing the reader as the main character, using "you" when referring to the main character, which is... well, you, the reader. It refers to others the same as first person, "he, she, they".

Third (k Im done), and lastly, third person. This is by far the most used point of view in all literary media. Instead of distinctively addressing the main character, it instead addresses all characters as "he, she, they".

Now, which one should you use? Well, it all depends on preference.

First person is pretty easy to write in, and I find that it helps to visualize yourself as the character and ask "what would I do in this situation". Thing is, it slightly takes away from the reader. An example would be "I decided to jump out the window, despite what she said."

Second person is slightly harder to write, but used widely. It puts the reader into the story. The only downside is if you somehow mess up and make unrealistic decisions. "You run as fast as you can, but he's faster."

Third person is very easy to write in, but is used for writing more linear stories. It can also get very confusing if you do not clarify who is who in scenes with more than two characters. To avoid this, you name names whenever you can in the place of a pronoun. "He hit him with a chair, grabbed her, and ran away" sounds better as "Tim hit Steve with a chair,  grabbed Mizal, and ran away".

 

Remember, it's all about how comfortable you are with the point of view. In the right hands, the right POV can be a powerful ally, and useful tool (*cough* Steve *cough*).

1st Person or 3rd Person?

7 years ago
I would suggest for learning writing and beginning writers, third person is more difficult. With first or second person, you only have to concern yourself with the current scene. You can only see (and write about) what the subject can see. You don't have to worry about other points of view, or things happening in other places. Oh, they still happen, but you don't have to write about them. To me, this makes writing first/second simpler. With third person, you can easily (and much too often) change the point of view and change what's happening. You can move about from one character to another, to omniscient points of view, and this, at times, can give you TOO many options, especially when starting out. I would suggest starting with first/second, especially when getting the feel for CYS stories.