Same here. I prefer first person, over third, if done well. It feels like a link exists between the writer and me, as if we're attached to an umbilical cord. Such stories as "The Tell-Tale Heart" "The Yellow Wallpaper" "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" "Dracula" "Frankenstein" were all written in first person account.
that is different because its not fiction but a true story. What Maia is trying to say is this: most editors, and readers, want to be more involved in the story then the first person narrative allows.
1. first person in a novel keeps readers from being able to 'experience' the story as if they're 'there'... we can't be vicarious participants, which is what keeps us turning the pages, are forced to be just observers... 2. in the hands of any but the most brilliant writers, those constant 'I's and 'me's can quickly become an annoyance... 3. most readers don't like reading first person... (sorry I didnt quote correctly, I have had a brain fart this morning) On point 1. I rewrote a part of my story in 3rd person, and it was much less enjoyable and relatable in third. In first, I am able to get the reader there in the moments, were as with 3rd, it was much less connected. I let my husband (my sole source for critique, but a good one) read it, and he just hated the 3rd, and his exact response was "In the original, in 1st person, I felt like I was there, and I could visualize what was going on. In 3rd, I just felt like Blah." Maybe I am just better with 1st and less skilled at 3rd. It's possible. On point 2. Thank goodness I'm brilliant! haha Just kidding, I have been careful to avoid being annoying with repetitive things, so I'm good for now. 3. If most classics are in 1st, then obviously some people like them. Not that I'm writing a classic, but ya know. LOL I think I saw another thread on this started up, so I'm off for more coffee, to down load a spell checker (sorry for typos) and to read and hopefully write! Take care all!
I believe this is the point Maia was getting at. She was describing the reaction of a publisher to seeing an unknown writer's manuscript written in first person. There are many, many novels written well in first person. Some of my favorite mystery writers use it to good effect. And it doesn't mean that an unpublished writer cannot do a good job with a first person novel. There is also a HELL of a lot of amateur crap written in first person. And those stories do exhibit the problems Maia is referring to. A first time novelist has the cards stacked against him or her to begin with. The slush pile a publisher has to deal with is immense, and the time each manuscript has to impress the publisher is quite short. So unless the first person perspective is an obvious best choice from the first moments of perusal, your manuscript will probably go straight from slush to reject in the blink of an "I ...." Any story you can write in first person can be written well, and usually better, in third person. Contrary to popular belief, first person is not inherently more intimate than third person. There are reasons to write in first person, but you had better really know what you are doing if you make that choice.
Um... I suppose the discussion on first person is getting a little off-topic, so I already started a new thread on first person discussion, if anyone still has anymore remarks on first person.
Thank you Afinemess! That's exactly how I feel about first person but just couldn't ever find the exact words...and I call myself a writer
thanks, cog and cap'n kate!... you've both covered the points i was making perfectly... eyez... do you have the author's permission to post his copyrighted work here and then presume to tell him how it should have been written, when he's an award-winning, consummate pro?
