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McAnally's (The Community Pub) => Author Craft => Topic started by: Dresdenus Prime on October 19, 2011, 01:15:05 PM
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This has been a battle within me from the beginning. I have over 60k words written in first person but this is a rough draft in which all will probably be revised. My writing is inspired by the books I've enjoyed so much in the Urban Fantasy genre like The Dresden Files, Twenty Palaces, and Iron Druid Chronicles.
Initially I was certain that writing in first person was the easiest way to begin my first novel, since I could easily picture the words in my head being that they were in the first person view, but recently I've begun screwing around with another idea which would be in third, and found it's actually not that difficult.
With the numerous UF books that are set in 1st, I'm almost wondering if writing mine in third wouldn't give it a slightly better chance of getting noticed, (assuming it's actually good).
Maybe I'm just being paranoid. What's everyone else think? I know writing in third would allow me to write from more than just my hero's perspective, which would certainly open a lot of doors, but would that leave me with any disadvantages?
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In Urban Fantasy, I prefer first person. It gives it that noir, down to the ground, "you are in the middle of everything" feel. Third person just has a really hard time doing that, and in my opinion, it is something that Urban Fantasy needs.
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Is your third person viewpoint omniscient or limited to knowledge an observant human might have?
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Depends on how close each of them are; they have overlapping ranges, with on the one hand options in first for realtime headlong braindump that's not really doable in third, and on the other ways of pulling back from third that one can't in first; I think most published novels are in a space where it could work either way.
I have a feeling there are some things first makes easier, but I am not at all sure of having a handle on those things well enough to specify them yet.
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For you I would say write out a few sections from third and see what it feels like.
Personally I can't write first person. I find it uncomfortable, but my own thought processes don't work well for describing events in first person, I've always made up stories in my head as third.
Have you read Jim's livejournal on the subject. It makes all the points I could, but it comes from Jim-which means much much more.
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I've read his journal and even have a copy printed out ;D Great material in there.
I'm almost wondering if I couldn't try a George R.R. Martin Approach. His Song of Ice and Fire series, while written in third person still only focus on one character per chapter; their journey, thoughts, activities of the moment.
I know for me myself it's a lot easier to read first person than third, although I read through Martins work fine, and I've read the Harry Potter series without any trouble (Of course most of the books are YA). If anyone here has ever read Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels; I read the first one, loved it, it was in first person. Moved to the second, in third person, and kept losing my place. It kept switching up characters and locations to quickly for me to keep up.
So on the one hand I feel first person are where my strengths are, but on the other I feel there's an overabundance of first person UF out there already, but maybe that's because 3rd POV UF sucks lol, I dunno.
Aw hell, I'll just write the book in both.....Coming to a book store near you!!!!..........................in 2017!!! :-\
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Personally I can't write first person. I find it uncomfortable, but my own thought processes don't work well for describing events in first person, I've always made up stories in my head as third.
I've always thought of first-person as a convenient narrative construct; the inside of my head does not work like a first-person singular narrative at all, most of the time, there are very very few circumstances in which things are happening in my mind one at a time and there are no standard ways of communicating the sort of parallelism that's more natural to me in text. Third singular is equally alien, though, so from where I stand there's not that much of a difference.
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Personally I can't write first person. I find it uncomfortable, but my own thought processes don't work well for describing events in first person, I've always made up stories in my head as third.
And I have to avoid omniscient third like every plague caused by the Shroud because it always comes out preachy.
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And I have to avoid omniscient third like every plague caused by the Shroud because it always comes out preachy.
But the fun thing about omniscient third is the opportunity to have a narrative voice that's another character. Preachy's not a minus if you are doing it intentionally as characterisation, IMO. (Best known contemporary example to come to mind is Lemony Snicket.)
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Not necessarily related , or helpful, to your question, but I've found a new (to me) website, and he does a great job of describing what I think (hope) I'm doing ...
This guy calls it 3rd person narrative POV (as opposed to 3rd person limited and 3rd person omnisicient)
http://www.novel-writing-help.com/third-person-narrative.html
At any rate, I've had a real struggle in my head about what I seem to be doing, vs. the 3rd person "tight" or 3rd person "close" POV that everyone seems to recommend, because I thought I was writing somewhat in omnisicient, which everyone has told me is too 19th century and generally won't be published.
But given his examples and explanations, I'm not really doing omni, which is a huge relief, although I will still need to tighten up once I hit the first revision pass.
Somewhere else on the site, he does mention that most (all?) urban fantasy is written in 1st person POV ...
But he (and many others) also repeatedly say, "do whatever best serves the story being told".
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I've always thought of first-person as a convenient narrative construct; the inside of my head does not work like a first-person singular narrative at all, most of the time, there are very very few circumstances in which things are happening in my mind one at a time and there are no standard ways of communicating the sort of parallelism that's more natural to me in text. Third singular is equally alien, though, so from where I stand there's not that much of a difference.
I'm trying to get that parallel thought process down into writing. Unfortunately it makes ridiculously complicated thought trains for my characters and I find myself trying to show all the thoughts that lead to decisions while in third person. It's working, although unintentionally at times...
First Person is more a problem of I have no idea how to structure the sentences.
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First Person is more a problem of I have no idea how to structure the sentences.
Diaries help with that quite a bit.
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I've always liked the limits that the First Person narrative imposes on the writer. Plus I like getting in the head of the characters I'm reading.
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I feel way more connected to the character in first person. I also care more for the people that character cares about becuase it brings forth a restraint that hey he died and i had to see it with my eyes rather then read about it in the paper.
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Tis the age old question. There is often no right answer. It all depends on what you hear in your head when you wire. How often does the character narrate and how often are you narrating?