Let’s talk about First person, second person and third person
narrative.
First person narrative is a
point of view (who is telling a story) where the story is narrated
by one character at a time. This character may be speaking about him or herself
or sharing events that he or she is experiencing—the use of
first-person pronouns. Many stories and novels are written I the first-person
point of view. In this kind of narrative, you are writing the character’s story
by their perspective. You are writing their story through their eyes.
Example: “I left my keys on the kitchen counter
but now I can’t find them.”
Second Person Narrative:
Second-person point of
view belongs to the person (or people) being addressed.
The biggest indicator of the second person use is pronouns
like: you, your, yours, yourself or yourselves.
Example:
“If you eat these fruits you will find that your health is much better to
combat illnesses.”
A
self-help book is written in a second person narrative. There are a lot of
self-help books out there and when you buy one, you’ll see the narration and
how it’s written. These books are a dime in dozen and the writer is addressing
the reader when they write.
Third Person Narrative:
The third-person point of
view/narrative belongs to the person (or people) being talked
about. The third-person pronouns include he, him, his,
himself, she, her, hers, herself, it, its, itself, they, them, their, theirs,
and themselves.
Example: “Candy used her paycheck to buy herself a new
dress.”
Most popular books are written as a third person narrative
but let’s talk more about first person narrative for a bit.
It is easy to write a book using first-person narrative/point
of view. Take a look at Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey, all of those books
were written as first-person narrative.
Easy? Yes, the author publishes his/her book quicker, and are
capable of producing several books within 6 months. Most of my books are
written as a third person narrative, only The Secret Diary of a Gypsy Heart and
Saints and Sinners: Affairs of the Heart are written as first-person narrative.
My book Chandra’s Quest Book 1, the 2002 version, was written as a first-person
narrative but when I decided to re-write the book, I chose third person
narrative instead.
Author’s that write as
a first-person narrative, usually use what they know about the subject they are
writing. Sometimes they will use personal experiences in their life and will
use fractions of those experiences in their books.
One of my sons told me that someone they know wants to write
a book using first-person narration and use actual names of people he/she
knows. Well, you cannot copyright your own name, or titles, or ideas, names are
not copyrighted. The person who wants to write a fiction book can make subtle
changes to the characters, like hair color, eyes, the character’s place of
employment, relationship with other people or where they live. Making subtle
changes can help avoid confusion and grievance.
Again, I want to state that names are not copyrighted. You
cannot sue an author for using your name in his/her book. It would be
considered frivolous and will not hold up in court, not even small claims. Food
for thought.
The link below will give more info.
My books:
Saints and Sinners: Affairs of the Heart
Secret Diary of a Gypsy Heart
MY Website
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