How to know whether to write in 3rd person or 1st person?
How do I know, when I'm writing, which perspective I should write in?
I almost always write with a 1st person narrative because it makes it easy to get great immersion in with the characters. Is it always okay to write in 1st person?
In a piece of fiction writing, how do you know which perspective to use?
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Use whatever you think will work best for your story. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote all but two or three of the Sherlock Holmes stories in first person, from Watson's perspective, and you see the longevity and popularity of those works.
There are benefits and drawbacks of any perspective, but no blanket rules. No one will think it's a problem if all the stories you choose to write are in first person. You may get people suggesting that a story might be told more effectively in third, but that's a function of your story, not some arbitrary writing requirement.
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Thanks everyone for your answers!
After reading them through, I tried some things and found out what helped me settle into the first person.
- Rewriting the story in different perspectives
After rewriting the story, I found that in 3rd person the story didn't flow well, and it was harder to distinguish exactly who the main character was.
- Strengths
In the past, I've written plenty of short stories in different narratives, and I have certainly found that I am able to make a more emotional connection with the character and reader if I write in 1st person, as I can really get inside their head and think exactly what they would think.
- Technical reason
There is a theme of depression and anxiety early on, and a lot of thoughts the character thinks to himself until things really get going. I found that instead of having to write "he thought to himself" or whatever, it was so much easier to just do it in 1st person as it helped me avoid that similar sentence structure.
- What do I think in conclusion
In conclusion, I think you should base the narrative of your story based off the answers above certainly, but, I think it also depends around what you think would be better. Also, think of if its hard to distinguish which person is your main character, or if it's too hard to convey how a character is feeling in 3rd person.
Also take into consideration your own strengths and weaknesses, and base your ideas off them to create the best work you can create.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/21236. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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