1st Person - YA and beginners only?

You can even have first person omniscient, a la The Book Thief or Lovely Bones.

 

Are you suggesting 1st person should regularly break the 4th wall and address the reader?

 

I'd like to see a book written in 3rd person clueless. Written from the point of view of a narrator who has no idea what the story is about or where it is going, just watching the characters and trying like crazy to work out what the heck is going on.

 

To be honest, the best 1st person stories, including most if not all of those named in this thread, are depicted as written or at least spoken accounts, eg in a journal, letter, confession, etc.


When it's supposed to just be the character's thoughts, it comes off (often) a little cheesy.

 

I think this is what I'm doing, although I can't be sure.

 

Write it second person, 'tu' all the way through, darling.

Heh heh

 

I once started an Iain Banks novel that was written in second person. I made it all the way to the bottom of the page.

 

Well done my Frankenstein.

 

You click on the thread again because, hell, you're in between projects and you've got a minute to see what's been added, but you scroll down to see the traditional, almost obligatory, dissing of second person, wallowing in the familiar of first and third, and you grab the Sturm Ruger 5771 you keep around for such occasions, familiar heft and a wink of fluorescent light on steel barrel as you fumble with the .357 rounds. This will be a grim day for your computer monitor.

 

And then finally you wrote something.

 

This is one of the things where writing "rules" kinda bug me. I mean advice, is good, listen to advice most of the time there`s a truth to (good)advice but don`t feel like any rules are stuck in stone when it comes to style. A lot of writing "rules" change with the times, this was brought up over something in the Pride and Prejudice thread (I forget what), and Sack-a-Doo mentioned it earlier in this thread how the perception used to the reverse. I`m not saying throw rules out the window, but more along the lines of something I heard a lot studying photography. One must understand the rules before they can break them. Ultimately use whatever works with you're style, voice, and the story you want to tell but also understand why this is "rule" as well so you know what to avoid and how to "break" it.

I think it`s used a lot in YA, as said before to allow the reader to relate to the character more. A lot of the themes explored in YA are suited to first person, for example, a story bout discovering someone's self-identity makes sense to be told from that person`s perspective as it`s their internal journey of discovery. As was brought up just being someone`s thoughts can come off as slightly cheesy but it depends on how it`s written and/or framed.

 

You can't say why, but second person works for you. Not crappy second person, but second person well-done? Yeah. You like it!

 

It's always so arch, some cocksucker [in a good way].

 

I've expressed a disliking for second person and I get all this flak? Am I missing something here?

 

Don't be such a softie, everybody thinks you're lovely.

 

Just that WE will tell you what to like. This is a writing forum for Christ's sake!

 

I think we'll end this here. Or at least I shall be doing.

I appear to have snipped a nerve in some of you, not quite sure why or how

 

We're just playing. It's Friday

 

Okay, fair enough. I think tone can be missed on forums. Probably what I did.

 

I should have added a smiley I like second person fine if it is well done, but I'm not offended that many (most?) people do not.

 

In the absence of other clues I do assume that a first person narrator is YA-age or younger. But it doesn't take me long to adjust when I learn different, and it's not like I have a negative reaction to my assumption. It's neutral.

First is more common in YA, no doubt about it, but it's hardly rare in adult fiction.