Type of novel writing

jesowo 2025-03-14 10:31:30 UTC #1

I'd like to know your opinion about which is better in novel writing: third-person or first-person narrative. I'm considering changing my novel's narrative style to make it more interesting for the reader, and I need your help to figure out which one is better

From what I understand:
- First-Person Narrative:
- Advantages: It allows the reader to deeply connect with the main character, experiencing their thoughts, emotions, and perspective firsthand. It feels very personal and immersive.
- Disadvantages: The story is limited to what the narrator knows or experiences, making it harder to provide broader context or explore other characters' viewpoints.

Third-Person Narrative:
- Advantages: It offers flexibility—you can show events from multiple characters' perspectives or paint a broader picture of the story's world. It’s ideal for complex plots with many characters.
- Disadvantages: It can feel less intimate, and readers might not connect as deeply with the characters' inner thoughts compared to first-person.

Smitaa 2025-03-14 10:54:20 UTC #2

I prefer a first-person or first-character narrative because it allows me to connect with the character more deeply. Though it can be challenging, I find it easier than managing multiple characters and their actions. Recently, I’ve been developing a self-insert character with the working name "PEN," and I’m really enjoying the process. While I also experiment with third-person perspectives and have worked on them, I consistently gravitate back to first-person writing. It's the style I enjoy most, both in writing and in reading.

jesowo 2025-03-14 11:07:59 UTC #3

Your writing style is very respectable, and I agree with you. I will definitely read your story and subscribe
Check out This Time, Instead Of Death, I Choose You on Tapas https://tapas.io/series/This-Time-Instead-Of-Death-I-Choose-You

stella 2025-03-14 11:14:27 UTC #4

I just write from the perspective of the third person(omniscient), it helps to understand all characters (thoughts and feeling) and move between several scenes. Imagine that you are writing the perspective of the first person and you want to add that there is a person watching the mc secretly, it will become very difficult, or you will have to add the eye of the third person to write it. In my opinion I feel like the first person pov It depends only on expectations and observation in everything hovering around the mc. It kills the routine of the thoughts and feelings of the same person.

This is my new novel (third person pov) I hope you can give me your opinion about my writing style

justanothernerdling 2025-03-14 11:28:32 UTC #5

Personally I prefer third person but hey I don't think one is better than the others!

heyroxi 2025-03-14 11:37:18 UTC #6

Hi! Based on my experience, it really depends on how you want to present your story to the reader. I’ve experimented with different perspectives, but after some trial and error (which sometimes made the narrative confusing), I decided to stick with third-person limited POV because it works best for me.

This perspective allows me to control how much insight readers get into a character’s thoughts while still maintaining some mystery. It also helps with pacing and tension, which is especially useful in a complex story like mine.

I completely understand the struggle with narrative choices, but thanks to @Zhengo and @eldritchtroubadour’s advice and reviews, I was able to improve my storytelling. Looking back, I can see a clear difference in my writing compared to my early chapters, which I try to update from time to time.

In the end, it really depends on your story and what you want your readers to experience!

jesowo 2025-03-14 12:28:46 UTC #7

Your opinion is respectable, as I said, the third person allows the story to progress in all directions and the other characters can be talked about as well.
I followed your story before and I liked your writing style

jesowo 2025-03-14 12:30:14 UTC #8

The third person allows you to see the story from any angle and has its own capabilities, but first person is only from the character's point of view

justanothernerdling 2025-03-14 12:32:13 UTC #9

I know the difference haha, I was just saying I think that classifying one as 'better' than the other isn't quite doable, as different narrative styles will lend themselves better to certain POVs !

jesowo 2025-03-14 12:33:17 UTC #10

I am happy that you , your point of view was very beautiful and perfect, I loved it and I use it well,, honestly, my story is in the first person, but because I can't convey the meaning very easily, I feel it is better to change the process to the third person.

raspberry590 2025-03-14 12:37:17 UTC #11

I like seeing everyone's perspectives here! Agreed that neither has objective or inherent superiority.

for me, the perspective I choose definitely depends on the story, and I think it can affect how the story develops as well! For FSDWSW, I switch between MC povs. It definitely has affected my storytelling; and I like having the opportunity to explore the effects of imperfect narration.

That said, there are a few aspects of the story and their relationships with other characters that my MCs will literally never know about, and I've ended up writing a few side stories as a result (probably to post as an interlude between arc 1 and arc 2). In the case of this novel, I think being limited in what I can tell the reader directly has helped me develop some as a writer (I have a long way to go). Not sure what narrative style I would choose for future projects, but Ive definitely learned things using this style that will affect how I write regardless!

stella 2025-03-14 12:49:30 UTC #12

Really!! Thank you so much

Oriflamme 2025-03-14 14:33:27 UTC #13

This is something few other post tangentially mentioned, but
Don’t forget third person can be separated into third person limited and third person omniscient.

third person limited is when you write using the third person but everything is filtered through the perspective of a single character

third person omniscient is written from an all knowing perspective, you have access to all the characters thought and all the events

You can check this page for more info:

jesowo 2025-03-14 14:58:46 UTC #14

Your point of view was very interesting, I had not paid attention to it until now

jesowo 2025-03-14 15:00:00 UTC #15

You are right, I think it doesn't matter whether the narration is from the third person or first person, a good story can depend on the author's pen and the story is interesting.

Algae 2025-03-14 20:05:50 UTC #16

Both are a valid choice, and I do think some stories are more suited for first person, like mysteries/horror for example, while others you might make a more interesting story by writing in third person, for example if you have heavy worldbuilding and would like to show from various perspectives? Our novel is a roleplay adaptation, so we naturally wrote it in third person omniscient, but I found that adapting it into a novel was a bit tough. In my opinion, third person omniscient and (in our case) not having a protagonist but a cast of heroes is harder than limiting writing to a single perspective or one main focus, it's difficult to hop from one viewpoint to another without it being a bit weird sometimes.

Ordinaryaverageguy 2025-03-14 21:29:12 UTC #17

I think that it depends on the kind of story you want to tell. Asking which is best may be a bit like asking, "which is better, a Phillips or a Slotted screwdriver?" First person takes advantage of the narrator's limited "field of view" & can create more mystery or misunderstanding. Third person permits the narrator to present everyone's limited field of view and the narrator can explain things that would be very difficult to insert in only a first person's narration.

Third person narratives can include personal & inner thoughts:
With an old screwdriver, he pried the hinges free of the layers of white paint and pushed them away from the door face. Then he forced the same screwdriver into a crack between the door and its frame. Come along quietly now if you know what's good for you. He began to pry. With a soft thump the door began to budge outward from its frame. "Damn. Quieter, you fool", he whispered to himself.

Ordinaryaverageguy 2025-03-14 21:30:41 UTC #18

I think I did much the same in one of my stories, with asides offered by "The Scrivener".

merakiconstellation 2025-03-15 09:00:09 UTC #19

I usually use a third-person narrative for stories with lots of characters, side stories, and multiple subplots excluding the main characters (like villains to scheme behind the MC's back). This gives me more control in deciding which part should remain a mystery, create the right cliffhanger, and maintain tension.

For example, Anne is working at a cafe, and someone steals from the cash register and blames her. Once she finds the real culprit, the narration will switch to the culprit. That will show readers how the culprit planned it, if anyone helped her, and her motivation.
With a first-person narrative, it's almost impossible to gauge another character's motivation to do something because, essentially, everything is from the MC's perspective and based on her judgment/assumptions.

I use the first-person narrative for emotionally charged stories. This allows me to convey the MC's feelings in real time to readers. At the same time, this type of narration is also good for building mystery. It allows the MC to mislead readers because memories can be distorted depending on feelings, and everything is up to the MC's interpretations of things.

I would say a first-person narrative is good for drama and suspense/thriller genres. Romantic genre works, too, since it focuses on feelings and emotions. But fantasy romance or royal court drama or high-conflict stories would work better with a third-person narrative, as it gives insights into a lot of things that happen in parallel.

mohdadeebace 2025-03-15 09:14:44 UTC #20

why don't you try both perspective... depending on the situation...... I mean like you start the story with perspective of a single character, but when you need you can switch to a monologue to use 3rd person perspective and then switch to another character first person perspective. I mean, now that i've mentioned it, i want to try it

here is a link to my story you can check it out