Should you write your story in the first person or third person?
As with any narrative, your decision must be based on the type of story you want to produce. Third person lets you (and the readers) see situations from different points of view. With first person, you concentrate on the viewpoint of just one character.
If you choose the first person, you need a credible reason why the character should tell their own story. You also need to be sure you’re able to be the ears, eyes, nose, heart and brain of a character whose experiences of life are necessarily very different from yours.
Miriam Drori, Author 
6 replies on “2015 A to Z Challenge: P is for PERSON”
There has been a fashion for long stories told in the 1st person by a series of characters. The transition between chapters or parts can be a little difficult for the reader. Sue
That’s true. I didn’t mention that option.
I agree with Sue. I find it confusing to keep switching back and forth between two (or sometimes more) characters.
I tend to agree.
At some point I discovered that I like first person historical narratives. I think it helps me focus the information to things that person would or wouldn’t do, and saves me from info dumping 😀
@TarkabarkaHolgy from
Multicolored Diary – Epics from A to Z
MopDog – 26 Ways to Die in Medieval Hungary
I’ve done exclusively third-person omniscient for over 20 years now, since that’s the established standard for historical, particularly when you’ve got a large ensemble cast. However, I do enjoy short first-person interludes, like a letter, journal entry, note, or op-ed. It’s fun to write in just one person’s voice for a few pages.
I really dislike the trend towards first-person, particularly the whole alternating narrators trend. It’s like these writers have forgotten third-person omniscient exists, and that books several decades ago didn’t bop back and forth between major characters, one chapter at a time. I was unable to finish what promised to be a great historical for this very reason, a book told from the alternating POVs of the last Grand Duchesses of Russia. It was even worse, because it just HAD to be first-person present tense as well.