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First-Person Narrative, or Not?
I’ve just started writing two short stories simultaneously, one for Remus Fest and the other for HP Golden Age’s Salt and Pepper Fest. So far I’m using the third person in both – partly because I somehow enjoy this challenge, and partly because I remember (and saw in some sign-up comments at R/S Small Gifts) bias against the first person. I wonder how common the dislike of first-person narration is in the fandom.
I wrote my main fanfic, a long chaptered story, in the third person – but included letters in which the protagonist could narrate his backstory, and I allowed him to do it more and more in vivid scenes, using the present tense. In my short stories of the same period, too, I experimented with and developed my first-person-and-present-tense style.
That kind of first-person narration is still my favourite – particularly in slash fics with a lot of interaction between two characters of the same gender. But I want to also take the challenge of finding other ways to avoid clunkiness with pronouns and names. I doubt there’s much difference between my third-person and first-person short stories in how close I take the reader to the view-point character’s consciousness.
Having written this year mainly for my own indulgence, I at least pretend not to care too much whether the first person scares off readers. But now writing for fests, Ḯ’m more interested again in other writers’ and readers’ views.
I wrote my main fanfic, a long chaptered story, in the third person – but included letters in which the protagonist could narrate his backstory, and I allowed him to do it more and more in vivid scenes, using the present tense. In my short stories of the same period, too, I experimented with and developed my first-person-and-present-tense style.
That kind of first-person narration is still my favourite – particularly in slash fics with a lot of interaction between two characters of the same gender. But I want to also take the challenge of finding other ways to avoid clunkiness with pronouns and names. I doubt there’s much difference between my third-person and first-person short stories in how close I take the reader to the view-point character’s consciousness.
Having written this year mainly for my own indulgence, I at least pretend not to care too much whether the first person scares off readers. But now writing for fests, Ḯ’m more interested again in other writers’ and readers’ views.
no subject
While I can’t remember seeing much of second-person narrative anywhere, I think it needs a very good reason. And perhaps it would still be hard to stop paying attention to the technique while reading.
In my view any device should become transparent, so that the reader only experiences the story. This can be more difficult when the reader is also a writer and aware of the choice of devices.
I wouldn’t mention first-person POV as a warning or in a tag, making readers pay unnecessary attention to it, even though maybe some fanfic readers would like to be warned. And my titles must have sometimes functioned as warnings, because I always pick a phrase from the story text.
I’ve had readers (years ago, and I hope you don’t condemn me for bragging) who’ve admired my first-person(and-present-tense) fiction voice, and some among them have pointed out that they’ve noticed only afterwards that I’ve used the grammatical person they normally dislike in fanfic.
Taking the reader to the midst of the story is my aim in both first-person and third-person POV, and I think I can make it work quite as well in both. Or perhaps not, if I can get no readers for my firs-person fics! And perhaps my third-person narration, too, would be too closely in the character’s head for some people’s liking.
I hope I don’t sound too defensive. Explaining all this to myself helps me make my conclusions. One is perhaps that I’d better not choose first-person POV for gift fics, at least not before asking the recipient if it’s okay.
Of course, for my own indulgence I write what I like best. But because I stick to my belief that fiction is interaction and I seek some in the fandom, I also read and review all kinds of fics, and not only those rare ones with absolutely spectacular opening paragraphs.
As for tense, I can’t help paying attention to any inconsistency when reading. That doesn’t mean I don’t sometimes make mistakes, particularly when editing. What I’ve said about transparency should work for the tense, too, and sometimes I’m afraid that the present tense is bound to be less transparent at the very beginning of the story – unless the opening is so spectacular that the readers almost forget they’re reading. The past tense perhaps sounds more natural in most written stories, but if there’s need for telling a lot about what had happened before, it’s another challenge to balance between using the clunkier past perfect and shifting to the past tense for longer sections of such backstory.
Thanks again for giving me a chance to ramble on. (I’m glad this is my journal, so I don’t need to apologise for wordiness!)
no subject
For my first paragraph comment, it has to be spectacular because that is the only way I "forget" it is in first person. Otherwise, I am paying too much attention to POV and get distracted by thoughts like, "This is totally not how I would think" or "these thoughts make no sense" or whatever. I can't as easily fall into the storytelling as you indicate above. For third person, I am not so stringent because it is easier for me to parse between the character and my thoughts/feelings.
I generally comment on all stories I finish and kudos them on AO3 to interact in fandom spaces as you indicated you also like to do, but as said, if I am thrown out in the first paragraph, then I never reach the end to comment. So third person is what I will comment on more.
But yes, interesting discussion!
no subject
Of course, since I’m also thinking about the reception of my fic in particular, I can get sensitive and have to remind myself not to take this too seriously. All right, we agree about the importance of making the reader immediately stop paying attention to the first-person POV, and I understand there is quite enough of a challenge in using it. As I’ve said above, I’d started to think that first-person POV is the easy way of writing slashy scenes fluently, and that there would be new, interesting challenges in third-person POV. Perhaps I’ll choose to tackle those latter ones for a change in any case, when I can enjoy first-person writing in discussions :)
I’m not so happy about the kudos function on AO3. How can you thank for kudos? I’d prefer comments in words, even in one word. (And rambling goes on.) I’ve got kudos from people who don’t seem to be in the HP fandom at all. I could go and check if they’re from fandoms where the canon is a first-person narrative and first-person POV therefore more accepted in fanfic…