I want to but when I start thinking of writing in 3rd person my brain hits a brick wall. It's almost like my brain is hardwired for 1st person or something.
Any advice would be very appreciated.
Thank you
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how do you write in 3rd person?
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There's a whole plethora of instructions, tips and tricks on writing in 3rd person out there. A Google search on "writing in 3rd person" turned up a number of good sites on the first couple pages.
It's too involved to go into here, but one of those might help, there's even one on About.com that puts you through an exercise to translate 1st into 3rd.
Best I can do, dear
It's too involved to go into here, but one of those might help, there's even one on About.com that puts you through an exercise to translate 1st into 3rd.
Best I can do, dear
The Right Rev of Lush
While Ceiran is right, of course, there is one trick you might try to get started. Begin a story with "once upon a time, there was...." NYes, I know it's contrived and even silly, but give it a whirl. That opening will almost force you into third person. Don't stress trying to come up with something clever, just retelling a fairy tale should do the trick.
Beginning writers tend to gravitate to first person since it's more intimate and seems more natural. However, think about all the great storytellers. Most, if not all, of them told their tales in third person.
And in conclusion...
...don't beat your brains out on trying to master third person. First person, while more limited than third person and less popular in today's commercial fiction market, is still an oft-used writing device.
Beginning writers tend to gravitate to first person since it's more intimate and seems more natural. However, think about all the great storytellers. Most, if not all, of them told their tales in third person.
And in conclusion...
...don't beat your brains out on trying to master third person. First person, while more limited than third person and less popular in today's commercial fiction market, is still an oft-used writing device. RUMPLATIONS: AwesomeHonky Tonk and Cyber Bar
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Advanced Wordsmith
I know what you mean. I have a strong preference for first person. But some stories simply can't be made to work any way but in third.
Active Ink Slinger
I wouldn't normally recommend a 'How to Write...' type of book because there is no substitute for throwing down words. That said, there is one that I did find helpful. Writer's Digest Books "Characters, Emotions, and Viewpoint" by Nancy Kress addresses the 1st and 3rd POVs. By helpful, I mean it made me think about the process of writing in these POVs. It is not a tips and tricks book, but rather shows illustrative examples with discussion of what works and doesn't. BTW, Nancy Kress is a successful science fiction author with many excellent novels and short stories to her credit.
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Story Verifier
A trick I use is to imagine myself inside a camera that loosely follows my main character(s) as opposed to being inside my mc's head. Though it still can be hard, after 100k words in 1st it felt rather clumsy to switch to 3rd person, and I recently found myself drifting into first involuntarily a few times. It did get better after a few continuous pages, and it helped to imagine a kind of "virtual alarm bell" in my head tuned to "I"s and "me"s outside of direct speech. What I do need to write 3rd person is a better picture of my characters, but once I do have that, the "camera perspective" adds a small voyeuristic component to the writing that has its own appeal
A lot depends on the exact perspective you use in 3rd, all-knowing or limited, and if limited, to what. You can still keep your focus relatively close to one mc in limited, but you need to make sure that you don't start character hopping and drifting into all-knowing. Besides that, it's just a little more showing than telling. If there's a verb that expresses feeling or emotion, ring the first person alarm and make sure that you don't describe your character's internas. Stay a bit more on the outside and use winces and twitches and gestures to make emotions and feelings obvious.
Also, don't try to go into too much detail. The nice thing about third person is that it allows you to wrap a layer of mystery around your mc. First person often requires you to be descriptive and exact. Grant yourself the freedom to give hints that aren't explained right away, it will make it easier to add small supsense arcs. Use the camera trick to zoom closer with intensity and give a wider field of few when you advance your plot. It may even help as a writing exercise to "be" the camera operator and to let him/her describe the scenes he/she is filming. Third person is, in a way, simply the first person narrative given by someone not partaking in the action.
A lot depends on the exact perspective you use in 3rd, all-knowing or limited, and if limited, to what. You can still keep your focus relatively close to one mc in limited, but you need to make sure that you don't start character hopping and drifting into all-knowing. Besides that, it's just a little more showing than telling. If there's a verb that expresses feeling or emotion, ring the first person alarm and make sure that you don't describe your character's internas. Stay a bit more on the outside and use winces and twitches and gestures to make emotions and feelings obvious.
Also, don't try to go into too much detail. The nice thing about third person is that it allows you to wrap a layer of mystery around your mc. First person often requires you to be descriptive and exact. Grant yourself the freedom to give hints that aren't explained right away, it will make it easier to add small supsense arcs. Use the camera trick to zoom closer with intensity and give a wider field of few when you advance your plot. It may even help as a writing exercise to "be" the camera operator and to let him/her describe the scenes he/she is filming. Third person is, in a way, simply the first person narrative given by someone not partaking in the action.
Active Ink Slinger
There's no trick to it, you just need to practice - a lot - until it becomes easy. That brick wall you're hitting is actually a rut you've found yourself comfortably slipping into. Experimenting with other writing styles will help you get out of it.
You'll find, with practice, that you already have the skills to write in third person - it's almost impossible to write in first person without them (unless you have no other characters in your stories!)
You'll find, with practice, that you already have the skills to write in third person - it's almost impossible to write in first person without them (unless you have no other characters in your stories!)
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Why not read some stories instead
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Why not read some stories instead
NEW! Want a quick read for your coffee break? Why not try this... Flash Erotica: Scrubber
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Quote by Haineko
As weird a question as this may be to some I ask because I don't know how.
I want to but when I start thinking of writing in 3rd person my brain hits a brick wall. It's almost like my brain is hardwired for 1st person or something.
Any advice would be very appreciated.
Thank you
I like the 'Once Upon A Time' idea. I'd just like to add that you shouldn't worry about it the writing of a story - just write it. Some stories demand to be told in the third person - once you've got a lot of characters and situations, it's becomes much easier to be able to follow the action without being stuck in someone's head looking through their eyes. You can still drill down into the character.
On the flip side, my last competition entry, Seeing Red, started as third person but Blaine was such a powerful lead that the story didn't work. Blaine became the story and the story became first person. It's really intense when you become the character and see the world as them.
Quote by Haineko
As weird a question as this may be to some I ask because I don't know how.
I want to but when I start thinking of writing in 3rd person my brain hits a brick wall. It's almost like my brain is hardwired for 1st person or something.
Any advice would be very appreciated.
Thank you
Here's a site for you to look at #Third-person_view
I must say it is an unusual problem to have, but that doesn't make it any less of a problem. Most of what we read is in the third person. News reports, magazine articles. He did this, she does that, the government will do the other.
I presume what you're saying is that you naturally write about yourself. Is that right? I don't really want to offer advice until I know exactly what you are doing. But if you'd like to explain it to me I would be happy to help.
I presume what you're saying is that you naturally write about yourself. Is that right? I don't really want to offer advice until I know exactly what you are doing. But if you'd like to explain it to me I would be happy to help.
You know, I don't even think about it. For erotica, I generally write first person (since I'm often riffing off my own fantasies) but I have written third as well. For me, it's just adjusting my imagination to be a viewer of the scene rather than an actor in it. Not sure if that helps, but that's basically how I handle it mentally.
Unicorn Wrangler
As an author who has written in both formats, I find it depends on what I want my audience to know. Let me try to explain. In first person, I try to keep the information limited to just what the narrating character knows. But, if I want to give a hint or a clue of things, a bit of foreshadowing if you will, then I do 3rd person. Now, if you're not comfortable in writing 3rd person, then that's fine. My first attempt at 1st person was scary as I was only taught 3rd, but found a level of enjoyment in it. With 3rd, it allows me, the author, to not always focus on one character. Plus, as a female writer, I don't feel comfortable writing as a man would speak. I feel I would insult men by feminizing a man in 1st person so when I make my main character a male, I make the story 3rd person. I find it opens me up for more interesting stories. My first try was a challenge, but I found a moderate level of success from it. I've since written a few more and my latest won me a Recommended Read.
Write with what you are comfortable with. Experiment. Try different things. Maybe you first 3rd person story will be a HUGE hit!
Write with what you are comfortable with. Experiment. Try different things. Maybe you first 3rd person story will be a HUGE hit!
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