Oh, the horror of first person...

I thought I chimed in on this one already… Generally speaking, I don't like first person. It makes me feel as if I'm reading someone's diary or a Letter to Penthouse. I have written it and it takes me a while to get over the whole \"And why are you telling me this?\" thing. First person can be done and it can be done quite well. My very short one-shots tend to be done in that manner, but I still don't enjoy it as much as I enjoy third person. As far as it being an art or a business…until my power company starts accepting payment in muse, it has better be both. Oh sure, I'm supposed to put on airs and give a great show about the art of pen and how market trends and demands never influence my plotbunnies, but… I've said it before and I'll say it again. The starving artist makes for a great character, but a crappy life.

Payment in Muse, LOL (there's a story idea in there somewhere)

The starving artist makes for a great character, but a crappy life. Amen Sister Cup. LOL

You know, this thing against first person strikes me as another of those \"trends\" that pop up in the publishing industry now and again, because well done first person is fine. It reads as well as well done tight third, and I've read some tight third that can make you go bald, or burn your eyes out, compared to bad first person. I'd rather read bad first person than bad tight third, and there's a lot of bad tight third on the market. That said, I hate first person present tense in anything but flash fiction or very short stories. I just can't stand reading any present tense for long periods, and my allergic reaction is worse the longer the story gets. But if you would all recall, some of the hot-*test*-('") selling vampire shit on the market came to us in first person (Anne Rice's vampire stuff). A lot of chick lit is first person. There's loads of first person out there. So... Whatever trend you all think is prevalent in the ebook market, it's not indicative of what will sell and sell big. Cup, perhaps you wondered why a first person character was telling you a thing because the story you read wasn't written with any sensible logic involved. Good first person has to have the same tight logic flow as good third. One can as easily ask \"Why is the author writing about what the primary POV character is thinking?\" It's the same thing. If the logic is off, it throws the reader out of the read.

You know, this thing against first person strikes me as another of those \\"trends\\" that pop up in the publishing industry now and again, because well done first person is fine. Cup, perhaps you wondered why a first person character was telling you a thing because the story you read wasn't written with any sensible logic involved. Good first person has to have the same tight logic flow as good third. One can as easily ask \\"Why is the author writing about what the primary POV character is thinking?\\" It's the same thing. If the logic is off, it throws the reader out of the read. You have a point. Trend and sales aren't always connected. By being influenced, I mean the stories that we all have that are in our \"never gonna be published\" folders. In my NGBP folder, I have \"Sacrifical Lamb\". Until I devise a more tasteful ending, that thing isn't going to see the light of day. (Which I may have, so it's almost time to dust that puppy off and give it another shot.) You also might have nailed my resistance to first person. I've not read a novel written in first person. I've read a lot of deep third, but all of the first person stuff has been Letters to Penthouse and other shorts in similar publications. (With the exception of some fanfiction.) I've read some of the bits you guys have posted here and that tells me it can be done well. James's literotica christmas story was in first and that was very well done.

For me, I can sum it up very simply: as a reader I hate first person, find it unprofessional and refuse to read it. as a writer I will not write anything but third person. Full stop. Simple, really :lol:

Marquesate: For me, I can sum it up very simply: as a reader I hate first person, find it unprofessional and refuse to read it. as a writer I will not write anything but third person. Full stop. Simple, really :lol: Let me be very clear and say there is nothing wrong with your preference. You've mentioned this before and you may have answered my question before, but I'm going to ask again (if you don't mind). What are your major issues with first person? What about it feels unprofessional to you?

As mentioned before, this is my very personal preference and thus my very personal reason: anything other than third person past sounds unprofessional and just plain unacceptable to me because I grew up with academic writing and exist within academic writing. I have the exact same problems with reflective writing and personal development planning etc. within the realms of academia. I have that problem with anything that is not third past. I can't help it, I absolutely despise reading first (or, gods beware, second) person. Urgh.

Marquesate: As mentioned before, this is my very personal preference and thus my very personal reason: anything other than third person past sounds unprofessional and just plain unacceptable to me because I grew up with academic writing and exist within academic writing. I have the exact same problems with reflective writing and personal development planning etc. within the realms of academia. I have that problem with anything that is not third past. I can't help it, I absolutely despise reading first (or, gods beware, second) person. Urgh. There is a casual tone to first person. I, personally, think that works for the rare piece, but most of the first person I've read I thought it would be better as third. I'm 100% with you on the second person thing. I can't stand that.

Well, I don't mind first person in some circumstances. I certainly wouldn't describe it as unprofessional. That would be to rule out some of the grea-*test*-('") writers in the English language. What I absolutely CANNOT bear is present tense... I can't read even a paragraph of it, it grates so much.

As I said, it's an entirely personal preference. To me it sounds unprofessional and that includes whoever is a great writer. :)

Eee! Second person! EEEEEEE! :runs away in horror: Speaking from way down here, in bad tight third, I've noticed that it's written just like first person. You can almost switch the pronouns of \"he\" for the pov character with \"I\" and get a 95% perfect grammatical rendition. The market push toward uber tight third has caused that particular fiasco. Writers don't really understand third person, all aspects of it, and end up with a first person wannabe disguised as tight third. I'm not kidding. It's horrific. The best writers at tight third walk a fine line between just outside the POV characters head and in it. That way they don't get stuck in rigid pronoun/name use to keep their readers from falling off the plot deep end. Anyhow, personally I prefer to know how to use the first person style than not. One cannot edit for someone else without a compete familiarity with POV types, why they work, when they don't. I agree that there is a certain informality to third person, but this depends on the tone of character relating the story. It can be just as descriptive as third person. In third, there are these tiny logic flaws we all choose to ignore when we dip into a character's head. Writing third person pronouns as if we are in first person during thought processes: this comes to mind. It's an accepted practice. It's that or put first person thought processes in italics, another practice which throws some readers out of the read. The switch to first person from third is not always smooth and some readers cannot adjust. There are all sorts of logic flaws to tight third if you look for them. What I'm saying is don't be too quick to reject a POV style. There are things to be learned from attempting all of them (EEEEEE! Second person! EEEEEE! NEVER! NEVER! :gets out a cross, talismans, voodoo bag, screams for the shaman:). One of the best reasons to try something new is to grow as a writer. You learn the nuances of POV better if you can use any of them. And you could end up with a real gem of a story.

My favourite novel by Margaret Atwood was in first person present and so was my first published story. I am an Eng Lit major and my focus was 19th and 20th century women's fiction. I tend to see third person as kind of cheap and nasty really I have to force myself more to keep reading it whereas I love first person. Don't any of you read Black Lace? The majority of their books are first person and very \"professional.\"

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