No, this is not a joke. Today I am talking about first-person narration, hence "I."
I have less experience writing fiction in first-person than I do third, but I do write a good bit of it. In fact, I wrote five first-person flash fics (four of them drabbles) in the span of a few days in early March. You start to build momentum when you write in the POV for a while. Perhaps it's because rather than resetting with a different character name each time you start a new story, you always use "I" when writing in first-person.
The danger in writing in first-person is that you have to make sure your characters in different stories have different personalities. If you get used to "I" being a humorous type it may prove difficult to write a sobering "I." So far I've been lucky. The only attribute in common with the narrators from that batch of five stories I mentioned above is a bare sense of youthfulness. Differences in age, gender, profession, and genre helped a lot. If you're writing similar stories about similar characters in the first-person, beware. You probably don't want to turn into a one-trick pony with narrators.
The largest advantage to writing in first is that you can inject personality into your narrator more easily than in third. See, it's a two-faced coin. Personality can lead you either way. But as long as you're careful, your first-person narrators can become some of the most entertaining and solid characters out there.
I try to stick with third-person most of the time, but if the story needs to be told by "I" I let "I" tell it. Don't limit yourself to one or the other. In fact, I recommend writing both in copious amounts. If you'd like to specialize, even a 90/10 split can help your writing.
Because each POV has its advantages and its disadvantages, you can learn how to write certain things better by writing in a POV that handles those things better. For example, if you feel like your third-limited protagonists are too impersonal, write a few first-person stories with quirky personalities and then go back to writing limited. You may very well be happy with the difference you see.
Great post. First-person narrative can really liven up a text, particularly if, as you say, you intertwine it with third-person narrative throughout the rest of the manuscript.
ReplyDeleteThat's actually not exactly what I meant, but yeah, that's most certainly true. Mixing the POVs within the same work can go well.
DeleteThird person is easier to write because you don't have to do the deep development you must for first. But I LOVE doing the deep development needed to have a unique and authentic voice--knowing their inner world enough to know their attitudes, opinions and what kinds of associations they'd make.
ReplyDeleteHappy A-Zing
Laurel
Laurel's Leaves
Yeah, they're definitely fun to write, especially when you're writing children's. Happy A-Zing to you too, Ms. Garver.
DeleteJust stopping by to say Hi from the A-Z list and good luck with the rest of the challenge.
ReplyDeleteGreat post :) I love writing in first person, but all my characters end up sounding like me! lol x
Thanks. Yeah, as I mentioned, that can be a problem sometimes, unless you're a very multi-faceted person and can lend parts of your personality to different characters without much overlap.
DeleteI usually write in the 3rd person. I have written flash fiction in 1st person, but I don't like being that "personally" involved with a character for very long.
ReplyDeleteI understand where you're coming from. Unless I was writing a male my age I'd probably shy away from writing novel-length fiction in 1st.
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