FIRST
PERSON
- First person: This is a story that
is usually narrated by the protagonist. If you use this, then your first
sentence--or certainly your first paragraph--should make it clear.
"Sally whirled around and slapped me in the face." You know that
someone (the narrator) has incurred Sally's wrath and he's going to tell the
reader about it.
- Advantages: First person allows the
narrator to develop a distinctive voice that no one else in the story has
(or should have). The reader will learn to like or at least understand why
the narrator acts the way he does. He can ramble on about relevant points
inside his own head without anyone else but the reader knowing what he's
thinking. The reader also witnesses the stress placed on the narrator and
how that causes him to act in a certain way. The reader learns about the
world of the narrator quickly.
- Disadvantages: The narrator must
be in every scene or he and the reader will be subjected to a lot of
retelling by other characters what happened off-stage. But even that may
be skillfully handled so that the narrator doesn't appear to be just a
listening post where different folks come to tell their tales. Also, other
characters and not the narrator must describe him or the narrator must
slip in hints at his appearance. "Sally slapped me so hard that I
thought my scrawny mustache had been knocked off my face." And,
please, avoid the cliché of having the narrator look in a mirror and
telling the reader what he sees. Finally, avoid as many "I's" as
you can. "I went to the store. I bought some eggs. I took the eggs to
Sally." That soon becomes boring.
THIRD
PERSON CLOSE
- Third Person: An unknown narrator
is telling the story. Generally, the narrator is never identified. Writers
and readers have an unspoken agreement that this is one of those
"willing suspension of disbelief" that someone witnessed and is
able to tell the story. There are different kinds of third person. What
makes my favorite version of third person "close" (other people
have different terms for it) is that the narrator is in only one
character's head at a time. "Sally slapped him." That would be
the first line of a book written in third person (close or otherwise). Further
on in the story, the reader realizes that the narrator can see into only
one person's mind. "He felt the stinging blow and didn't like the
look on Sally's face." In fact, third person close is almost a first
person viewpoint using different pronouns.
- Advantages: You can describe your
character in the narration. As a reader of fiction, I rarely remember what
a person looks like while reading the story. As a writer, my descriptions
of people tend to emphasize oddities of their appearance or perhaps one or
two nods to a physical description. Another advantage that draws me to
this point of view is that you can still show the direct thoughts of the
person. "Sally slapped him. That's
the second time she's done that to me!" or "Sally slapped
him. That's the second time, he thought, that she's done that to me."
- Disadvantages: You must be especially careful not to get into anyone else's head. You must show us what the other person is doing to determine his reaction to what is going on or, of course, have the other person say something that presents his state of mind. This sounds easy, but it's tricky. In one story, I had written about the protagonist and two companions doing something like "trudging dispiritedly" (it wasn't really that bad). My most heartless editor (my wife, Sharon Woods Hopkins) pointed out that I was expressing the thoughts of the other two people as well as the protagonist. Which, of course, I was.
Play around with different points of view. See
what fits your protagonist the best. You'd be amazed how a character changes
when you change that character's point of view!
For more information, read these two articles:
Fiction: Point of View (Writer's Digest)
Point of View in Fiction (Fiction Writers' Mentor)
Courting Murder by Bill Hopkins
A Judge Rosswell Carew Mystery
Available October 2012
ISBN 978-0-9830504-38
Southeast Missouri University
Press
When Judge Rosswell Carew makes the gruesome discovery of
two corpses on a riverbank in the Missouri Ozarks, he’s plunged into a storm of
deadly secrets that threaten both him and his fiancée, Tina Parkmore.
Unsatisfied with the way the authorities are conducting the investigation,
Rosswell, who’s always nurtured a secret desire to be a detective, teams up
with an ex-con, Ollie Groton, to solve the case before the killer can murder
again. Rosswell uncovers a maze of crimes so tangled that he must fight his way
to a solution or die trying.
Bill Hopkins is retired after beginning his legal career in
1971 and serving as a private attorney, prosecuting attorney, an administrative
law judge, and a trial court judge, all in Missouri. His poems, short stories,
and non-fiction have appeared in many different publications. He's had several
short plays produced. A book of collected poetry, Moving Into Forever, is available on Amazon. Bill is a member of
Mystery Writers of America, Dramatists Guild, Horror Writers Association,
Missouri Writers Guild, and Sisters In Crime. Bill is also a photographer who
has sold work in the United States, Canada, and Europe. He and his wife, Sharon
(a mortgage banker who is also a published writer), live in Marble Hill,
Missouri, with their dogs and cat. Besides writing, Bill and Sharon are
involved in collecting and restoring Camaros. Courting Murder is his first mystery novel.