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ggardengirl · 10 months ago

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GGardengirl's Guide to Choosing Perspective & Tense When Writing Fiction

because for some reason, i felt like writing an essay. (word count: 1974)

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First Person: Give Me a Reason, Pretty Please

I don’t think I have written a single thing in first person since I was in middle school, but that is because I mainly write fic. First person fic is generally a turn off for most readers (me included) and I think that’s because first person is such an intimate perspective.

You, the writer, aren’t just writing about a character, you are becoming the character, so that we, the reader, can become the character too. If it is not your original work you’re writing about, then it can feel weird and out of character when we read it, because it implies an intimate knowledge the layman (laystan, if you will) doesn’t have when it comes to the source material. And even if you do know the source material inside and out, and have a serious grasp on the characters, fic readers are not likely to take a chance on it—so keep that in mind, if you’re thinking about first person for a fic. It can be done, and it can be done well, but just keep that in mind, so you know what you’re getting into!

(This ONLY applies to fic. If you’re writing an original story, I don’t think you need to have any worries about choosing first person, because they are your characters, and it is your story. You can do whatever the fuck you want with them, and no one can say it’s out of character. Now, onto my main thought about first person.)

First person reads as a real time internal monologue—these are thoughts being thought for the very first time, as something happens, not after. Because of this, it should mainly be used with present tense, unless there is a narrative reason for past tense, such as the protagonist writing the book they exist in.

Think: Percy Jackson and the Olympians—We are supposed to read the books as if Percy himself is the one who is writing them, not Rick Riordan. (It’s kind of a mixed perspective, because he does address us, the reader, which is direct address, but it’s still first person. The audience is only really referred to as an aside.)

We know this, because Percy straight up tells us it’s a book in the second sentence of The Lightning Thief:

“If you're reading this because you think you might be [a half-blood], my advice is: close this book right now.”

Percy is writing down his story, so that future demigods can learn from his experience. Everything that happens in PJO has technically already happened. Future Percy is telling us how Past Percy felt in those moments, while also having the gift of hindsight, and being able to know what is important and what’s not. (One could argue that this would make it present tense, but Present Percy isn’t telling us what’s happening in the current moment. The story is still set in the past.)

It can feel weird to read something in past tense when the narrative doesn’t call for it, because it makes me wonder: who is the protagonist narrating for? If the story isn’t happening in the moment, are they just sitting somewhere, going through their past beat by beat in their mind?

“I did [BLANK],” “I thought [BLANK],” —why are they rehashing their own thoughts? And why are we, the reader, being told their past thoughts? Give us a reason!

This is just my personal opinion—there doesn’t technically need to be an in-universe reason for first person being past tense. There’s no hard and fast rule. But I find it distracting to read, and I think it’s something to be aware of—the last thing you want as a writer is for your reader to be stuck on storytelling logistics, and not the actual story.

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Third Person: Flexible as Hell

Third person is a lot more malleable. It can be past or present, but it’s still good to think through your choice of tense and whether or not it should be omniscient or limited. You want to choose something that helps serve the story, and doesn’t hinder it.

Past tense omniscient makes it clear right off the bat that the story being told is a work of fiction. It’s very storybook-esque; very Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, and all that. You don’t need an explicit narrator to make this work, but this is where an explicit narrator works the best—think: The Book Thief, and how it’s narrated by Death. (Once again, one could argue this is technically first person, but since Death isn't actually in the story, he's just telling it, it is seen as third person.)

It works similar to Percy Jackson—everything we are being told has already happened, and the narrator is telling us what happened for a reason. There is a purpose in this specific story being told—we want to read on, so we can find that purpose.

Present tense omniscient feels more like a movie/live action. We, the reader, are watching the events unfold. These things are happening now, and we are witnessing it. And, like a movie, we see a fuller version of events, because we aren’t only seeing through the eyes of one person. We are watching from a third party camera; a bird’s eye view—not straight through a character’s eyes. If you want your story to feel like a movie, this is probably the way to go.

Limited and limited omniscient POV’s work in the same way. Both focus on the direct view of a protagonist; we see what they see—limited omniscience just means you add more characters to the mix. This is typically what I choose to write in, but I oscillate frequently between past and present tense with different stories, sometimes with no rhyme or reason. If it’s a book I’m writing fic for, I tend to use whatever tense the book was written in, but otherwise, it’s just based on vibes.

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Second Person: Criminally Underutilized, Terminally Misunderstood

Second person is…complicated. Which is understandable—it can be weird to read, and tricky to write. I understand why people tend to write second person off, but I think that’s a huge loss for them. Because when second person works, it fucking works.

Second person works best in the present tense. I think of it like there’s an omniscient overlord who’s describing your—the protagonist’s—life in real time, as it actually happens. Past tense feels weird because why is the overlord telling you what you did? You already did it—you should know.

SIDENOTE: (spoilers for Harrow the Ninth)

This is the exception to the previous statement. Second person past tense can work, but only if the story is lying to you and is secretly first person direct address. It works when I, a secondary protagonist, am narrating what happened to you, the main protagonist, while I was hidden in your body like a parasite after you lobotomized yourself in the name of love, and you need some clarification of events after the fact. This, and only this, is when it works. (Please read The Locked Tomb series. I’m begging you.)

BACK TO THE POINT:

You can write in second person no matter what the story is about, but I think the real beauty in second person comes through when it’s being used for a reason. I’ve found that it works best in character explorations, and stories where the main character has complicated feelings surrounding their identity. Second person detaches you from the world; it adds a degree of separation from the self that you can’t get with any other perspective.

For example: there’s a wonderful jackieshauna fic by britishngay on AO3, called memento mori, that’s set in Ancient Rome. The entire story is set in second person, and while reading it, I realized that it couldn’t be written any other way and still work the way it was meant to.

(Spoilers for the entire fic—feel free to come back, but it's still worth reading even knowing what I'm about to say)

In memento mori, Shauna is a former butcher whose home is destroyed and is taken to Rome. In Rome, she’s forced to be a gladiator, and to go by the name of “Butcher.”

Shauna is robbed of her identity as “Shauna.” She keeps her name as a secret just for herself, because it’s the only thing she has that’s still hers—the only thing that has yet to be stolen. She takes on the persona of “Butcher.”

“‘Far from home, it’s the Butcher of Gaul!’ The announcer yells and the gate starts to rise. The anxiety in your gut reaches an all-time high before dropping to nothing, you detach yourself from you, the girl from the woman, the rebel to the gladiator, Shauna from the butcher.”

Butcher is violent, ruthless; an amalgamation of the audience’s desires. But she can’t be anything other than Butcher, because Shauna died when her home did.

“‘Butcher?’ [Jackie] asks, tentative and for a second you forgot that that’s how she knows you, that that’s your name, your identity here. It’s Shauna, my name is Shauna. You almost say but it gets quelled by your head. Nothing else, nothing more.”

It’s only as her relationship with Jackie grows, and she feels like she can open up to her, that she tells Jackie her real name, and then eventually Van. By the end of the story, she’s reclaimed her identity as Shauna all together.

“‘My name is Shauna.’ You tell [Van], in case you don’t make it. She’s probably your closest friend here, and you want someone else to say it, so you can hear it one more time before you go out there, in case." "It’s nice to hear it. You’re enjoying hearing it said again, by people you trust.”

The story works the way it does, and has the impact it does because of the perspective it’s in. There is no other way it could work.

Third person wouldn’t work: Shauna would have to be referred to by name—but the narrative can’t refer to her as Shauna, because she isn’t Shauna, she’s Butcher. But she’s not entirely Butcher, because that would mean she’d completely erased her identity as Shauna.

First person wouldn’t work either. It would solve the problem of how to refer to Shauna, but it wouldn’t serve the narrative—it wouldn’t show the disconnect she has when it comes to who she is and the things she is doing. First person is far too personal, too intimate, and she has walls up for everyone around her, even herself. Shauna can’t invite an audience into her internal monologue when she doesn’t even let herself into it.

Which leaves only second person. When Shauna’s real name is mentioned, when we see Shauna call herself “Shauna,” or her friends call her “Shauna,” it feels important. It’s important, because it’s only ever mentioned those few times—only 34 times is the word “Shauna” written. “Butcher” is written 81 times.

Writing from a second person perspective gets me into a character’s head more than any other perspective. It plays a weird trick on my brain, where I start to feel like I am the “you” I’m writing about. There is something about how matter of fact it feels to write something like, “You walk down the street. You feel broken inside,” that makes me go: “Huh. I guess I’m walking down the street and feel broken inside.” Shit makes me feel weird, but I love it.

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No matter what perspective or tense you choose to use, remember this: writing is fun! It is meant to be fun! Don't torture yourself with this stuff if it makes writing not fun—talking about technical things and writing strategies is just how writing is fun for me.

Happy writing!

xoxo, lulu ‪‪❤︎‬

(TLDR: first person past tense needs a reason, third person is a jack of all trades, and second person is kinda cool, actually.)

#it's the first week of the semester and this is what i did with today #whatever i had fun #essay #first person pov #second person pov #third person pov #past tense #present tense #narrative #point of view #writers on tumblr #creative writing #fanfiction #fic writing #fiction #percy jackon and the olympians #the book thief #jackieshauna fic

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hoshigray · 2 years ago

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ugh im just so tired of people dying in jjk. like this is just trauma for the characters for no reason and its not fair to them?? they're not real obvi so no reason to advocate for them but i feel like an obnoxious amount of people have died yfm?? because i cant really see how gojo dying would truly advance the plot likeee is this meant to make megumi, yuuta, and/or yuji stronger? bc im pretty sure those 3 have seen enough people die for their own personal development for the rest of their lives. and i feel like even non-jjk enjoyers being shocked proves how random n bad this is, ofc i take all of this back if he comes back(he will trust). i just idk, very frustrating and i can't articulate how i feel properly(i will revisit this topic later).

but like no, school is.. SO bad rn i just.. NO MORE 😭😭 ty for the support though hottie hoshi ILY BAE

- megan anon

EDIT: SPOILERS IN REPLIES SO AVOID IF YOU DON'T READ JJK.

MEGGY DEAR, TALK THAT FUCKING SHIT ‼️ (excuse me, lemme move to my keyboard bc I'm doin hw and don't wanna make typos while i express my take too, lol)

no bc you're so fucking right tho!!! like I've been reading jjk for a long while and the body count of the cast throughout the years has me dumbfounded, not bc they're big or anything no, but bc like most of the charas introduced are either built up as some sort of pillar that enhances the plot/growth of characters (junpei, nanami, yuki, etc.), or they seem very interesting charas that draw you in, but don't go past 10 chaps of screentime (haibara, kokichi). Then you have those who are injured and have yet given any news about their whereabouts (Nobara and Todo), and it's at this point where you just forget having hope 🫤🫤🫤 and NOW we have this and it's like ???? I think this is more so to showcase how much of a devilish threat Sukuna is, based on how much of a rise the reactions are from Yuuji and Yuuta. Yet at the same time, too many deaths in this manga already displayed that notion (esp. from Mahito), and for it to happen to another critical character? Like I get the poetic nuances of it all, I really do, and ngl I saw it coming. But the way it was executed with these leaks....idk man, I'm down to talk more about it, rn me and twt are still trying to fully comprehend it 🤦🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️

but outside of that, awwww babessss 😥😥😥 sorry to hear that, I get it completely, but don't worry!!! just bc it's bad rn doesn't mean it'll be bad throughout the school semester/year. I mean, it can, but it WON'T!!! WHY!?? Bc I have faith in you, meggy dear!! NEVER BACK DOWN, NEVER WHAT!!???? Lol fr tho, sorry to hear school's kicking ass like always, but don't let that drag your flow down when the goal isn't in reach yet. You got this, I know you do, trust yourself 🗣️📢 ‼️‼️💓 love you moreeee!!!

#𝑵𝒐𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒆 ʚ✮ɞ megan #school loves to fuck your whole vibe up esp when you think you got it down locked #esp for me; it's only my third week and yet there's been so many problems that have put me in a whirlwind #like??? can a girl settle and set up her room first???#god i can't wait for this semester to be over alr #but it's okie megan just know you're not the only one suffering out here #let's suffer and get back up together mkay? ❤️

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