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First-person Narration



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Wed Nov 01, 2006 5:54 am
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Incandescence says...



"The folly of mistaking a paradox for a discovery, a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself for an oracle, is inborn in us."

-- Paul Valery




As I peruse other web sites, looking for other writing circles or other writers, I notice that at least 80% of writers employ first person narration. I have the impression that people think first person narration is easier. It sounds easier, doesn't it? The author needs to know only one person, one point of view, one story, so to speak. I don't think people realise the difficulties of first person, and hence 90% of that 80% is terrible.

It is because it is narrow that to write it well is so difficult.

First person needs to be undercut, to be done ironically, to be faulty, to be unreliable, etc. So many mistakes, so much bad writing, comes in the complete trust that the author has in his character. That is a general statement, but to say that you need third person "to show his folly" ignores the possibilities and difficulties of first person, or perhaps succumbs to them. You can write him first person, but it won't (shouldn't) be easy. To dissolve his truth (well) you must not simply present a morality or ideology which the reader would take instantly to be faulty, but to develop its dissolution inside the narration and ultimately have the reader understand something that the author does not, to make the narrator persuasive and sexual and likeable and still have the reader pull away from him, and through the strain of separation so much can be delivered. The display of folly is, relatively, easier in third person.

But I don't think we need the immediacy of third-person contrast. Contrast will happen naturally. Do not force the character. There needs to be a sense of breathing -- first person stories need to be slowed down to allow the narrator to inhabit the space better and allow him more room. I think we need more, not less. Staying with first person may seem easiest, but I think there are a few differences between what you write him as and what you think he is. Seeing and fixing the chasm between is what makes or breaks a story.
"If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants were standing on my shoulders." -Hal Abelson
  





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Sun Nov 05, 2006 4:22 am
Snoink says...



Basically? Don't make it an angst-laden trip on the character's emotions. Just because your character is so woeful doesn't mean you should put it in first person "so we get a better feeling of your character's mind." The character has to be interesting as well in many different respects. :)
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach

Moth and Myth <- My comic! :D
  





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Sun Nov 05, 2006 8:50 pm
Fand says...



A passage from John Barth's "Lost in the Funhouse" came to mind when I read this... just let me find my copy of The Story and Its Writer...

"The more closely an author identifies with the narrator, literally or metaphorically, the less advisable it is, as a rule, to use the first-person narrative viewpoint."

Applicable, non? And it's so true.
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Mon Nov 06, 2006 12:41 am
Snoink says...



Not necessarily. I mean, you're going to have to identify with your character whether you like it or not, so the more you get to know your character, the better it is for the both of you. And if you identify with your character in a personal way, you can write for that person very well.

The main problem with that is that you can't be blind to your faults and have to do a deep analyzation of yourself before you can write honestly for that character.
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach

Moth and Myth <- My comic! :D
  





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Thu Nov 09, 2006 8:14 pm
RoxanneR says...



I like writing in the first person, because I can portray emotion well. Although I don't do it all the time, I still like it.

RR*
Want a faithful critique? PM me!

Luv RR*
  








Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances.
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