What's your favorite perspective in books?
There's 3rd-person perspective ("he said", "she thought"). Some books focus on a large amount of characters and don't really talk much about their thoughts, which makes me feel disconnected. The more specialized "limited 3rd-person", where the narrator only focuses on a few characters (or just one) but goes deeper, are more my thing.
There's 1st-person perspective ("I went"), which can be very interesting if the main character feels real. My mom said once that she generally didn't like 1st person as much as 3rd, maybe because it feels too intimate?
And there's the rarest one, 2nd-person perspective ("you said"...or usually, "you say", since 2nd-person is almost always in the present tense). I don't care for it much in the "Choose Your Own Adventure" kids books, because they try to make the main character as neutral as possible so you can implant your own thoughts into the book. There are a couple of short stories (and books too?) out there, though, that are in 2nd-person. I only read one (something by Ray Bradbury), but it's different because the main character isn't actually you, but by reading it you sort of pretend to be him. And I love this kind of "ultimate-being-in-someone's-shoes"/roleplay. When I write my own "Choose your own..." games (I actually call them "Pick Your Own Path Adventures"...or, PYOPAs) I try to create a character for the reader to become. This character is obviously not as detailed as 1st or 3rd person perspective (maybe it can be, though...I should read more books like that), but it's vague enough that you can put a bit of yourself in it.
Next time: present tense, past tense, or future tense? Heh heh.
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2 comments:
2nd person is always ignored, it seems. I guess I usually ignore it too, but you make an excellent point. If done well, it can be almost like a pre-determined roleplay. Which could be really awesome. But yeah, doesn't look like it's used a lot. That should change!
As for the other 2 perspectives, I tend to enjoy 1st a lot. I love how it can make you feel like the character, if the descriptions are well done. If they're not well done, then yeah, 3rd seems to be a better option.
Then, on the other hand, 3rd has more options for dialogue as well as the fact that you get more of each character, where as in 1st it's generally limited to only a few and even then, one at a time.
So it's sort of the choice between a broad view or a close-up. Both are great.
Did that make any sense? Note to self, avoid commenting when really sleepy. xD
Nice post!
Don't worry, that made sense. Thanks for the thoughtful comment! :)
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