It’s funny how after reading a book that’s in the first person, I always find myself slipping in my writing, going into a first person narrative even when the story calls for third person.

I’m not a big fan of first person (major), for many reasons. For one thing, I feel that it gives the story an “around the campfire” feel, like the narrator is retelling something that happened to him in his youth. I can’t shake this feeling, even when the narrative is in the present tense. On the other hand, I’ve enjoyed stories which are written in first person plural (The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides) and the first person minor (The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald). However I felt the creative devices there, and the fact that it wasn’t the major character, made it deliciously ambiguous and still deliciously intimate.

That delicious ambiguity is one thing I like. I don’t know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I like my characters’ motives to be a little mysterious, just like in real life. I want them to do things and have the reader think, Why the hell would they do that? Just like they may question the motives of their friends or family. I don’t want my main character telling everyone that he/she is stubborn, insightful, angry, jealous, overjoyed, etc. I want my reader to glean that from their actions and the consequences. When I read first person books and the narrator declares, “Well! I was just too stubborn for that!” I don’t enjoy it as much as a character glaring and saying “no” over and over and me thinking, Well, he/she must be stubborn. While I do sometimes write things like, “She didn’t like closed in spaces,” I try to do this after something like “She hesitated at the opening to the cave, looking into the blackness, realizing that if she walked in there, she wouldn’t see her hand in front of her face…” etc., etc. I don’t know if this is a good way of doing it or not, but it’s worked for me so far (granted, I’m still doing most my writing with “the door closed.”)

Another reason I don’t really like first person is because it limits my choices. I’ve always felt that when an author changes POVs completely, bouncing between third person and first person, I feel more disconnected from the story than if the author had simply chosen one POV and stuck with it. I usually like sticking to one character, but sometimes I will jump to another character and decide later if I want to keep it or not. I guess I’m somewhere closer to third person limited, but not quite there. I don’t write as if I know everything, rather I try to keep the story within the boundaries of the character. If the character thinks of something, then the reader will know.

I guess I’ve found a way to give myself the best of both worlds — to get my cake and eat it too.

This turned into a long post about why I choose my POV. Hrm, anyway, I finished Succubus Blues and Narcissus in Chains (sometimes I think the library does this to me on purpose; I’m on the waiting list for 3 books for 2-8 weeks, and suddenly they’re all available at around the same time, but since there is a waiting list, I can’t renew them and therefore have 2 weeks to read them all). Reading quickly isn’t very difficult when you’re in-between jobs and were sick all Friday morning. Anyway, both books are first person. I don’t think I’d particularly recommend either one, either, both were just “OK.” The former was another entry into the increasingly popular genre that I call “urban fantasy.” You know, set in today’s day and age but with vampires and werewolves and ghosts and ghoulies, oh my. It was another sassy, female character who had some connection to the “monsters” and finds herself in a bad situation (a la Laurell K. Hamilton). I was hoping there’d be more to offer with a title that had “succubus” in it, but nobody likes a moralistic succubus (or at least I found it disappointing ).

Anyway, so I was writing away, and I was pretty well in the groove, when I realized I had been writing in first person for about 3 paragraphs. I grumble under my breath, fix those mistakes, and continue. Two pages later, I realize I’ve fallen into that habit again. I don’t even know why first person is so easy to “fall” into after I’ve read first person stories. Maybe it’s because I’ve been saying “I” so much in my head and I’m not accustomed to it.

I wonder if I’m just weird or if this happens to anyone else.

After a day or a thousand-or-so words, the urge to go into first person fades away. Until the next book, I guess.

P.S.
Amelia, I haven’t forgotten about the Gunslinger. I’m just trying to clear all these library books and then tackle book #2.

5:35 pm | Category: Writing | |

One Response to “First person echoes” 

ID: 68 July 9th, 2007 at 7:23 am Amelia says: No rush, that one is my favorite so enjoy it (yes that’s right, 2/7 is my fave. But it’s so gooooood.) I liked Succubus Blues (I have a signed copy!) I though it was light and sweet and fairly unique in the overdone world of vampires and werewolves. But I went into it expecting a mostly romantic tale, so that helped. And I really liked the author character, he was nifty. As for first person, I call it the Ray Bradbury effect. Every time I read his stuff, I write and think over-flowery, sentimental descriptions for days. Sneaky sneaky.

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