Writing 3rd Person

[Voboy]

To write a character well in first person, you'd have to firstly identify the idiom they speak/write in, imagine how they (not you) see everything and everyone around them, decide if the character is telling the story as it happens to them or if they are telling a past event (which they may view differently now from how they did at the time) You might also consider who they are telling the story to (dear reader) and also what the character may or may not want to reveal about the what happened. That's quite a lot, but obviously if you're just writing a 'I had sex, it was fun' story, you might not need to consider half of that.

You're right, and this is why folks like me enjoy FP so much. I like imagining I'm someone else, picturing someone else's worldview and letting that seep into the writing. It might seem like "quite a lot," but I find it to be an absolute blast. It's not work. It's me, sampling someone else's thoughts and outlook.

That shit's fun.

I find TP much more staid, more artificial. It works well sometimes, even for me; as I say, the story lets me know how it wants to be told. But FP doesn't necessarily mean staying out of other characters' heads completely. Your narrator has an imagination, and can speculate about others' thoughts or ideas. Done correctly, you can give the reader a partial glimpse into non-narrators' thinking while simultaneously deepening the characterization of your narrator.

Again, fun.

 

[neuroparenthetical]

1st person is particularly useful for smut - especially smut that focuses on extreme sensations, be they physical or emotional. The closer something is to a pure stroke story, or a mindfuck story, the more it makes sense to just dive in and use the 1st-person perspective. I might grant an exception for voyeurism stories (that's a nerdy writing joke right there.)

3rd person omniscient, no matter how much more useful it is for delivering exposition, asides, reveals, etc. etc., is always going to feel detached. I like describing orgasms - probably too much, actually - and I find it always works better in first person.

Now, if you go the extra mile and give the third-person narrator some real personality of their own, well, that can be a lot of fun.

 

[yowser]

You're right, and this is why folks like me enjoy FP so much. I like imagining I'm someone else, picturing someone else's worldview and letting that seep into the writing. It might seem like "quite a lot," but I find it to be an absolute blast. It's not work. It's me, sampling someone else's thoughts and outlook.

This is a great observation, and I suppose goes back to the original post. What are your goals as a writer? For this story or your next one?

For me a main goal in the writing experience is exploration, and first person allows you an immediate dive into a 'new' person's life. In first person the protagonist doesn't need to be reliable (in fact may not be at all reliable) but does need to be perceptive. What do they notice? Say? Feel? How do they relate to the strange or familiar world they are experiencing? I love it when a good writer pulls me into their protagonist's head so deeply that the knees grow weak and you as the reader feel what they do.

The interesting question from NP is whether erotica as a genre has any quirks to it that make it different from more mainstream writing. Sexual arousal for everyone ends up being intensely personal. Does that favor First Person? There is a good argument that it does.

 

[TadOverdon]

But, actually, no, this isn't the way stories traditionally have been told.

I think the observation was not meant to be that stories are traditionally told this way, but that we ordinarily communicate about our own lives, experiences, desires, etc. this way. And especially if you're writing prose fiction for the first time, to begin with something like (Gawd. forgive this example) "Let me tell you a little about myself and how I got into this mess" is a pretty natural way to begin.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

The story I’ve just written is first person, it explores how in a previous story that first person view was wrong and in the end features first person viewpoints from other people so I’d say …do what the story tells you to do.

Did I say that?

Or did EmilyMcPlugger say that?

Hmmmm.

 

[AmbrosiaCaress]

I just want to weigh in on this particular subject and keep in mind this is my own POV...

I write in third person. Whether writing a story for my own enjoyment or writing a story with a co-writer. (I am not published on here, yet)
This is because the story is not me. It is a character that I create, so I simply find it easier to write in 3rd person.

And this, for me, translates into "reading" in 3rd person. Pretty much meaning I can not read any story written in 1st person, whether on here or a book (Twilight for example, written in 1st person and altho all my friends LOVED it, I could not read it. I "tried" but the 1st person and just the horrible writing it was, turned me OFF)... So any book or story I read has to be in 3rd person.

But that's just me, for what it's worth...

 

[dmallord]

"Wait! I've read what's posted here, up to now. And now, I am confused," I thought.

"I have a headache! At this point, I cannot remember if I write in 'any person' at all!" he muttered, banging his head on the wall.

"You have me curiously wondering, and I'll have to retrace my works and see if I fit in any of these categories at all!" he grumbled, as his hand nervously stroked the worn keyboard.

The old-timer scratched his head, again. It was the fourth such scratch since he started reading all the wisdom poured into the thread he just stumbled into. He sort of wished he could push the back button; and escape from what was now permanently burned into his near catatonic brain. It wasn't that the words and perspectives were wrong or right. He was just too old, to lose a few more brain cells, trying to agree or disagree or just hit that back button! It would get him out here, but the ink that had leaked into his brain would permanently remain!