Writing 1st person POV

[birdsofshore]

I love to write in 1st person. I think I am a little bit hooked on it, tbh. I have been writing 1st person Draco for ages, but last year I wrote a lot of alternating 1st person, and really enjoyed that, too, and then this year I felt compelled to write 1st person Harry. With debatable results, BUT, I still very much enjoyed writing it, and wouldn't rule out doing it again.

My dracotops_harry fic was quite a long 1st person Draco POV, and I noticed a real trend in the comments to talk about the fact that people had liked it despite it being 1st person. This came up again and again, as if it was a complete rarity to enjoy a 1st person fic. Someone also left a bookmark which really made me laugh:

Usually first-persons are stinkers, but this wasn't.

WOW THANKS :D

Anyway, I mentioned to Mr Birds that apparently people felt mistrustful of 1st person, and he was surprised as well. We googled for a list of novels that were written in 1st person, and what do you know, a ton of my favourite books are 1st person. Catcher in the Rye, Jane Eyre, Lolita, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, To Kill a Mockingbird, Breakfast at Tiffany's, A Clockwork Orange, The Perks of Being a Wallflower are all 1st person narratives. As a reader I find it a stunningly immersive experience, and if the narrator is unreliable or twisted or damaged then I enjoy it even more.

As a fanfic writer, obviously I'm not aiming for anything approaching those novels, but I find writing 1st person an easy way to make a connection, first with the character I'm writing, and then with the reader. I find writing other POVs distances me and the reader from the story that I'm telling. Maybe it's become a lazy habit and I should attempt to get that immediacy by other means, using 3rd person? I don't know. But I feel conflicted - I want to go on writing 1st person whenever it seems appropriate, but readers are telling me that they actively avoid 1st person fics.

Do people mistrust / dislike 1st person in original fic, or just in fanfic? Do you agree that 1st person fics are usually "stinkers"? If so, why? Do you enjoy reading 1st person? In fic? In original novels? Do you write it? Do you avoid it? I have all of the questions and none of the answers!

Comments

[birdsofshore]

It's the first time I've had this many comments about it on a fic - it was quite noticeable.

I think 2nd person in the right hands is quite devastating! I'm thinking lumosed_quill here. :D

[lq-traintracks.livejournal.com]

Awwww! I'll give you your 20 bucks later. ;-) ;-)

I guess I'll go ahead and chime in with my own two cents here. I think anyone can make a mess of any POV or trope or writing style or anything, and on the flip side, someone else can take anything and make it genius. Also, we all have our tastes. You can't please everyone all the time and you shouldn't. You should be you. <3 I happen to think writing first person Draco POV is a secret weapon of yours. I've rarely seen someone do it with such commitment to a voice. Your Draco is so very much your Draco, and that may not be everyone's cup of tea. I happen to think it's brilliant, and I know so very many others who agree. But you write a very specific Draco. He's much MORE real to me than JKR's, and I find him fascinating and wonderful. He's so different than I write him and I LOVE that. I fully believe in him when I'm reading your words. You suck me in and leave me on the edge of my seat. I'm super relieved to see you say you'd write him regardless of anyone else wanting you to or liking it! But rest assured, I always will. ;-) <3

I used to write a TON of first person myself, like years ago. I started writing more 3rd person for this fandom for two reasons: it's the same as the original canon, which makes it easier for me to access the characters, and also, being that I'd written a lot of first person in the past, I felt less adequate in 3rd person and I wanted to get better at it. I'd like to venture back into doing 1st person from time to time, but I think I'd have a better grasp of writing other characters that way, not Harry or Draco. I'm less confident in writing them how I'd want to. I think I'd like to give Pansy a try, honestly. When I wrote from her POV in Get a Room, it was so fun, and I felt like she was super accessible!

On the topic of literature, I have (I counted them just now), 12 novels that I love that are first person. And what I have on my bookshelf right now is pale in comparison to what I have had, simply because when I moved here, I had to only bring what would fit in my car. So there are many others, I'm sure! I think, with original fiction, genre or lit or what have you, it's easier to get into first person just by virtue that this is your own character that you've created, so there's really no getting it "wrong". People come at fanfic with preconceived notions of these characters' voices and traits. Which isn't to say we can't do 1st person and do it well. It's just not going to be to everyone's taste.

But yes, PLEASE keep doing it! You're wonderful at it! And I'd cry if you stopped! Thank you for the lovely vote of confidence in my 2nd person! I do love writing it. I look to the ever-genius Lorrie Moore to learn how it's done. She's a goddess of it and why I wanted to ever try it in the first place! I think we all have our strong points with writing style, and I think one of yours is certainly taking on a spellbinding first person POV! ♥

[birdsofshore]

I think anyone can make a mess of any POV or trope or writing style or anything, and on the flip side, someone else can take anything and make it genius

I'm going to nod along with this statement. I have to think you're right.

I happen to think writing first person Draco POV is a secret weapon of yours. I've rarely seen someone do it with such commitment to a voice.

Oh, gosh, a compliment like this, from YOU, you wonderful writer... this gave me shivers. Thank you so much. I think this must sound awfully pretentious but I genuinely feel like someone is speaking to me when I am writing Draco and it's going well. I just put down what he tells me.

All of your points are so interesting and I think you're pretty much correct with the drawbacks and advantages of 1st person and 3rd. I'm going to come back to this if I lose confidence in my own choices.

And Lorrie Moore! You know I adore her. She was so influential to me. I'd love to attempt 2nd person one day, but meanwhile, you slay that POV, without a doubt.