Introduction

Third Person Past is by far the most common way of telling a story, not only through writing, but also through verbal storytelling. This perspective is also ancient. But, as with every perspective, there are natural questions that come with it. Why has it been used for so long? What makes it effective? Is it the best way to tell a story? And what about multiple perspectives? I will do my best to answer these questions in this article.

A Very Brief Reminder

Third Person Past is told from the point of view of he, she, or it. ‘He did,’ ‘He walked,’ ‘She went,’ ‘It looked,’ and so on are all examples of the Third Person Past point of view.

Questions

Why Has It Been Used For So Long?

The simple answer to that question is because it is the most natural way for the human to tell a story. When you boil it down to the very basics, you can either tell a story through the eyes of ‘he’ or ‘I.’ Stories are, generally, an account of things that happened. In a way, they are a history. Whether they are fantastical or not does not really matter. When you tell a story of someone other than yourself, which is most everyone, you cannot use ‘I.’ Therefore, when you tell a story, it makes most sense to tell it as ‘he’ and as if it were an account of what had happened. That is the Third Person Past.

What Makes It Effective?

• Ease Of Reading

The reader will naturally find this perspective easy to read, making it easier for them to focus on the story itself, the characters, et cetera, without being slowed down by a more difficult or deep point of view.

• Natural Way Of Storytelling

As said above, it is the most natural way of storytelling. This ties in with both the ease of reading and the ease of writing. When something feels natural, either for the reader or the writer, it will not stand out. Third Person Past does well with staying unnoticed.

• Ease Of Writing

The writer will naturally find this perspective easy to write. At least as easy as writing can be. There will definitely be blockades and obstacles in their way, but that is unavoidable on the writing journey. Third Person Past can actually make certain obstacles less difficult simply because it is not a hard perspective, giving the writer one less thing to work on.

• Observance Of Others

When a reader focuses on the story of someone else, their hardships, their moral failings, their joy, their grief, in a word, their life, they are not focusing on themselves. Not only that, but there comes a kind of fellowship and comradery, a communion that the soul naturally desires with other beings. This is why some children have imaginary friends, why they play make-believe, in which there are other characters they can speak to and interact with. ‘I’ cannot have a community with itself. This is an advantage Third Person Past gives.

• Focus On The Characters

Another advantage to Third Person Past is that it focuses on the characters. Any story using ‘I’ focuses on one character, ‘I,’ and it is difficult to show the depth and color of other characters this way. But with Third Person, the writer can show the beauty of many characters, whether they are the main character or not, because the reader is not as deeply and quickly drawn to ‘he’ or ‘she’ as they are to ‘I.’

But Is It The Best Way?

Is Third Person Past the best way to tell stories? It all depends on what you are aiming for. If your aim is to tell a good story, with good characters, a good plot line, a good world, and a good meaning, it is certainly easiest to use Third Person Past. Your reader will be used to it and it will be natural for them, and it will come easily for you as a writer to tell the story that way. If, however you want a mind-bender, a different twist to writing or telling a story, and you wish to use perspective to do so, this might not be your best choice. First Person Past, or even Present, or experimenting with future tenses or Second Person might be better and more interesting for the reader who wants a challenge and is not reading solely for the story’s sake.

What About Multiple Perspectives?

This is something I have not mentioned much in this series, but which I did bring up last week. I will go over it briefly here, but there will, in the near future, be an article about using multiple perspectives, relating to what point of view you are using. I said in the previous article that it is best to keep only one perspective with First Person Past. Is it any different with Third Person? And if so, why? Well, if you wish to use multiple perspectives, or you find that you have to, Third Person Past is likely your best choice. As I have said before, the reader will not be automatically as deeply attached to the third person as they are to the first, so it is easier to use multiple perspectives when using Third Person. The reader will more readily accept another character’s perspective from this point of view. It is almost like people-watching, except better, because you can get into their head. However, as with everything, this can be, and often is, overused. How would you like it if you had no choice but to be in everyone’s head, at random intervals? The good people, the bad people, the people you didn’t even notice or didn’t think were important to the story. Your reader does not like it any more than you would. Using too many perspectives, from any point of view, is tiring, confusing, and sometimes even harmful to your story.

Conclusion

Third Person Past is a simple, easy, common, and ancient way of telling a story. It has been used in thousands of stories, even before there were actual books. Histories, parables, epic poems, tales of heroes and their deeds of valor (which often are fantasized and so are not history), and verbal storytelling of all kinds. All of these have used Third Person Past. Many writers of fantasy and fiction also use this perspective. It is versatile and has the opportunity for a more widespread usage than First Person. Of course, it is not the only way. So experiment! Always experiment! Which of your stories would be best from Third Person? What about toying with a mix of First and Third? You are the writer. Your story is your own. Why waste the opportunity of so much possibility?

Next Week…

We have gone through the perspectives that are commonly used in books. But there is one more point of view, actually two, but I will cover them in one article. The Omniscient and the Author, which often tie into one another. These two were popular in the 20th century, but have been set aside in most modern storytelling for other points of view. But why? Is there something wrong with them? Are they ineffective? And do they have any usage in writing? We will talk about that next week, and until then, keep writing, keep learning, and keep growing.