I usually write in first person or third person personal when doing my stories because that’s how the majority of writers that I read write. But because of the Homestuck fandom I have been reading a lot more from the second person perspective. I am trying to expand my writing styles so I have to categorize the perspectives that I write with and hope to write with.
First person perspective is usually easy for me because the main character is reflexive of myself. The character is usually an original and therefore I control all aspects. I usually make them very aware of their surroundings and write very descriptively of the settings. But that is because I do the same (to an extent). Writing fanfiction has actually opened up my perspective of first person perspective. When using someone else’s character you have to be aware of how he or she thinks and how he or she would interact with the environment and given situation based on someone else’s rules for him or her. The character won’t necessarily react like I would and I have to write like that. I noticed this as I was writing for a character that was a kind of an oblivious guy so he wouldn’t take as much time describing the scene or even what he does pay attention to as much as he would focus on the actions. So I decided to minimize the description of the scene and focus on what was happening and the other characters in the scene. I need to work on incorporating more of the character into first person and less of myself even as the author.
As I say that, I really enjoy writing first person perspective for characters that are similar to me because I get to expound a lot on the behind the scenes perception from that character. There is a lot of thoughts and emotions that can be inserted into scenes where often action or dialog isn’t enough. That’s a problem with visual media, you can’t quite get into the head of the character. Second person and third person personal also allow this but in other ways. First person is like a ride along. You experience the scenes with the character. Especially in first person present. I feel like too much can be given away from the past tense. The narrator already knows what is going to happen and their telling of the story is going to be or at least should be colored by the result. That’s one thing that pisses me off about reality TV personal moments. They aren’t in real time so they have time to compose and spin their thoughts towards certain outcomes. Immediate storytelling is the truest. Don’t give them time, just take the story raw.
Now, the difference between present and past tense doesn’t necessarily exist that strongly when writing from any of the third person perspectives. And yes, I think there are multiple variances of third person. The most common one is probably third person personal. This is where the story follows a main character and is usually given greater insight into their head than a normal observer would have. It’s still almost first person perspective but with a little separation between character and reader. This also allows for a little cheating, like a view into another scene where that character isn’t present like the villains talking about something. The reader gets to know something but the character doesn’t. This is more appropriate though with third person omnipotent. This is where the story is told from an omnipotent observer. The narrator sees and hears and knows everything. You get the most insight into the characters but lose the realness of the relationships. If you can hear the thoughts of everyone you miss what is implied and what is misconstrued. I feel like it gives too much away.
Instead, I actually like to write from what I consider to be third person impersonal especially if I have a lot of characters or character interactions. You don’t get any personal insight directly from the characters but have to observe their emotions and thoughts from their actions, words, tones, expressions, etc. The characters will be able to hide a lot from both other characters and the reader. The narration also tends to follow the action of the story rather than a single character and allows for more universal description of the setting. I appreciate that fact because I like to paint pictures with my words. I try to engage all the senses of a scene. As an author I can dictate what is brought to light when and tell the story as myself instead of hiding in a character or letting it all out at once. I try to include as much detail as possible to let the reader come to their own conclusions but I also get to guide them towards certain assumptions. Sometimes it is difficult to get a scene to come together how I like, but that’s a good challenge. It pushes me to figure out how to include small but important details without blatantly calling them out. I’ll be using this perspective for Ayteaelle mostly because I want to bounce between the characters and their interactions but unfortunately I will focus a lot on Aeacus. She gets in the middle of everything. There are probably many other variations on third person perspectives but to me these are the main three.
One variation of writing I have come to admire recently as described above is the second person perspective. It’s definitely and interesting style. I got into it because of how much I read it and how much I like reading it. I don’t connect with the character as I suppose should happen though. I don’t suddenly see myself as the character after reading the line “You are So-and-So,” but it’s definitely different from reading the line “I am So-and-So.” The second person perspective I’ve seen in the fandom reflects the style of the original story and the commands usually throw in a good bit of (usually appropriate) humor for the situation when done well. It also assists with character changes if the author requires it. I haven’t employed those yet, but I have written from second person perspective. It’s interesting how to wield it as an author because it is very much like directing or commanding a character to react through whatever circumstances they come across. I’ve found that I can through a lot more personal/reflective humor into those pieces. Though it is really easy to slip back into first person. I will definitely keep using it and see if I can use it outside of the fandom.
Generally though, the second person perspective give as much insight to the main character as first person perspective but with a different tone. The character is being told that he or she must feel a certain way instead of the character reporting it. There have been several cases of stories where you honestly cannot trust the main character and ever since I’ve read those, I do doubt 100% complete honesty from characters. I doubt my own honesty with myself sometimes. With second person perspective you can trust the character more, but you still have to question the narrator/author. It’s an interesting play against the audience.
I hope to discover more perspectives to try and write from and I am definitely going to find myself some interesting characters to try.
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