willjackson

Hi, all. I have a great story that I would like to write but I am definitely a beginner and has never tried to write a book. I have 2 man characters and at times they will be totally in 2 different places while I am telling the story. Will it be very hard to write this in 1st person or should I write the story using multiple dialogue going back and forth from 1st to 3rd person. Thanks Will

Nazareth

3'rd person would be my preference if both are main characters

demonic_harmonic

i think it would be cool if you mixed it. have a little 1st person, but have 3rd person as the main means of doing it. if you need more help, you can ask almost any of us.

Spudley

Use first person if you want the reader to directly empathise with the character. A first person character also acts as the narrator for the story, so if you use it, the character should be in a position to know all aspects of the story, even the parts they aren't involved in.

I would advise against using first person where you have more than one main character as you described - if you make them both first person, it could get very confusing for the reader; but if you have one of them being first person and the other written in third person, it will make the first person character seem much more direct, and reduce the impact of the other character. It will possibly also make the first person character seem omnipotent, because since the first person character is effectively the narrator for the story, it will seem as if they know everything that the other character is doing.

Hope that helps.

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Queasy Dillo

Not too long ago I read a book by Jimmy Buffet - something about Joe Merchant. I forget the title.

Now I thought it was a fairly entertaining read and all, but one of the biggest mistakes made was the use multiple points of view. One part of the story was written in first-person, the rest in third.

Unfortunately, the result was a book that caused as many headaches as grins. Remember, you don't want your reader having to constantly shift gears in mid-story.

So in a nutshell it's an interesting premise, but probably not an advisable one.

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