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In response to the last question, using a passive voice is not always a bad thing when you don't want to write a story too fast paced. You can use it sparingly to help it slow down the pace in the plot. The only problem is overusing it and that's when you definitely need to avoid it. |
| a-little-harmed-shinra | |
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Though for the passive voice, it is useful when the person/object doing the object is unknown or not the focus of the sentence. |
| khanowl | |
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RE: 1st vs 3rd-- Like everyone said, it's a matter of taste. I like reading 1st because it's more personal. When I write my drafts, I might switch around just to get the story written (different styles work for different characters), then go back and sort it all out. I might write everything in first, only to change it to 3rd, and vice versa. It's double the work, but everyone has their process. I might decide to mix the two adding in the concept of letters or diaries etc. |
| acaseofnegligence | |
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I keep seeing 'passive voice', usually as a bad thing. What is passive voice, and why is it bad? |
| un-memories | Active voice: John hit the ball. Passive voice: The ball was hit. You could also put “The ball was hit by John.” As you can see, the passive voice conveys less information, often using more words. It’s kind of clunky and it slows down the pace of the story. |
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First person is generally regarded as more difficult than third person because one must keep the narrative in character at all times. It's a lot easier to screw up in first person than in third person, I think. That said, everyone has strengths in different areas, so for some people, first person will be easier than third. |
| electric-snake | |
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as far as writing first or third person, i tend to write first person and switch between the characters. this works for me because i tend to write adventure stuff and the characters end up in different places, so i need to be able to jump locations with them, but i keep it first-person because it's supposed to be a creepy story and it's easier to freak out your audience when a person is describing their own terror. that said, the way i write is genre-specific. i do third person for fanfiction. |
| natroze | |
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I personally tend to use Close Third Person when writing, thought I will sometimes change that if it doesn't seem to fit. I think that what works and what doesn't work depends on the author and the story being written. It doesn't matter if it's easier or not. Different styles are easier for different people, some stories work better written from a certain perspective, and some authors can pull certain points of views off better than others. |
| randomanduninspired | You just stated my point of view exactly. :) |
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Adding to my other comment; I have also seen some stories (mostly fanfictions) that use third person, but every couple of chapters they would switch from one character to the other - still in third person mode. I find this really fun to read and it keeps you interested. |
| becauseimhisgranger | |
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personally i think it's a lot easier to do some drafts in third person and then decide how to work first person or if it'd work at all. third person/omnipresent can be easier to set the story out as it is in your head. or if you write it straight away from first person you have to keep remembering where to draw the line and keep your characterisation throughout whilst still developing the story, which can be a challenge for some people. this is a lot longer than i intended it to be and idk if it |
| Anonymous | That sounds… hard. |
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My better stuff is written in first person, but it's largely a matter of personal taste. Switching voices in a narrative shouldn't be overdone. It's confusing for the reader to constantly have to switch points of view. But if it's done at the right time, it can be very interesting and reveal a lot about the character that the reader might not otherwise know. |
| vulcanchicks | |
