Guide To Writing Perspectives
There are three basic writing perspectives and one advanced perspective. Most writers tend to stick to one perspective for their entire career. But others enjoy trying out other perspectives from time to time.As a new writer, you are highly encouraged to try more than one perspective, to see which one suits you the most and which one you are most comfortable with.
The writing perspectives are:
The writing perspectives are:
First Person
This is the easiest for new writers and currently the most popular to read.
First person is a book in which the main character / protagonist tells the story, using the words "I" and "We". For example: "I ran towards the door, my heart pounding in my chest. I have never been so scared in my life. We had to get out of this haunted house".
It is recommended that new writers use first person.
First person is a book in which the main character / protagonist tells the story, using the words "I" and "We". For example: "I ran towards the door, my heart pounding in my chest. I have never been so scared in my life. We had to get out of this haunted house".
It is recommended that new writers use first person.
Second Person
This is one of the most difficult and unpopular styles of writing. It is mostly seen in role-playing board games rather than books. Though there are some (very brave) books out there that successfully use second person.
Second-person is defined as the narrator speaking of the reader's experiences. For example "as you enter the dark, eerie room your eyes glance quickly towards the box in the corner. The fear builds up inside you as you approach it".
It is unpopular because people tend to get bored of reading the word "you, you, you, you, you" constantly. But, if you're brave enough, give it a try.
Second-person is defined as the narrator speaking of the reader's experiences. For example "as you enter the dark, eerie room your eyes glance quickly towards the box in the corner. The fear builds up inside you as you approach it".
It is unpopular because people tend to get bored of reading the word "you, you, you, you, you" constantly. But, if you're brave enough, give it a try.
Third Person
This is the second most popular style to read, after first person.
Third person is defined as the narrator telling the whole story and relates the actions in third-person mode.
For example: "Mary couldn't believe her eyes when she accidentally stumbled upon her boyfriend's browsing history. She was shocked, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. All of the engagement rings Shaun had been researching online were beautiful".
Third person is defined as the narrator telling the whole story and relates the actions in third-person mode.
For example: "Mary couldn't believe her eyes when she accidentally stumbled upon her boyfriend's browsing history. She was shocked, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. All of the engagement rings Shaun had been researching online were beautiful".
Alternating Perspective
This is THE most difficult for writers to pull off. As a general rule, books should ideally stick to one perspective style. This makes it easier for the reader to follow the story without getting lost or confused about who is speaking. However books that use more than one perspective, or alternating perspectives, have been pulled off before. Only few are popular, most of them have fallen into a black hole and been forgotten about. if you want to use alternating perspective in your book, you need a damn good story to keep the reader interested. New writers should avoid alternating perspective at all costs. Don't kill your career before it has even started. Experienced writers can give this perspective a try if they wish. If all fails, they still have their previous publications to fall back on. And if does fail, leave this perspective behind and never touch it again, clearly it wasn't meant to be.