So, I am righting a book. Not a choice of games book, but a book book.
I am unsure weather to alter it, currently, I have it in… Third person, I thinkg? Might swap it into first person, because… Why not?
Anyway. Thoughts? I think I can do some stuff if I actually get into the character’s heads, since right now I am sort of just looking down on them llike some funny head guy in the sky…
Anyway. Thougs? Arguments?
Also, same question about my Choice of games book, except I think I am going to put it in, second person? Since, well, your sort of supposed to put yourself into the character, and first person makes that a bit dificult in a format where you pick each choice…
Anyway, just a ramble, prompted by watching a lot of "Overley sarcastic’s youtube vidiows.
So, yeah…
You can find a few bits of similar topics discussing this if you know the term. I’ll link some
Bit of general advice, don’t write from a certain Point of View because “why not?”. Bad idea. There’re differences between going first person, 2nd, or 3rd. You can find them in the topics I linked.
Using a certain POV presents some kind of “distance” between the reader and the MC. Using different POV can lead to big difference in the experience the reader… experiencing. So, yeah, with 1st person, you put the reader inside the MC’s head. You can describe the thought process of the MC, their inner feelings, their “anima” if you’re going the Jungian territory, so on. The reader will only know informations the protagonist know. This is a very specific thing to write and the reader may either like it or very dislike it. Best genre would be horror/thriller.
2nd person is the default in Interactive Fiction Realm. Pretty explanatory. The first generation of IF is not titled Choose Your Own Adventure books without reason.
3rd person is the “big approach.” As opposed to 1st person, you can be omniscient and tell the reader what’s going on with the world where the protagonist not necessarily know. Or you may put the reader in the seats of a theatrical stage and take them to the wild ride that is the show the stage performing. Kinda stretching the example, but you get the gist.
I think it depends on what you want to write and your writing style. I think 1st person can be a bit harder to pull off. Like the previous poster mentioned, horror/thriller, and maybe romance might be best. 2nd pov (for books) is even harder to pull off effectively. I’m personally a fan of 3rd person (it suits me and my writing style). It doesn’t hurt to try writing it different ways to find out if it better suits you another way. But there will always be pros and cons (like previous poster mentioned, 1st person, you only know the character knows, but you can also have an insight of their personal self).
Something to keep in mind is “show, don’t tell.” Especially in third person, as you can’t quite get into their minds, but you can at least let the reader know how they’re feeling. For instance, don’t ‘tell’ us someone is excited (unless they’re saying so as part of conversation), but describe what he’s doing that shows they’re excited (jumping around, talking unusually loudly, large gestures, etc.).
Also for choice games- most people tend to stick with 2nd pov, which I think works well (though the Wayhaven Chronicles does 1st person quite nicely, for example).
many people prefer second person (you, your, etc) for choice of games. But I’ve always preferred first person (I, me, mine). It helps with immediacy and emersion.
However I think part of this is that I don’t always design a character based on my own actions, and prefer to play someone immersed in the culture of the game. I’ve noticed that people who prefer second person also tend to prefer making characters similar to themselves, so the “you” might be more immediately important to them.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen third person used in a choice script related game. Any examples?
