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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/30242
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/30242
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Although I have read a few things I liked written from the first person, I can't write that way myself; it is far too limiting and constrained. For one, the POV character has to be in every frikkin' scene or learn about what happened from other characters, books, videos or some other kind of discovered information.

Second, if the POV character is narrating the story, it isn't possible for the reader to know something the POV character does not (and thus for the reader to know the POV character is making a mistake or walking into a trap).

Of course the exception to this is if the narration is in the past tense, but that implies to the reader the POV character survived to tell the tale, the problem was solved, the antagonist is neutralized, and to me the story is either dead or had an unhappy ending. This may be a pyschological quirk of a minority (that includes me), I don't know: But if the story is told in the past tense, the tension is weakened and I care less.

For example, _"I didn't know it at the time, but I was walking into a trap."_ Perhaps I am overly analytical when I read, but this doesn't build any tension for me: Because **you were,** but since I have 150 pages to go clearly you got out of the trap. Good on you; what happens after the trap? For me there is no surprise at the springing of the trap, or your rescue or clever escape I know must be coming. Just like I don't find WW II stories very interesting; I know the Allies mistakes don't matter much, they win. Hitler's victories don't matter much, he loses. Anything else is a Twilight Zone fantasy. (Up close WW II stories can be interested; e.g. in Saving Private Ryan, we can't know the ultimate fate of the squad members or the fate of Private Ryan).

I prefer the flexibility of the God's Eye POV and third person narrative. I can write about what Alex is feeling or what she is thinking, and what Brian is feeling or thinking to oppose her. Or not: I can just show you want Brian is doing. To me the Third person is accepted everywhere and is so flexible it outweighs any stylistic advantage of First person. Readers will identify with a character if you consistently let them in on what that character is really thinking and feeling: Who else can they know that about except themselves?

In short, you can get all the intimacy of the first person narrative without any of the shackles. You can tell the story in the present tense and sustain tension about what happens next. I can show Brian accidentally discovering Alex's hidden suitcase in her potting shed, then Brian shopping online for a GPS tracker and hiding it in the suitcase lining; then Brian testing the phone app that shows him where it is; and that night greeting Alex with a smile when she gets home. Now I have tension, the reader knows something Alex does not, and although the reader knows Alex's current plan will fail and she will find this out eventually, IMO this approach has far more tension than either sticking with Alex's in the first person (where Brian's actions while she is at work cannot be known) or Alex speaking in the past tense, in which case Alex has to tell us a **third person tale** of what she later guessed or learned Brian was doing, after the fact.

Further, Suppose she doesn't inform us, and in present tense just deliberately executes her escape from Brian, using a subway and then buses, getting transport to three different States, and in each terminal chose the next State by coin flip and bought a new ticket for each in cash. She has a fake ID it took her months to craft. Then surprise! Brian shows up at her Motel 6 door 48 hours later. This has to be unexplained in first person present tense, and looks to the reader like a deus ex machina. Brian won't tell her how he found her; why would he? The GPS tracker worked for him once and might work again.

To me, in third person, the situation is believable and the tension greater. Alex's confusion and dismay that her plans failed makes perfect sense, but the reader knows Brian showing up, no matter what precautions she took against being followed, also makes perfect sense. Then we have more tension in the reader: Alex's year of planning is all for naught; Brian takes her fake ID, takes the cash she carefully hoarded, and now he knows she was capable of planning an escape like this: Her element of surprise is gone. Will she figure out how he found her? Will she try again? What will she have to do **_now?_**

To me the advantage of third person omniscient is I can concentrate on the story without being handcuffed by the POV. First person feels like an artificial "artistic" constraint to me. Telling a good story is what is important to me, I don't think it adds anything to tell a good story while hopping on one foot.

Original score: 5