POV: Which is Better?

When writing a story, a lot of people think about which way they should write it. Should they use third person, second person, or first person? In general, it’s determined by your preference. However, just recently a friend of mind and I got into a debate about which one is better to use to tell a story. More specifically, it was about first person and third person.

My friend argued that first person was better because you can make the reader feel like they are directly inside the character. What the character sees is what you see. As a result, not only can you make them feel like they are taking part in the scene (as the main character) but also do a lot of neat tricks with only using one pair of eyes to tell the story. He then gave an example of a main character written in first person where they were getting revenge. However, the entire time what the character saw was an illusion, and the character was in a coma the entire time.

I agreed with his last statement but also disagreed. I argued that third person was better. More specifically, third person limited because the reader knows the thoughts and feelings of the character.  This in turn gives a direction for the characters actions. Basically, it helps the reader eliminate the thought of “what just happened?”. And sometimes, this extends to every character. That way the reader knows that the antagonist might like the female lead, but the female lead doesn’t know that which causes multiple reactions amongst the readers. It generates a response and discussion.

First person does have the advantage of making the reader feel like they are the one lifting the sword in a bloody battle (scene in the story) but because of that there is a lack of details. The reader might not know the setting of the scene so the picture they imagine will just be a general battle ground they’ve seen on TV when the writer had a specific setting for the battle scene.

But I wonder what you guys’ think is better. Do you prefer third person or first person? Why? Don’t be afraid to let me know down in the comments.

Anyone can be a Writer

Recently I had a talk with one of my friends who was nervous about posting her story online. She loves to write but always gets nervous whenever someone asks to read it. Her, and I quote, words were “what if they don’t like it?”. My response was that you can’t please everyone, and that the most important thing was that she enjoyed it. However, she was still nervous, so I let her know about those entry level story contests on Wattpad. A couple days later she called me saying that she joined and that she had a lot of fun. Gone was her nervousness and in its place was a little more confidence.

I had a similar experience. I didn’t have any of that nervousness, but I got told in the comment section of my story about a story contest going on and that I should join. “Why not?” I thought and entered in my story. Of course, I snooped around and voted for stories I liked that were also listed in the same contest as me. I didn’t win but I had a lot of fun. Not only that, I also got to talk to an author I followed/adored.

That’s the beauty of writing. There are no witch hunts, only constructive criticism. No matter what your job or age is you can create a story and most of us that love to write welcome that with open arms. Your story doesn’t have to be a novel (or a series of novels) to be enjoyed.

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Web Novels Vs Novels

Maybe you’ve heard of these, but there are these things called web novels. I’ve noticed that many people don’t know the difference between the two.

A novel generally has an average word count of 90,000 – 100,000 words to about 320 – 350 pages while web novels generally don’t have a fixed length of chapters or word count unless defined by the author. Novels are usually in digital and physical format, but a web novel is a story that only exists online. If you want to get technical, web novels are the groundwork or detailed plan of a to be published novel (if they ever will). Not only that, novels also usually go through a whole process before they are published.

They have editors while web novels have variable editing since the only one editing the story is the author (instead of the publisher’s team). Novels also are completed stories that are published while web novels tend to have weekly/monthly releases online. Web novels are also more casual in form, grammar, and tone compared to a novel.

And the most important difference is that web novels are usually from overseas while novels come from the west and overseas. For example, if you go to novel updates and try to look up a web novel, under the translated name will be the original name in Japanese, Chinese, and/or Korean.

Personally, I like web novels because they are like novels with no price tag but a nice physical book is nice once n’ while.