Let me put a few points on this matter.
First thing first, third person omniscient... Is very hard to pull off. But why? Because there is no suspense. As the narrator knows everything, unless he hides something from the reader, the reader can't be surprised. And if omniscient narrator hides something from the reader, then what's the point of having this kind of narration in the first place?
I would say Third omni limited is what people can really pull off if they want to write a story rather than a recount of the events. Limited by the fact that the narrator can peer into a specific cast all at once, but everything outside of it is a blank card for him. That kind of narration could be used in the stories where the narrator is a character himself, just moving the pieces on the board.
Then goes third nonomniscent, or third nonomni as I like to call it.
Contrary to what people say, I find this absolute (outside of second-person narration that is simply... weird) toughest nut to crack. You can't even ONCE tell your reader more than your character is supposed to know, while remaining detached from said character. This type of narration seems to be easier, but in my honest opinion, is the hardest to properly pull out.
Then comes the first person. The illegitimate bastard of narrations, that most of the people love to hate, but rarely give it a chance. But not only it can be pulled off in a great way, but it also is something that I consider to be the best for new writers. Why?
Let me start from the end. Have you guys ever heard about Black Company Chronicles? This set of novels is what I (and many others) consider to be the same for dark fantasy genre what LoTR was for low fantasy. And all of its tomes are written entirely from the perspective of the person who is currently holding the pen for said chronicles. While at first, one might think that its hard to immerse yourself in it, but in fact, when you get used to its quirkiness at first, it flows way better than any other stories, because rather than having this unknown force telling you the story, you feel like you were sitting by the fire in the tavern, drinking on your ale and listening to the recounts of an old veteran.
Now, let's properly explain why I consider it to be the best choice for the new writers.
And as a disclaimer - YES, I DO REALISE that writing in the first person for the first time feels weird. But people are beings that love to speak about themselves and tell their own stories. That's why, for most of the writers, after writing 1, 2 maybe 4 chapters, all the initial problems with writing in the first person will disappear, showing all the profits one can make:
Author's own immersion. The problem with other narratives is that you are forced to detach yourself from the story. Just the simple fact that you are referring to your Main Character per "he/she" forces your mind to consider them a separate entity. While the example I brought here is just a silly one, when all sorts of details like that come together, they start to matter.
Reader's perspective. When reading a story in the third person, it will always be something that will feel foreign. While you identify yourself with the characters you read about, you still always feel like they are different. Just the fact that the narrator uses their names to refers to them is not natural. But in the first person, it's only me. The reader, the author, doesn't matter. When you read a story in the first person, you are looking at it directly through the eyes of the main character, not some ambiguous, undefined being.
Limitations. When writing in the third person, you often face the problem so common yet so hard to overcome, that any kind of literal advice has 50/50 chance to end up speaking about it. Show not tell. I do not mean to say that in first person you can just tell everything, but when you write the story while immersing yourself in the character you are narrating through, it feels wrong to tell your listeners (to whom you narrate the story in the said tavern as they sip on the beer) that this guy thought something or that lass instantly fell love in you. As you watch the scene with your own eyes, you learn how to pick up on the hints.
"I(!!!!!) saw as the eyes of this woman traced every single of my movements. Thinking about this, what else could that mean if not a love at first sight? Or maybe she just gauged the weight of MY pouch from how it hangs from my belt?"
While there is quite a lot telling here, as those are your own legitimate thoughts, they are justified. Its the narrator that wonders IF what I observed, means what I think it means.
But what is even more important, if you tell the story from the perspective of the character himself, you will never feel like writing about something you don't know. Because:
- Everything that this narration shows, can be a lie.
You can be lied to. You can misinterpret something. To put it into an example:
"After gulping down the last sip of the ale from my cup, I raised from my chair and moved directly towards the female whose attention was focused on me for the last few minutes. Only when she suddenly looked at me with her lips turning into a thin line and her hand suddenly resting on top of her knife's handle, did I realise that her attention might not come purely from affection."
When you write first-person, there is no end to surprises. Readers never know what might come next, but they will be in for a ride, as that's just how life works. And with the conflicts and problems given to the author on the silver platter, all you really need to do is to find a way to make that ride exciting and fulfilling.
Sorry for my grammar, too lazy to go through this wall of text with grammarly
