First vs Third Person - A Perspective
50th birthday. WIP updates. A philosophical perspective on first vs third person perspective in fiction gleamed from video games. The worst opening sentences to books "never written" for 2023. Oh, the humanity.
I turned 50 this month! Um, yay? To celebrate, I'd planned a trip in November to Tel Aviv with a friend. Yeah... looks like we'll be going elsewhere. My heart goes out to the families living in constant fear of missile attacks. I honestly can't imagine.
In the meantime, I've been steadily chipping away at Project Xerxes (Lost Colonies Book 0), which now has its own book page, as well as a spot on the series page. I usually save this step until the first draft is done, or mostly done, out of paranoia that I may not finish. I don't know why, because I rarely leave manuscripts unfinished, but whatever. Call it a quirk. 😁 I'm about 2 chapters away from the end. The manuscript will probably be ~30k words / 110 pages, which should make for a nice, meaty freebie. Next step is finding a cover, then it's on to the second draft of Enigma (Lost Colonies Book 1). The fun part about writing Project Xerxes at this stage is that it has given the universe more depth, which I'll use to enhance Enigma during the next draft. Everybody wins!
Side note: The feature image, snapped from New Atlantis in the game Starfield, is a somewhat greener version of what I imagine planet Galileo looks like from Project Xerxes. If I find a closer fit, I'll let you know.
As for my other works in progress, Books 5 and 6 of The Z-Tech Chronicles still don't have definitive release dates, but the publisher assures me they will be published. Apart from Project Xerxes and Enigma, I don't have any other manuscripts in the air, a problem I will likely address after the second draft of Enigma by starting Book 3 of the Timeless Keeper Saga. 😁
This month's feature explores a recent revelation about a quandary I've had my entire life regarding first and third person perspectives in sci fi and fantasy. Hope you find it as insightful as I did.
In this newsletter
- First vs Third Person — A Matter of Perspective
- Free Books, Sales, and Events
- Currently Reading
- Other Authors You Might Like
First vs Third Person
A Matter Of Perspective
Like many kids, my gateway drug to reading was fantasy, especially epics. I read every series I could find, which, before the internet, wasn't easy, nor did I have nearly the selection available today. And without exception, every single one of them presented from third-person limited perspective.
It's no wonder, then, that when I later picked up a book written from any other perspective it felt unnatural. For years, I believed third person to be the one true perspective. The writing style to rule them all. Then I delved into Urban Fantasy, which skews heavily toward first person perspective. I can't say it changed my mind, but it widened my tolerance—or lessened my prejudice, to call a horse a horse—to the point where I won't set a book aside simply because it's first person.
That lasted until the humbling experience of trying to sell my own books, which taught me that just about every aspect of fiction, from the protagonist's personality and gender, to plot, pacing, themes, and yes, perspective, is 100% subjective to the reader's tastes. There is no peer review body or set of standards that can tell you as an individual what you should or shouldn't like, because unlike so many other aspects of our lives, what we enjoy reading is no one else's beeswax. Your background and experiences make you absolutely unique, shaping the minutiae of your preferences in combinations that no algorithm can predict.
Reasonable enough, right?
I thought so until recently, when I started playing a lot of Skyrim (and now Starfield), which offers a choice between first- and third-person perspectives. Now, usually I'm not picky in games, but with the Elder Scrolls series, I've always preferred to play in first person, despite the plethora of opinionated players who insist that the advent of third person has made first person obsolete. Conversely, I played countless hours of Witcher 3 (okay, Steam will tell me exactly how many hours, but I don't want to know) in third-person, and I couldn't imagine playing Geralt of Rivia any other way.
They're both massive open-world fantasy games. Why do I prefer one perspective for the first, and a different perspective for the other? And how, if at all, does that relate to reading? (Yes, I spend time thinking about these things. No wonder why I don't get much writing done.)
Turns out, the key is Geralt. The story in Witcher 3 is told from a very specific character's perspective. In dialogue, I hear his voice. I see his back when I run, watch him fight, wince when he recoils from a blow. I can't imagine myself in that situation, because all I see and hear is him. And because his character is drawn so well and so thoroughly, it works.
Skyrim, on the other hand, has no character voiceovers. Every dialogue has options covering a range of playstyles. Skill trees are built from the ground up, and can be mixed and matched as you play to create any archetype you can imagine. In other words, it doesn't pre-define your character in any way, allowing you to fully put yourself in your character's shoes and steer the story as you see fit. Given these freedoms, playing in third person disrupts the illusion that you are in the story by showing you someone else, instead of seeing only the world around you (first person), just as you would if you were actually there.
Okay, let's reel it back in to our favorite topic: books. Fiction is almost always told from the viewpoint of a protagonist, i.e. not you. It's an even stricter version of the Geralt experience: unless you're reading a choose-your-own-adventure, the things that happen, what the character says, and what they do are fixed. You can imagine it all happening, but you can't affect the outcome without asking the author pretty-please for a revision (good luck with that) or creating your own version as fan fiction.
For me, this is the paradox: A story written from first-person perspective has a rigid (fixed) idea of who "I" am, and while it tends to give more natural access to "my" thoughts, it also robs me of the somewhat crucial view of the protagonist, who very clearly is not me. It's like trying to play Witcher 3 in first person. Sure, it's fun, but is it as much fun as third person limited, where I not only get to see the world through the character's eyes, but also the wonderful character the author envisioned?
Now, I can logic at everyone until the cows sing (ha ha) but, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter because my second revelation stands above all else: No one can tell you what you enjoy reading. But if you've ever felt a niggling discomfort about (or preference for) one perspective or another, this might give a few insights why.
Free Books, Sales, and Events
- October – Winners of the 2023 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. "A whimsical literary competition for the worst possible opening sentences to novels never written." Hilariously bad, but don't take my word for it.
- October – Epic Sci-Fi & Fantasy Book Fair. Go big, or go home in a box. These titles don't mess around.
Currently Reading
Déjà vu! Same books as last month, but I finished Red Rising and... oh my gosh, now I understand the hype.
Red Rising
"I am the spark that will set the worlds afire. I am the hammer that cracks the chains." -Darrow, Red Rising
Like Gideon the Ninth, this book schooled me on what makes a truly great science fiction story. I'm not generally a fan of first person / present tense in sci fi (see feature above), but the combination of Brown's writing style and Reynolds' narration helped me get past my prejudice and enjoy this story for what it is: an imaginative, no-holds-barred epic dystopian adventure spanning deadly mines, futuristic cities, and the proving grounds to end all proving grounds.
If you haven't read Red Rising, run, don't walk, to your nearest retailer and pick it up.
Click below for my full review.
Other Authors You Might Like
The Gauntlet Runner (Thrassas Cycle Book 2)
A guard and a thief. What could go wrong?
Aik has fallen hopelessly in love with his best friend. But Raven's a thief, which makes things … complicated. Oh, and Raven has just been kidnapped by a dragon.
Now Aik is off on a quest of his own, to hunt down the foul beast and make them give back his … friend? Lover? Soulmate? The whole not-knowing thing just makes everything harder.
Meanwhile, the world of Tharassas is falling apart, besieged by earthquakes, floods, and strange creatures no one has ever seen before. Aik's ex, Silya has gone back to Gullton to try to save her people as the Hencha Queen, and Aik's stuck in a caravan with her mother and a damnable magical gauntlet that won't let him be. He has to find Raven, before it’s too late.
Things were messy before … but now they're much, much worse.
My Books
Timeless Keeper Saga
On a war-ravaged Earth no longer able to sustain life, a half-blind dome farmer and a mysterious city dweller may hold the keys to humanity's fate.
The Timeless Keeper Saga is a science fiction dystopian thriller series about forbidden love, mysterious ancient artifacts, hidden powers, and the indomitable human spirit.
The Z-Tech Chronicles
In the face of a rising, ancient evil, a traumatized San Francisco waitress may be the only thing standing between humanity and oblivion.
The Z-Tech Chronicles is a science fiction / urban fantasy saga that follows Anne Perrin on her journey from a traumatized waitress to becoming more than she ever imagined.
One Man's Trash - A Truck Stop at the Center of the Galaxy Story
Croft Winder grew up believing that love is blind.
It wasn't until he took his fiancée on a little vacation to the Truck Stop at the Center of the Galaxy, however, that he learned it can also be downright insane.
Will the wonders of the Truck Stop save their relationship or send it to the executioner’s block? Not even the ancient Delphians could have guessed.
One Man's Trash is a cozy sci fi romance set in the Truck Stop at the Center of the Galaxy universe.
Dragon Assassin - A Steamy Shifter Romance
Half dragon. Half human. All woman... and all killer.
Humans think Charon is a monster. Dragons consider her an abomination, condemning her to a lifetime of isolation.
Now her half-breed body is changing in ways she doesn't understand, torturing her with strange desires. Her only hope may lie with a handsome young assassin who, in courting her, might be getting more than he signed up for.
If you're into sexy shape-changing half-dragons, suave assassins, absurd anatomy, and steamy female-led relationships, then this thrilling paranormal romance adventure is for you!
