[ SECRET POST #2209 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2208 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 06 pages, 121 secrets from Secret Submission Post #316.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 1 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I can kind of see where the OP is coming from, only because I had a writing teacher who said that most first-person stories by amateur writers (like his students) use the POV as a way to excuse their own incompetence with grammar/spelling. ("That's just the way my character speaks/writes!") Not to mention that most first-person fic can be written (and possibly even improved upon) in third-person.

Granted, I still think the OP is a little spiteful if they're reading the fic anyway and not leaving kudos, seeing as it's fanfic and therefore ostensibly written for the author's enjoyment and not to be some literary genius. But I can see where the disdain comes from.

[(Anonymous)]

Um, no. First person is not lesser to third person. It's perfectly fine to prefer one or the other, but writing in first person does not automatically make you an amateur writer, and I would vehemently disagree that most fiction can be improved upon in third person. From experience as both a writer and reader, while plot-driven stories and stories with large casts often work better in third person, character-driven stories centred on one character, psychological stories, and stories with primarily internal (person vs. self) conflict often work VASTLY better in first person. For example, I wrote a character-driven book where the main conflict was internal. Wrote it in third person because I wasn't a particularly huge fan of first. After I finished it, something about it just was not working, and I decided to start rewriting it in first person to see if that made a difference. Best decision I ever made! Not only does the story now have more focus, but you really get into the character's head and the POV change made the story a LOT more fast-paced. The point is, third person is NOT always best. It depends entirely on the story.

[(Anonymous)]

I did not say that writing in first person made one an amateur - I stated that when amateur (as in non-professional) writers choose first person, they excuse their poor grasp of technical writing aspects by blaming it on the character, at least in my teacher's experience. Also note that I did not say all first-person was unnecessary or poorly written - there are a great number of stories that work beautifully in first person, but there are far more stories written that are plot-driven than are character-driven.

I don't really have a problem with the POV, myself. I use first-person as a way to get in my characters' heads. It's a lovely tool for character-building, but it takes a particular kind of story to make first-person work in longer works. All I'm saying is that I can sort of see where the OP might snub it.

[velvet_mace]

I've read plenty of professional stories in first person. Even multiple first person. Don't take your writing teacher to heart. Sometimes teachers are wrong, and mistake their own preferences for universal truths, just the way people in fandom do. They are people. And some of them are in fandom and have absorbed fandom preferences.

[(Anonymous)]

If anything, I would say that writing in first-person is harder than writing in third. You have to consistently give the impression that your character is speaking through your words, and when that fails, they come across as emotionless or stilted. Stephenie Meyer, for example, fails horribly at first-person writing. It doesn't feel like her character is choosing those words.

[velvet_mace]

Well it certainly doesn't help that Bella has no real personality. First person is great for getting intimate with a particular character, truly getting into their head and seeing the world through their eyes. But without a character to get intimate with -- being stuck with one that has no opinions or interest in the world around her. So it's like being intimate with an empty room.

I really get the sense that Stephanie Meyer would have preferred to use the second person, and turned Twilight into a "choose your own adventure" novel. But that's a bit too far for most readers.

[(Anonymous)]

Agreed, and this is exactly how Collins triumphed with The Hunger Games.

The fact that people consider them remotely comparable makes my skin crawl.