I'm generally more wary of 1st person POV than 3rd person (I see 2nd only very rarely), but I don't dislike it or hate it. I've read some really good fiction and fanfiction written in 1st person POV. I'm wary of it, though, because when the writing is mediocre or bad, it just reads like a never ending really dull and overly detailed blog post, and I just...can't be arsed with that. I just do not care about that sort of thing and never have. And sometimes it's really hard to see where the line between the author's lack of imagination and the intentional dullness of the character. Case in point: katniss' internal thought "the saltiness reminded me of my tears" about porridge she was eating. Author's lack of imagination or katniss' inherent dullness? who knows. Not me, but it doesn't matter as I'm not a fan either way. I don't read boring blog posts. <.< so yeah, I'm wary. I'm reading the grisha trilogy atm and when I opened the first book and found out it was in 1st person, i had a "sigh, okay, let's see how this goes" moment because I really did not want to sit through a potentially very boring account of the plot. Sometimes, not always, I feel like if the POV switched from 1st to 3rd, the pitfalls of the 1st person POV choice that can make a book boring would be avoided. (I'm enjoying the trilogy btw, the writing isn't the most amazing I've ever seen, but the POV is fine and (so far) it's not boring.)
I prefer to write in 3rd person when I write, I think because I don't want to be in my characters' head. I want to see what they look like on the outside, and try to figure out who they are by observing them and what they do and say. If I'm in their head I feel claustrophobic and like I'm getting all the answers too fast, which then just ends up boring me. If I'm to write about confused characters or whatever, I really need to not be in their head. (Side effect of being very introspective, perhaps. I know myself very well and am very attuned to my own feelings and inner workings at all times, and I find it hard to relate to/read about characters written in 1st person who don't, and even harder to write them. I get so frustrated! How do you not know how you're feeling??? I scream at characters who think "I didn't know how I felt when he touched me". Gah! Writing them is worse because I feel like I'm making them deliberately obtuse for no good reason at all. Meh.)
I know lots of people hate 1st person POV, but when I've talked to people about it they've all had different reasons that rarely boil down to the POV as the sole reason. 1st person POV doesn't deserve the bad rap it gets, because it can really be amazing when the writing is otherwise good, but the same thing can be said for 3rd person POV, really.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2016-05-20 09:26 pm (UTC)so yeah, I'm wary. I'm reading the grisha trilogy atm and when I opened the first book and found out it was in 1st person, i had a "sigh, okay, let's see how this goes" moment because I really did not want to sit through a potentially very boring account of the plot. Sometimes, not always, I feel like if the POV switched from 1st to 3rd, the pitfalls of the 1st person POV choice that can make a book boring would be avoided. (I'm enjoying the trilogy btw, the writing isn't the most amazing I've ever seen, but the POV is fine and (so far) it's not boring.)
I prefer to write in 3rd person when I write, I think because I don't want to be in my characters' head. I want to see what they look like on the outside, and try to figure out who they are by observing them and what they do and say. If I'm in their head I feel claustrophobic and like I'm getting all the answers too fast, which then just ends up boring me. If I'm to write about confused characters or whatever, I really need to not be in their head.
(Side effect of being very introspective, perhaps. I know myself very well and am very attuned to my own feelings and inner workings at all times, and I find it hard to relate to/read about characters written in 1st person who don't, and even harder to write them. I get so frustrated! How do you not know how you're feeling??? I scream at characters who think "I didn't know how I felt when he touched me". Gah! Writing them is worse because I feel like I'm making them deliberately obtuse for no good reason at all. Meh.)
I know lots of people hate 1st person POV, but when I've talked to people about it they've all had different reasons that rarely boil down to the POV as the sole reason. 1st person POV doesn't deserve the bad rap it gets, because it can really be amazing when the writing is otherwise good, but the same thing can be said for 3rd person POV, really.