[Perry] First Person Perspective

So…let’s talk.

One of the first decisions you have to make when you sit down with that intimidating blank document for the first time is what perspective you want to run with in your story.

The first person POV tends to be a pretty polarizing viewpoint, I’ve found. Most people tend to either love it or hate it.

But for those of you about to embark on a brave new adventure or maybe feel like trying something a little different, I am here as your humble servant to offer some advice.

1) What is it good for?

…..Absolutely nothing! Say it again, y’all!

>.>”

Ahem.

The strength of a well-written first person POV story is the close ties that you develop with the main character. FP-POV lets you get into the head of the protagonist and when it comes to conveying emotions (joy or heartache), there’s almost nothing better.

There’s a stunning immediacy when it comes to well-written FP-POV.

Done well, it can tie you closer than you may realize with the lead character, to the point where you can feel the pains and joys they feel as they go through their adventure.

Even better, it gives you the ability to surprise the reader by proxy, through the surprise of the character.

Sure, you can do the same with limited third person perspective but is it really the same? It’s hard to convey the depths of emotional shock a character might feel when you’re standing outside their head. Far better to describe that mental explosion from within, I say.

2) Pacing and Puppetry

Here’s an interesting thing.

I tend to have a serious problem with puppetry in my writing. Puppetry is when you walk the characters from one location to another. Things that need to happen for the plot to progress but it’s something that feels a little forced and unnatural.

There are a lot of techniques one can use to disguise puppetry but you can never really make it go away altogether.

With the proper application of FP-POV, puppetry can become a thing of the past! Kiss those awkward plot stains goodbye and watch them disappear like magic!

First person lets you fill in the gaps between or during those awkward moments with some relevant thoughts from the mind of the protagonist.

One of the best examples of this?

The Dresden files by Jim Butcher.

Technically speaking, there’s an awful lot of puppetry going on as Harry wanders from one location to another during the course of his investigations…but it’s never really in-your-face obvious.

The thing is, as Harry travels, Butcher will have his thoughts go off on a tangent about the case or about a memory or about how he’s feeling and then…suddenly, Harry’s at his destination and plot related stuff is happening.

There’s puppetry still, but it’s disguised well. It doesn’t go for the Clark Kent glasses disguise, but instead, goes for the Mission Impossible face masks (which they rely on too heavily as a plot device >.>”).

Take the same example in the third person and really, you’re reduced to either doing a scene break as they travel, having something significant happen on the way or blatantly shoehorn in a distraction, and every one of these come with its attendant share of problems.

3) Pitfalls

So here’s the thing.

While you may WANT to write a story in the first person, not all stories SHOULD be written in the first person.

Do you know what has a hard time working well with FP-POV?

Multiple characters.

A lot of the big fantasy titles lately feature multiple viewpoints to tell the story. This is often used in an effective way by having the characters start in different locations and then gradually bringing them together, thereby giving the reader a view of many different locations and how actions are affecting them before they’re brought together for the finale.

To do that with a first person POV is…tricky, to say the least.

It’s jarring to jump from one person’s head to another from chapter to chapter. Throw in the confusion you risk by having to “speak” in different voices to get a genuine impression of people’s real voices and you’ve got a pretty big nightmare on your hands.

On top of that, by doing this, we void one of the main benefits of writing in the first person: drawing a reader closer to one character.

Sitting shotgun in a character’s head from start to finish makes for a pretty intimate experience. One of the easiest ways to wreck that feeling of immersion is to jump in and out of their head instead.

A little bit of focus can make the difference between a protagonist your reader will care about and a character they barely realize exists.

4) Finally, it’s over!

First person perspective can be a POWERFUL tool when handled properly and for many people, it tends to be the most comfortable way to write.

Just be aware of the problems and weaknesses inherent in the format as you write and it should turn out right as rain.

Out of curiosity though, if you’ve ever enjoyed first person perspective stories, I’d love to hear which ones were your favorites.

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Writing Tip – Be the Boss
Close Third Person Point of View
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