Journal Snippets: A Comparison of 1st and 3rd Person POV

I’ve posted before snippets from my work code-named “Hurricane” (I don’t really have code names, but work-in-progress-I’ll-title-better-later names, but code-named sounds better!).  Here’s two versions, one in the original 3rd person and one in the 1st person.

Third person:

Rain fell in a heavy cascade onto the windshield, a veritable waterfall wipers battled in a futile effort.  She peered cautiously ahead.  Even at this slow speed, the wind still buffeted the car and shook it constantly.  Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as she jerked the wheel back and forth in small, tight motions in a fight to keep the car in a relatively straight line.

“Just a little rain,” she said sarcastically out loud.  “What an idiot!” Her voice echoed oddly, competing against the sounds of the beating rain in the otherwise empty vehicle.  “The idiot formerly known as my manager,” she added.

First person:

Rain fell in a heavy cascade onto the windshield, a veritable waterfall wipers battled in a futile effort.  I peered cautiously ahead.  Even at this slow speed, the wind still buffeted the car and shook it constantly.  My hands tightened on the steering wheel, and I jerked the wheel back and forth in small, tight motions in a fight to keep the car in a relatively straight line.

“Just a little rain,” I said. “What an idiot!” My voice echoed oddly, competing against the sounds of the beating rain in the otherwise empty vehicle.  “The idiot formerly known as my manager,” I added.

Both are worded almost exactly the same, but I do like the 1st person better somehow.  However, I’ve concluded that 3rd person comes easier to me.

2 thoughts on “Journal Snippets: A Comparison of 1st and 3rd Person POV

Leave a Reply