Shadowrun General > Fan fiction

Most Immersive voice?

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Chalkarts:
I would like to ask the dedicated bookworms a question.

When reading, which voice is the most immersive to you?

I did a thing, She did a thing, or You did a thing? Which one pulls you in behind the characters eyes and makes you dive deep?

FastJack:
He/She/They. I find first-person too cognitively dis-associative, unless it's a "Choose Your Own Adventure" type, since I'd rarely do what the author would say the character did. And You just seems weird, like I'm ordering the character around as omnipotent power.

Stainless Steel Devil Rat:
Third person (he/she/they) is certainly the most commonly used perspective.  There are valid reasons to embrace or eschew it solely for the reason it's so common.

First person (I/me) is, imo, basically the only other universally viable option. 

Second person (You) only works in niche applications, I think.  As FJ said, a choose your own adventure book would be an example.

Chalkarts:

--- Quote from: Stainless Steel Devil Rat on ---Third person (he/she/they) is certainly the most commonly used perspective.  There are valid reasons to embrace or eschew it solely for the reason it's so common.

--- End quote ---

While it is a Choose Your Own Adventure story, I really dislike second person and think I've settled on 3rd.  It feels more natural to me.  I just worry that a CYOA in 3rd might be breaking the conventions of the genre too much.  BUt 2nd is just so clunky and forced.

Sphinx:
I find first-person narrators to be more immersive. The narrator can have an inner monologue, share thoughts, opinions, explanations, and observations with the reader. The obvious disadvantage is that the reader has to experience the story from a single perspective. You can't switch the narrative back and forth between multiple points of view.

Third-person narration lets you tell a broader story and focus on multiple characters, and events in multiple locations. You can conceal the thoughts of the protagonists, which makes it easier to build suspense.

Second-person ought to be familiar enough to an audience of gamers. It's the GM voice ("you open the door, you see a monster, you draw your weapon ..."). But it can be awkward for general audiences, and harder to write. It has the main disadvantage of the first-person (a single perspective) without the benefit of being inside the narrator's head.

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