fanfic conventions (not the get together kind)

[smg01]

Here's another opportunity for my friends to laugh at me. *waves to jungleeyedgirl* So, I'm new to the fanfic scene, but I've lately started to embrace it with the zeal of the newly converted. I don't read tons of though. I generally rely on the recommendations of trusted others. For one of the fics that I'm planning, I'm considering the idea of writing it in the first person. I don't think I've seen that done in the fanfic world, which means that it's poll time for me. Feel free to talk back to me in the comments about your answers, or what your answers would have been if they had been listed as an option. Or to mock. That's okay too.

[Poll #1109687]

Comments

[uufarmgirl.livejournal.com]

As long as it's not an OC first person.... those are really tricky to do without sounding like a Mary Sue, even when they're not.

[suzannemarie.livejournal.com]

That's kind of what I was thinking. For the story that I want to do, I think it could be effective coming from a character who is known but not a regular. Much to ponder...

[amberlynne.livejournal.com]

I generally do not enjoy first person, even in professionally written fiction. I find it especially weird in romance novels. I see it frequently in fic, but unless it's an author whose work I love, I rarely read it. But that's just me! I've seen many a fic written that way loved and rec'd by others. :)

[suzannemarie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I go back and forth on it. I think it's especially easy for things to go really, really wrong in the first person form.

[jungleeyedgirl.livejournal.com]

*laughs*

;)

First person can be... problematic. Most people stick to third/limited omniscient for a reason. It's very easy, especially if the person is male, for the voice of the story not to sound right (or even the correct gender).

That said, it can be done.

[suzannemarie.livejournal.com]

Yeah... As I'm thinking about the story that I want to tell, I'm already starting to see the pitfalls. I may still make a run at it to see if I can do it--then switch it to third person so I can tell a wider story.

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

I've done two first person fics. Partly it's because writing is an experiment and I wanted to try ways to see what works for me. Partly because that's the way the story wanted to be told in each case.

But it has to be done *really* well. A lot of people will back click as soon as they see the "I" in the narration, just because there's been so many badfics out there done in the first person.

I do have a piece of advice if you do write first person. Write it in the past tense, not the present. I think I made fabrisse cry when she betaed it for me. (ironically it's my favorite story I've written, but I will never ever write that way again).

Interestingly, I just read a novel that switched povs, and most were done in 3rd person limited, but one character was in 1st person. That one was weird. Don't do that, at least it's my humble recommendation.

[suzannemarie.livejournal.com]

The brain share still lives: Interestingly, I also just finished a book that switched back and forth too. One character was "historical" and his sections were told in the first person past tense. The present tense contemporary person's story was told in present tense third person. It took some getting used to, but in the end it was really deftly done--and really fit nicely with how the book resolved.

(If you tell me that you're also talking about a YA book by Susan Cooper called Victory I may officially become frightened.)

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

Nah, it was by a guy named Cohen I picked up in the mystery aisle of the library. (I just randomly wander and pick books that fit my fancy based on cover/title/what's towards the end of a row--and then I'll usually end up reading as much by that author as possible if I like them, and move off to the next. Mystery novels=popcorn). "The Woods" was the book title.

He's apparently a best seller, and his books are...readable, but not fantastic.

I'm still not sure why the one character was in first person. Were we supposed to relate to him more than the others (he was a suspect at one point), was this a way to make him the most sympathetic character? Just a way to clearly indicate the protagonist?