Sometimes I catch myself sneaking lyrical descriptions (well, I like to pretend they're lyrical) into first-person narrative, and then I realize normal (no offense intended) people don't think or talk like that. That's what you mean, Lemex, correct?
I know this was posted on the first page, but I'm behind in the times, so I just read it. And I thought that the examples Cog included in his blog were really helpful. I tend to stick to 3rd person POV because staying focused when using 1st person is hard for me. So I appreciated being shown some examples of how to better stick with the 1st person voice instead of wandering off to include the insights of other characters.
I suggest you read My Name Is Red, by Orhan Pamuk. See how he does 1st person without ever having problems with limited perspective etc. I read it in translation so I can't promise that you'll like it as a novel (I did actually), but if he can pull that one off, there's hope for all of us. I mean, a drawn tree's perspective... come on!
As strange as it may be, it feels more natural to me writing in 1st person. The struggle for me is that I don't know how omniscient I should make the narrator when writing in 3rd P.O.V
Strangely enough, I find it more difficult to write in the third person. I always see things through my MC from a first person persepctive. With third person, I feel as if I, the author, am responsible for observing everything and it just slips through me. When Im writing in first person I can just be someone else and observe things more accurately. Thats how I feel about it anyway.
Everyone is soooo boring!!! I just want to say, ignore everyone in this thread (including me?). Everyone seems to be saying don't do it.... I would say 'do it!'. You'll soon discover if its for you. I personally can't imagine writing in 3rd person, it seems bizarre to me, to be able to write outside of a person, to be serval characters. I think I'll stick to my hero being my only POV thanks! I also think mixing it up is a great idea. Why the hell not. Challenge yourself. Whats the worst that can happen??? My 1st novel was had a very punk attitude my only rule was to break every rule of story writing. Rules like beginning, middle and end, and characters eye colour must not change colour etc etc blah blah blah. I threw these rules out and challenged myself....I of course failed and only wrote 25000 words of useless crap, but I'm a stronger writer for it, and I know where I can push boundaries now and where I can't. Basically what I'm trying to say is 'go with it'
Dude, I'm reading that right now, and I was about to mention it... crazy. It's pretty cool how he wrote from the perspective of a dog and a horse drawn on a piece of paper. He also drew from the view point of the color red. haha.
Yes it was cool and crazy. I liked it a lot! It seems he likes postmodernism and experiments all the time with his writing style, and he honestly reminded me of a professor saying to us "in writing you must be BRAVE". I liked the colour red part, and yes it was insane but made sense. I seriously had a professor who used to say to us two things on writing: a)One must be actually brave when writing, because if you worry if people like it, if people get it, what will your mother say etc, don't bother! b) There are people who talk and people who write. Some can do both, but most of us...
My first response to this is that yes, all writers should try different styles to find which one fits them. At the same time, if he's a new writer wanting to get published, first person is not normally something new writers can pull off well. And I say this *as* a first-person writer who can't write 3rd *at all.* It took me *years* to master first-person since I can't write in 3rd--and I'm talking about 6 or 7 (and of course it's not mastered...just better than it was then) years. Third person is *much* easier to grasp in its entirety. As for breaking the rules in fiction--that's something that writers should only do on their own time and not in anything they are going to try and get published. A lot of publishers will push something aside if it doesn't fit certain guidelines. I'd say that if the OP really wants to write in 1st person, then he needs to get as many books as possible written in 1st person and read them, whether they're good, bad or exceptional. It will help him understand the different nuances that are present in 1st person writing that aren't present in 3rd. Just my thoughts. And...we're not trying to discourage anyone to try anything...we're trying to explain that 1st person is an extremely difficult perspective to write well. ~Lynn
Interesting that you use Pamuk as an example. Actually, he's not all that much admired here. Apart from his dicey political stance, his language use is very--the word 'limited' comes to mind. In Turkish we don't have he/she/it, there is only one generic 'it', except that we don't state it usually, it's just all in one with the verb, e.g. he/she/it is going = gidiyor A lot of Turkish novels are written from 1st person perspective, actually. So his book is original, I guess. But pretty dull in Turkish. I hated 'Kar'/'Snow'.
Reading other authors who write in first person is probably the best thing you can do. I'm currently reading Choke by Chuck Palahniuk and he writes in first person. I love this book and I think he does an amazing job at it.
