Third or First Person?

[Mr. Critical 434]

Hey guys. Need some help with my Fanfic and want to ask a question. Which sounds better, the First or Third person perspective? Here are the examples from the first bit.

 

First:

     I awoke to the familiar sound of my alarm clock buzzing in my ear, begging for my attention to awaken. Reaching over and slamming my hand on the device, ceasing its awful noise as I rose from my bed. Stretching my muscles as always and walking to the bathroom and seeing the familiar mute in the mirror. I could talk just fine, I just chose not to. I saw my baggy blue eyes, still tired and begging me to go back to sleep, peering at me through my silver frame glasses. My double chin and long hair meeting. I think it was time to trim it a bit. Nah, leave it.

 

Third:

   A familiar sound was heard through the room of the human. The device buzzing with a droning annoyance, begging its owner to awaken from his slumber. It was silenced as his hand slammed on the button and arose from his bed, blankets falling off to reveal his torso. He was skinny with a pudge and his skin was a white, slightly pale due to being inside too long. He got up and made for his bathroom, only to be greeted by a mute in his mirror. His hair drooping to meet his double chin. Thinking to himself that it was time to visit the barber.

 

Okay, that's the opening to both versions. I would like to know your opinions please and what you think.

[Milk Wave 454]

I personally like third person for stories, so that's what I chose when I read both passages~ Considering I like looking at the story from above, instead of looking at it from someone's eyes, makes me feel more like I have better view~

[PsychedelicPony 440]

Third person gives you more range to advance the story whether it be third person semi-limited or third person omnicient, but first person gives you the ability to truly immerse the reader into one character; so I guess the decision is up to you, do you have other characters who you want to give a fair amount of spotlight or do you wanna make the main character the one the reader most wants to know about fully. There is always another option. You could do a multi-POV story in which you split first person time between characters to give the best of both worlds.

[Mr. Critical 434]

My story focuses around a human that grows up next to Twilight, becoming a second brother to her. The story will take place along with the show, except they are anthro-fied. Maybe some original stories on the side.

[Vinyl Scratch. 604]

I believe it depends on how to want your character to be/act. I think that third person gives you more of an average kind of character (someone who is stable, has good social skills ect.) Where as 1st person give me more of an impression of loneliness or is unstable and can't connect with others, thus is recording or talking to themselves and a form of human interaction. but this is just my opinion

[Adorkable 2,737]

Which of the two was easier to write?

 

That's the one you should do. ^^

 

Whichever is easiest to you. ^^

[Princess Periwinkle 3,775]

@@Mr. Critical,

 

Hi there, I've moved your topic to Creative Resources as it'll fit in better here. Good luck on the fic!

Edited March 27, 2014 by Moony

[Nina 38]

First person is more in-depth, but third will certainly give you more space to operate on during writing the fanfic

[Mr. Critical 434]

By the looks of it, third person seems to be my best option. But, I still want my character to have most of the focus.

[Scootalove 10,689]

I think go with your instincts to see which perspective you would go with. First person gives you a little more in-depth, while third person allows you to expand more.

[SFyr 1,982]

As many have said, each kinda has their own effect, and pros/cons.

If you're worried about 3rd person drawing too much attention away from the character... well, I've seen it used to where it still dominantly focuses on a single character. Though, with 3rd person perspective, you also have the option of cutting away to scenes with other characters. In 1st, you are limited solely to what your protagonist alone perceives--this can build suspense in that the readers are forced into the protagonist's limited perspective, and by extension put themselves in his place, in his very mind, and see the world as he does.

With 3rd person, you can build suspense by showing pivotal plot points and important things going on elsewhere, or with other characters; however, this also has a way of drawing the reader out from their higher form of empathy/one-ness with the protagonist. They become more of an observer from afar, not fully in-the-know but likely able to foresee or theorize more than the protagonist is given room to. Yet, it can deepen the plot, and strengthen the reader's scope of other character's mindsets and feelings in exchange for losing some of the connection to the protagonist.

 

You can focus dominantly on one character regardless of whether you use 1st person or 3rd person perspective; it just comes down to how you want to tell the story, and what lens you want the reader to view your world through. There's no rule saying that 3rd person requires you to 'follow' other characters; heck, a good bit of 3rd person stories I've read include the character's thoughts, and their descriptions read quite similarly to the character's own perceptions and limitations--it's just a different lens, capable of skipping around without stopping to justify it.

Oh, and 1st person maaaay have a better sense of chronological sequencing.

 

 

Anyways, last thing I want to add. 1st person and fanfiction together... I would watch how you develop your protagonist carefully, and make sure they're not handed too much, or become unjustly important/liked. Some like myself may be reminded of self inserts a little more easily than if it was straight-up fiction or 3rd person perspective (which shifts importance away to other things more readily). It can be the same case with 3rd person if the same things/issues arise, but as I said, I think it's slightly easier to cross that line.

[PlunderSteed 1,252]

Yuck. Dat passive voice. Don't do it unless it specifically draws attention to an action in a way that active voice cannot.

 

Anyways, third and first have their place, but I am inclined to think that first person can be over-used at times.

[Karba 63]

Definitely first person. I'm a virtual reality freak