I wanted to dedicate a blogpost to my decision of choosing first and third person in my book, Battle Heat. Most people haven’t said anything about it or didn’t notice it (the brain interprets what it wants to, I guess), but a couple did! So, let me get into it.
What do you mean, first and third person?
The most used writing styles for fiction are first-person point-of-view (POV) and third-person point-of-view. First person means you get to read from the character, e.g., I [Britt] am writing a blogpost. In third person, you get to read about the character, e.g., Britt [I] is writing a blogpost.
Look into some of your favorite books and find out what POVs they’re written in.
Which one is the best…
…depends wholly on the story the author is trying to tell. First person, for example, allows the author to share a character’s inner world easily; their thoughts, feelings, etc. But third person gives more room to write about other characters and provides a more birds-eye view of the world and story. It’s not filtered through anyone’s perspective but the author’s.
I hope I’m making some sense, haha. This post isn’t supposed to be a lesson on first and third POV, but I hope you get the difference.
Battle Heat
In Battle Heat, you get two point-of-views; Hunter’s and Nikolai’s. The book is a post-apocalyptic story set in the army, but it’s mainly a romance. When this is the case, I always love to read from the love interest’s POV, in this case, Nikolai’s. But the story is told predominantly through Hunter.
Hunter: 1st person POV
The story had a couple of themes that were tied intrinsically to Hunter. Her conflict and character development were very personal, and writing the story through her lens made it easier to tell. I needed her thoughts, her inner world, translated on the page. Plus, romance stories are almost always written in first person because it makes for an easier self-inject for the reader. They read it like it’s them experiencing everything.
That’s why I chose first person for Hunter.
Nikolai: 3rd person POV
But instead of going with first person for Nikolai, I chose to write his (couple) chapters in third person. Some readers had expressed that they would have rather seen the whole book in first person, but I still stand by my choice. Because I chose third person for him to keep some of the mystery around him. The moment I, as a reader, read the love interest’s POV from first person, some of the tension and guessing deflates. I wanted there to remain a certain distance between him and the reader because the reader “is” Hunter for a couple of hours while reading the book.
POVs in other books
I’m working on book two right now that will have the same POV situation as Battle Heat. Though the other series I’m writing both have either a distinct third-person POV or a distinct first-person POV, and I can’t wait for you to read them. Hopefully, next year, in 2023!
Lots of Love,
Britt
