I read an interesting article on Nathan Bransford’s Blog the
other day. For those of you who didn’t
read it, the link is right here.
He talked about how some critics have decided that first
person narrative isn’t ‘serious.’ I’m
not sure what makes it less serious, though to be honest, I occasionally find
it a bit exhausting. I don’t enjoy being
so deep in someone’s head for so long.
Probably one of the biggest reasons why I’m not a big fan of
first person narrative is that it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it done
well. Well, that’s not true. I read a fantastic book a few weeks ago that
did it well. (Now that I think about
it). But I stick with what I said
before. There are very few books that I’ve
read that makes me actually sympathize with the character rather than get
annoyed. (I’m not saying that I’m the
leading expert on this, it’s just my opinion.)
Maybe it’s the genre that I tend to read. I’m always drawn toward YA fantasy, and for
some reason, there are quite a lot of books out there with very narcissistic
main characters. Characters who are ‘wronged’
and then spend pages with internal monologues about how hard the world is or
how mean everyone is to them. It gets
tedious, and usually, I toss the book aside before I get to some kind of a
resolution, which I hope ends with them thinking about something beyond
themselves.
I’m not saying anything about first person, and if you’re
planning on writing in first person, I applaud you. It’s a voice that I don’t know that I’ll ever
master.
When I first started writing my White WIP, it was all in
first person. And it was terrible. Years later, when I came back to it and
started working on revisions, I realized that it just didn’t feel natural to
me. I changed the entire story to third
person limited and it was like the story unfolded out in front of me. All of my stories since have been in 3rd
person. Mostly because that’s what feels
more natural to me. It gives me a chance
to take a step back when I need to and to look at the big picture, rather than
what’s in their heads all the time.
But that’s just me.
How do you feel about it? 1st
or 3rd person? Does it even
matter? And if anyone has suggestions
for a 1st person novel written well, I’d love to hear it!
The first person is certainly a legit point of view for a writer to take. Most importantly, it needs to well-controlled: decide whether it's a close or distant first, and keep it consistent.
ReplyDeleteI agree. It is a legit point of view, though it's something that I personally have a difficult time with.
DeleteI think It just depends on the specific story. What aspects are important to the story. I have written in both. My 1st person was because I wanted a focus on the main character and things that went on In her head. The 3rd person that I started was because there was more than one character that I felt needed to be seen. That is some of my reasoning for those particular works. Others may have different reasons.
ReplyDeleteCoincidently, My 1st person was the 1st Story I started, and my 3rd person is the 3rd.
DeleteDon't you feel that, with the exponential spread of social media sites, there are now a LOT of people who only write in the 1st person, and, perhaps, it is this overload of 1st person opinions that impacts negatively on a book written in the 1st person? To write well in the 1st person, one must have something to say, something that can transcend the 'I' factor.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a good point. Maybe it's because I've read too many books that don't successfully use the first person that makes me hesitant to read or write it.
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