When writing a story one may come across the question of the narration technique I.e first person or third person or multiple narrations and p.o.vs? Though the choice is up to you but it is important to know what is most suitable for your story so here I am to help.
Firstly let me the you that first person narratives have become extremely overrated and if you grew up like me hearing your English teachers say that she/he will only accept essays with first person then you probably believe that first person is the best choice no matter what. WRONG! So now that this confusion is clear that you don't have to write in first Peron no matter what, here's how you can tell what fits your story best. 1. How many main characters are there? If there are too many important characters in your story than you already know that first person might limit the content of the story especially if you wish to give equal importance to all your main characters. Plus I discourage the use of multiple POVs because unless used skillfully it makes ones writing seem immature and it can be annoying for the readers at times to. 2. How many storylines are there? Sometimes a story is more than one straight forward plot and if it is then first person isn't the best option. Only use first person when there is a single plot(and has a single main character) if there are multiple storylines with many characters and other things involved than the best technique is to use third person narration to discuss all plots, each in a different chapter. 3. Is your story about external conflicts or internal? First person narration is only recommended when internal conflicts play a more important role in your story. Using first person is the best way to express the main character's thoughts and feelings clearly (though the thoughts and feelings of other characters would become harder to express through first person) if the story has more action, dialogue and external conflicts than third person would be better especially if you wish to reveal little of every characters thoughts. 4. How do you plan to create suspense and mystery? This is very important, to choose between first person or third person. Try to think of different ways to tell your story, what do you think is the best way to create suspense and reveal your plot twist in an unpredictable way. Sometimes in first person narration, the readers become to clueless about things happening outside the main character's life and suspense is harder to create. For example if you want to reveal the villain's intentions and plans beforehand you won't be able to give a good clue unless you use third person 5. Do you want your narration to be biased? This is something people tend to forget about first person narration is that it happens to be biased at times. The reader will only see what the narrator wants to show and hence the reader will have a limited clarity on all things. This can be a useful technique to misguide the readers about the narrator or other characters because first person narration is untrustworthy BUT if you want to be honest and clear about the story to the reader than only use objective third person narration. 6. What about multiple narrations? Basically you have to be very skilled to know how to use multiple narrations or else you should avoid it. One technique is to change/switch POVs in every chapter which isn't a good technique, you'd rather want to use third person instead. Second technique is harder i.e telling different stories through other character's dialogues, letters or other sources ( I recommend you look into Wuthering Heights' narration to better understand what I'm talking about) 7. What kind of tone/formality&authenticity do you want for your story? In other words do you want your story to be more skillfully and maturely written or do you just want to write what you like without caring about formality. Basically first person narratives seem more immature because when using the stream of consciousness technique people feel the freedom to write anything in anyway they like with any tone but for more maturely written narration third person is better especially if you wish to show off your skillful writing techniques that you picked up in literature class. Third person is also more neutral in tone, formal and authentic while first person can be effected by the character's emotions. 8. How do you wish to communicate with the reader? This is where second person comes in which can be used alongside with your choice of first or third person narration (though it won't look best with third person) The only importance of second person narration is that it helps in connecting the reader with the writer. If the narrator talks to the reader directly there is a feel of friendliness as the distance between the reader and the writer has been reduced BUT otherwise there is no need to use second person and it isn't really recommend. OK that's all guys, hope this helped you. Plz follow me and feel free to comment and ask me anything you want to know about writing. I'm here to help.
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AuthorWelcome! My name is Iman Malik and I am an aspiring novelist who is dreaming to be a bestseller one day who can be well known as writer Iman Malik. Archives
September 2021
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