There are two main points of view to write a story from: 1st person and 3rd person. (Yes there’s 2nd person and the distinction between 3rd person limited/omniscient, but that’s a story for another day.)
When you write a story with a narrator saying “I/me,” then it’s 1st person. If it’s a narrator saying “he/she,” then it’s 3rd person. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages.
To show them off, let’s take a look at the same scene written in both 1st person and 3rd person.
You can watch a video of our discussion/writing here,
or scroll down for the writeup.
During the stream, chat voted for us to write this scene: Someone who can turn invisible and they spy on people to see what they are saying about them.
Here’s that scene written in 1st person:
I turned invisible when no one in the office was looking. I know it might sound silly, making sure to turn invisible only when people are already not looking at you, but that’s just because you don’t have the same kind of experience that I do. I mean think about it. If I were to suddenly turn invisible while someone was watching me, then they’d figure out I have this power. I can’t have that. I don’t want to be cut up as a lab experiment or become anyone’s superhero. I enjoy my privacy. Almost as much as I enjoy invading others’. Specifically my boss’s.
I slipped down the hallway and up to the door to my boss’s office. He always leaves the massive windows overlooking the city wide open, so he never thinks twice about when “a breeze” occasionally blows it open with a creak. I grabbed the handle, slipped inside, and shuffled up against the wall. He was on the phone, blabbing to someone, when he came over to shut the door and then lock it. Interesting. He’d never locked it before.
“Yeah it’s just my damn door,” he grumbled into the receiver. “No, no. I’m good to talk. Can you meet me tonight? Yeah, at the usual place. No, it won’t be a problem.”
Oh this was juicy. Usually I just got tips about who was getting fired or promoted so I could make some quick cash betting with my coworkers. But today’s invisible gossip looked to be even better!
“The wife is gone all weekend,” he cackled into the phone. “Maybe you can wear one of those outfits I bought for her that she never wore for me.”
I nearly gave myself away with a gasp. Oh, yes. It was time to move on from invisible gossip to invisible blackmail.
And here’s the same scene written in the 3rd person: (changes are bolded)
John Johnson turned invisible when no one in the office was looking. He always made sure to do it that way, or else he’d risk getting caught. And so far so good. No one had ever seen him turn invisible… except for that one time in third grade, when he desperately wanted to confirm the rumors that the girls’ restroom didn’t have urinals in it, and Susie Benkins caught him in the act. Thankfully, no one believed her, but John didn’t want to take the chance ever again. He didn’t want to be cut up as a lab experiment or become anyone’s superhero. He enjoyed his privacy. Almost as much as he enjoyed invading others’. Specifically his boss’s.
He slipped down the hallway and up to the door to the boss’s office. He always left the massive windows overlooking the city wide open, so he never thought twice about when “a breeze” occasionally blew it open with a creak. John grabbed the handle, slipped inside, and shuffled up against the wall. His boss was on the phone, blabbing to someone, when he came over to shut the door and then lock it. John raised an invisible eyebrow. Interesting. He’d never locked it before.
“Yeah it’s just my damn door,” his boss grumbled into the receiver. “No, no. I’m good to talk. Can you meet me tonight? Yeah, at the usual place. No, it won’t be a problem.”
John had to resist rubbing his hands together in anticipation. Oh this was juicy. Usually he just got tips about who was getting fired or promoted so he could make some quick cash betting with his coworkers. But today’s invisible gossip looked to be even better!
“The wife is gone all weekend,” his boss cackled into the phone. “Maybe you can wear one of those outfits I bought for her that she never wore for me.”
John nearly gave himself away with a gasp. Oh, yes. It was time for him to move on from invisible gossip to invisible blackmail.
As you can see, there’s not a huge difference between them, which is good news for anyone fretting over which POV to write their story in. Either way you write it, as long as the story is good, it probably doesn’t matter.
But still, there are some differences. The beginning of the 1st person version has John addressing the reader, which doesn’t work in 1st person. It also has some of his direct thoughts, which required a bit more smoothing out in 3rd person.
Which version is better? It’s hard to say. It largely comes to to writer preference and your goal with the story. Do you want John to be more intimate and direct with the reader? Then 1st person is good. Do you want to give more anecdotes and pan around to other characters? Then 3rd person is good. Either way, so long as John is an interesting character, it should be a fun ride.
After that, chat voted that we write this prompt created by CarolineJohnson: “Don’t pay him any mind. He’s… a bit slow.” Unfortunately, by slow, they meant “his mind is two minutes in the past.”
If you want to join us and help write a story by trolling in chat, or share your own writing for feedback, then we’d love to have you. We stream on Twitch every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 7:30pm-11:30pm (U.S. Eastern Standard Time).
And you missed the stream, you can still watch Rubbish to Published, the writing exercises, or the writing prompts on YouTube, or watch the full stream reruns.
Hope to see you next time, friend!
Featured image: Pakutaso