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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40273
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40273
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I personally only write in 3rd person limited (3PL), and recommend it.

In 3PL the narrator can describe settings and feelings, thoughts and memories of the MC at considerable length, without seeming phony. To me, doing this in 1st Person seems unnatural; no real person goes on about such descriptions in their head, but we expect a narrator to do it.

Also, every book I love is written in 3rd Person (not necessarily limited, not necessarily focused on only one character). I don't think I've ever read a best selling 1st Person novel; if they exist I'd bet best-selling 3PL novels **_far_** outnumber best-selling 1st Person novels.

I recommend 3rd Person unequivocally; and my own work is always 3PL. To me it is what I expect; if I pick up a novel in a book store and the first word is "I", I put it down. I think that style inevitably grates on me because **_I_** didn't do any of this stuff, and I know I am supposed to be reading as if somebody is telling me a story, but that's not how it comes across. I prefer a clear distinction, I am reading about what Merlin did, or what Harry Potter did.

As for "how to do it", learn by example. Pick up a best-seller by Stephen King and see how he does it.

Original score: 2