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first person versus third person writing

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Offline tomboy999999

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first person versus third person writing
« on: August 05, 2012, 06:44:06 PM »
As I cannot write well enough to post here this is maybe a dumb question but why are most fight stories written in the third person?

Most people I have cybered wth use the third person too.

I can see why a male would use third person in cyber but why not first person in a story? ( or even when cybering)

There seem to be several women writers her but aagin third person.

Could any writers ( or readers ) add a comment please

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Offline Jessica92

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Re: first person versus third person writing
« Reply #1 on: August 06, 2012, 12:48:15 AM »
Plenty of novels are written in the third person without losing a jot of the psychology of the characters... I prefer third person as it is more narrative. of course if one can write well he or she can do it in third as well as in first person. I find first person quite limited too. I enjoy watching one-sided massacres where one girl I side with is torn to pieces: in first person when she is unconscious how can she realistically be able to describe the numerous abuses she's put though ? And if we read the story from the winners point of view, in my ideal match the winner is little short of an evil unemotional killing machine that just enjoy to administer sadistic pain to the helpless innocent jobber in front of her ... all the pleasure rests in the loser's ultimate demise and final humiliation. Third person allows for a more complete view of the scene.
Let's make an example.
First person view of one scene.
I started punching Letizia in her guts. Her flat stomach... I hated how flat her fucking belly was and I hated how nicely she danced her belly dances. I wanted to destroy her abs and crush her guts. I held her by her long brunette hair and lifted my knee as hard as I could straight between her legs. I enjoyed watching her mouth distorted by the intense pain in her fuck hole. I kept hammering her in her cxnt until I heard something giving way and blood erupted on my fist. She was out cold. I dropped her fucking body on the pavement and stomped her fucking midsection again and again... I could feel her once perfect abs turn into a fucking jelly under the soles of my snickers. Ah... I was finally destroying her belly! I watched my shoes dig deeper and deeper in her flesh... blood flowed out her cxnt... did I crush her uterus already ? I hoped I was permanently damaging her... when I dragged her back to her feet by her hair she was still out cold dripping blood from her fuck hole. I punched her in the face... sent an uppercut straight on her perfect nose... I loved the sound of the cracked... shattered bone... the pain woke the cxnt up at last. I punched her again on her plexus : " you will never dance again slut! Never again!!!" ... the next punch in her plexus was so hard she spat out blood and saliva. I dropped her on the hard pavement and stomped her fucking midsection again and again. Blood and gore spat out of her mouth. I lifted her broken body and enjoyed my handiwork. I opened a nearby trash container and dropped her unconscious body in there...
........
In my opinion this would be more complete in third person don't you agree?
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Offline Jessica92

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Re: first person versus third person writing
« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2012, 01:17:58 AM »
Always happy to contribute :) (yeah ok a bit brutal but you know... I like it rough :p)
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Offline Nutmeg

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Re: first person versus third person writing
« Reply #3 on: August 06, 2012, 07:11:03 AM »
Well the easy answer to the original question is that third person is the most popular narrative form. Although I can't say I have seen it much for cyber (I know I usually do first person). Third person does have variations , one is subjective vs objective (subjective meaning you know one or more character's feelings and thoughts and objective meaning you know none) and on omniscient vs limited (omniscient meaning the narrator sees and knows all and the limited meaning its limited to one person's viewpoint).

One reason third person is popular is it does convey an epic scene quite well and it is easier to write in many ways. You just put in what you want without much thought of who would know what. Now a third person limited, subjective is very close to first person and is what George RR Martin uses in A Song of Ice and Fire mixed in with alternating viewpoints which could be an interesting way to tell a story.

First person is useful if you want an autobiographical feel or if you wish to convey an emotion and connection to the character or if you want some sense of mystery. So really its what you want to convey.
Now reading: The Condor Years by John Dinges and trying to figure out how stupid the X men are now

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Offline Jessica92

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Re: first person versus third person writing
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2012, 08:46:58 AM »
Well I am not much of a story writer but I would use third person as a narrator, because the other scenarios you suggest are still narrated in the first person, just from a distant point of view. I for one would find a story narrated in first person by someone outside the scene, like a bf watching her girl beaten or beating quite a turn off as far as I am concerned.
My idea is more like this:

Letizia was a 5'7 tall brunette with a body that, while not muscular, was well toned due to all her bellydancing. she wore her straight hair long and had brown eyes in a face both sweet and innocent. she looked younger than her 25 yo age.
Anna on the contrary was a relatively short black haired girl just out of her teens. At 20 yo she was little short of 5'5 and very slim, which was the envy of her former schoolmates in high school. She looked too skinny to be a fighter but she did have an attitude. Especially she loved to play dirty.

And dirty she did play. When the two girls met Anna spat out her hatred for Letizia: "I so fucking hate you belly dancer skank ! I will drop your body in a pile of trash when I am done with you!"
 Letizia tried to punch Anna but the smaller girl blocked with her wrist. she was wearing black leathers and had chains on her wrists. The metal cut through Letizia's soft hand skin leaving her bloody bruises. Then Anna attacked. Her heavy metal boot flew up and connected with Letizia's soft womanhood sending a shockwave of devastating pain through the brunette's body. Letizia dropped on her knees and Anna started punching her face like a punch ball, with Letizia's head rocking left and right at each vicious blow. With a final uppercut to her nose Anna shattered Letizia's tender bone and the girl dropped on the pavement in a pool of her own blood dripping copious from her nostrils. Letizia was out cold. That was when Anna started having fun: "say bye to your washboard abs, skank!" she spat out before stomping her heavy boot again and again on Letizia's midsection . The poor girl's abs where soon hammered into a jelly and Anna's boots now sank deep into Letizia's tender flesh rearranging her insides. the pain woke Letizia up only for her to puke out blood from her mouth.
Satisfied with the destruction caused by her boots, Anna finally lifted Letizia's limp and broken body and admired how her guts were now a sorry mess, her once beautiful belly now horribly bruised and her washboard abs permanently crushed and destroyed.
Anna drag Letizia to a trashcan and, holding to her word, dropped the destroyed girl on a pile of trash before walking away fully satisfied .



There! That's my general idea :)
« Last Edit: August 06, 2012, 08:51:30 AM by Letizia »
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JESSICA
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Offline Nutmeg

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Re: first person versus third person writing
« Reply #5 on: August 06, 2012, 10:19:26 PM »
Well the easy answer to the original question is that third person is the most popular narrative form. Although I can't say I have seen it much for cyber (I know I usually do first person). Third person does have variations , one is subjective vs objective (subjective meaning you know one or more character's feelings and thoughts and objective meaning you know none) and on omniscient vs limited (omniscient meaning the narrator sees and knows all and the limited meaning its limited to one person's viewpoint).

One reason third person is popular is it does convey an epic scene quite well and it is easier to write in many ways. You just put in what you want without much thought of who would know what. Now a third person limited, subjective is very close to first person and is what George RR Martin uses in A Song of Ice and Fire mixed in with alternating viewpoints which could be an interesting way to tell a story.

First person is useful if you want an autobiographical feel or if you wish to convey an emotion and connection to the character or if you want some sense of mystery. So really its what you want to convey.

Thanks for clearing it up - correct terms are objective vs subjective 3rd person and that is a subject upon itself as to which is better to read as objective could have a bias slant to it while subjective keeps a neutral view of it.  So if I were reporting on a fight or wrestling match my girlfriend is in, there will be a very objective slant to it as opposed to a witness who knows either girl.

Objective should NOT have any bias by its very definition. Not sure how much clearer I can make it. And really its all in what the writer wishes to convey in their story. The obsession over bias seems more appropriate if this was to be used in court or something. What story are you trying to tell should be the question.
Now reading: The Condor Years by John Dinges and trying to figure out how stupid the X men are now

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Offline peccavi

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Re: first person versus third person writing
« Reply #6 on: August 06, 2012, 10:45:26 PM »
I have always writen stories in the first person; although I co wrote a story with the great Janet K brown in third person. There are two reasons, because I can convey more of my narrator's emotion that way and because I am fascinated by multiple viewpoints so some of my stories are the same incident narrated by different characters.
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Offline Nutmeg

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Re: first person versus third person writing
« Reply #7 on: August 07, 2012, 12:35:48 AM »
Well all three of those examples Boeing are considered first person. The main tipoff is using things like 'my' which indicates that the observer is a character in the story. When the narrator is obviously giving their personal input on the story it becomes first person.

Like I said subjective with limited knowledge third person is really close to first person.

Here's two ways to do your descriptions in third person achieving different views as it were.

The amazon hoists the hapless brunette for a thundering powerbomb in the middle of the ring. It is obvious to the crowd that this ss a mismatch from the start,  but like the toned tigress in the ring, they delight in the the carnage.  After  an approving nod from her boyfriend, she places her foot directly between the sweat drenched brunette's tiny chest. As the ref counts off 3, someone in the crowd shouts out "Blonde power!. " "Damn right, just proved that!" shouts back the Golden Girl as she points back at the crowd. The ref counts three and her award winning smile beams as her boyfriend makes his way to the ring.

With a animal grunt, the blonde lifted her up and slammed her opponent to the mat with a clumsy powerbomb. The thud resonated through the arena as the crowd was quiet and seemed bored over the mismatch. Apparently needing her boyfriend's approval, he nods and she places her foot on the valiant brunette's heaving chest and the ref dutifully begins his count.  A drunk yells out "Blonde power!" Pointing back at him in what looks suspiciously like a Nazi salute, she acknowledges the fan. With that match mercifully over, the murmur begins over the main event upcoming.

« Last Edit: August 07, 2012, 12:39:54 AM by nutmeg78 »
Now reading: The Condor Years by John Dinges and trying to figure out how stupid the X men are now

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Offline MistressVicky

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Re: first person versus third person writing
« Reply #8 on: August 07, 2012, 11:25:02 PM »


Johnny the Dueces and I try to write our stories from 1st person, 3rd person and other view points. It is good excersize trying to feel what others feel instead of being an onlooker.