First Person

[SpecterNecter]

I've recently learnt that some refuse to read anything in the first person. That seems strange to me but to each their own. I like stories that way, reading and writing Does anyone in here feel that way?

 

[AlinaX]

There are people like that. People argue a lot about whether first or third is more natural. Wait till you get to the tenses, though...

 

[Areala-chan]

I love writing in first-person. It sets a tone of immediacy and intimacy I don't feel when I write in third. But it's a tool, like every other option. When it's the best choice, no other choice will do.

Also, since I only write lesbian erotica, it eliminates the confusion of wondering which 'she' I'm talking about in any given paragraph.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

First and third-person writing are a pretty common occurrence. I'd say that most readers are comfortable with both. They are far from being the same but as I said, they are quite common. It's second-person writing that can be awkward and tricky. Many readers don't like it and even fewer authors can successfully pull it off.

 

[Nynah]

From my admittedly very basic understanding of the publishing industry, as a whole, third-person perspective is the norm for "traditional" fiction, so I would wager that this is the basis for a decent number of people drawing their line in the sand.

For erotica, I can certainly see where first-person is an easy starting point as it allows the reader to graft themselves onto the narrator and give them a more intimate experience. While I prefer to read and write in third-person because of the greater breadth of narrative control, I have read many excellent first-person stories (some of which are on my favorites list) and would not be averse to trying it myself someday. I feel like if the content and characters are engaging/stimulating enough, the perspective doesn't matter quite as much.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

From the reading standpoint, I don't really care about the narrator. As long as the story is good, I'm in for it. However, I don't like boring omniscient narrators; they sometimes sound so deadpan to my mind's ears. Of course, I'm not requesting writers to perform a Lemony Snicket every time, but at least make them interesting. Hence I incline more towards first-person narratives, especially in erotica.

As for my writing, I honestly don't have a good relationship with third-person narrators. Again, I don't mind those, but it is my weakness, and not in a fun way. I find it very difficult to write in third person, and it really shows even in the end product. The problem is that I don't really want to improve or change that either. My strength is with first and second-person narrators; plenty of people, including my mentors, pointed that out to me long before I picked up erotica. I guess that's why I prefer Lemony Narrators. The more unhinged, the better.

Second-person narrators on the other hand, love them. I'm not sure whether this is the Dungeon Master in me speaking, or my appeal towards Interactive Fiction, or because I like videogames, but I'm not against second-person narrators at all. My only issue is when they are too specific into making me someone I'm not. The times I experimented with it I found out it is possible to make the reader someone so broad they can easily transfer themselves into it.

 

[PennameWombat]

I've watched those debates on various writing groups on different sites.

I don't care.

If I want to place a story directly in a character's perceptions and have them drive the story (even if sometimes as a passive observer), I use first person.

If I want it slightly removed, or I want to rotate among multiple perspectives, I use third.

If different people refuse to read one or the other simply because of PoV, oh well.

 

[Belegon]

I switch back and forth between 1st and 3rd and feel fairly comfortable in each. 2nd is confusing to me as a writer, I end up having to do lots of little fixes that I feel I shouldn't have messed up in the moment. !st person past is probably my erotica sweet spot. Different genres might mess with that though.

 

[SimonDoom]

No. I think both work. Each POV has its place.

 

[NuclearFairy]

I enjoy both 1st and 3rd person as both a reader and a writer. They each set a different tone and so are good for different styles of story telling. 1st person tends to be more introspective, and 3rd tends to be more omniscient.

2nd person though makes me feel like I'm with a railroading dm and makes me want to flip the table. Yeah, no, don't tell me what I'm doing. Tell me what you're doing or what they're doing. But I have encountered some fairly popular 2nd person stories so I suppose there are people out there that like them even if I can't stand to read past the first you.

 

[Dearelliot]

Seems like an odd place to draw the line...I'm a finicky bastard, but damn.

 

[Voyeurkenneth]

I gravitate to 1st person because it does feel more immediate. I can definitely get into 3rd person, but it usually takes me a bit to warm up to it unless it jumps out the gate with some catchy or though-provoking prose.

 

[VerbalAbuse]

According to one source we have:

• Literary fiction: ~30-50% first-person
• Genre fiction overall: ~10-30% first-person, except in specific subgenres

So what does this say? According to the same source :

"Literary fiction often leans on first-person narration because it allows for deep psychological exploration, introspection, and a strong, distinctive voice—qualities that are hallmarks of the genre. Since literary fiction prioritizes character over plot, first-person can provide an intimate, immersive experience, letting readers deeply inhabit a character’s thoughts, emotions, and worldview."

 

[AwkwardlySet]

First-person is generally more immersive. You see and hear only what the MC sees and hears. It creates a sense of being in the role of the MC. If well-written, it makes you truly feel their emotions and struggles. It creates a sense of attachment. In this case, the MC must feel relatable to the average reader. Much relies on how well the MC is done.

I'll give a few SciFi/Fantasy examples

An example of a well-written and relatable MC in this sense - Darrow from Red Rising series

An example of not well-done and relatable MC in my opinion - Hadrian from Empire of Silence. I have no idea why people praise this series so much.



On the other hand, a third-person perspective is often employed when more than one POV is used. It's less immersive in the sense I described above, but it lets the reader see other perspectives and it allows for a more complex narrative and plot in general, although this depends. It also allows a better development of characters other than the MC.

Examples:

An example of well-done POVs - The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. Three excellent POVs in the first book. He fucks it up a lot later in the series.

An example of not well-done POVs - The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. It starts decently but as the series progresses, there are way too many freaking POVs. It's a slog to go through all those POVs you care nothing about. It's amazing how many things Jordan has done badly in that series and still managed to tell a fantastic story and create an immersive world.

 

[PennyThompson]

I haven't tried writing in first-person yet, I might try it as a 750 or something some day... Too many "I" statements feel... egotistical, somehow? I know it's not, it probably says more about my own personality than anything else

Thinking about some of my favorite fiction authors (Neal Stephenson, Becky Chambers, Terry Pratchett) they all tend to stick to Close/Limited Third-Person for the most part, so I guess I'm just more comfortable both reading and writing in that way.

I admit, though, my POV was pretty messy in my first few stories! I think I've gotten better at avoiding overly-omniscient narrator voice, sticking more to what the MC sees and feels, thanks to the mentorship some editors and beta-readers who are better writers than I am

Though I did do a couple of un-narrated dialogs and monologues as 750s, which was a challenging exercise for me!

 

[Carnevil9]

I like reading, and writing, both. Sometimes, I'll write an opening paragraph both ways, and see which feels most natural for that particular story.

Interestingly, after I've read a story or a book, looking back, I usually can't remember if it was first or third! All I come away with is the plot, the issues, and the events.

 

[SimonDoom]

My default is third person, more often than not in a free indirection/close style, where the narrative is told in the way the POV character would see and describe things. I like its flexibility because you can slip out of the close style and narrate things other than from the character's strict POV when you need and want to.

But I like first person, too. It's a little more personal. I think it's easier. First person is good when suspense is important -- when you want the character to be surprised and you don't want a narrator giving away what's around the corner. That's a useful quality it mystery stories, but it can also be useful in erotic stories when somebody is encountering an erotic situation for the first time. And I think a lot of readers like to slip into the first person narrator's character in an erotic story, and to imagine it's them having the erotic experience.

 

[Melon_Morph]

I haven't tried writing in first-person yet, I might try it as a 750 or something some day... Too many "I" statements feel... egotistical, somehow? I know it's not, it probably says more about my own personality than anything else

This has held me up as well. I just uploaded my first attempt at a first person story (still pending). It was difficult to make it sound like the main character wasnt just navel gazing all the time.

I ended up having some direct internal monologue that I indicated in italics, and the other narration being not really in the characters voice. So that stuff is more like their subconscious understanding/memories, but still first person. Its probably a mess.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I've written in 1st, 2nd and 3rd. The nature of the story drives which one makes the most sense.
That said, 1st person is very limiting. There really isn't much you can do in 1st that isn't possible in 3rd.

 

[SinclairGroupLLP]

I like both first person and third person. I can't stand second person - won't read it, won't write it. Some author telling me what I'm doing when I am almost certainly not doing it annoys the hell out of me.

For my one-off stories (and granted, I've only written two of those), I always go with third person. I started off my multi-part stories in first person but now do a mix of first and third person to move the plots along, but still keep it true to the original way the stories began. I think folks like the mix.

 

[PapaRomantic]

So I was all set to say that most of my writing is in the first person, because my recent long submissions (and my upcoming submission in the Pink Orchid Challenge) have been written that way.

But then I went back and reviewed previous submissions and realized that many of them are in third person.

Here's the thing - I had no idea! I have no idea how I choose which person to write in when I start a story.

I guess I can do both!

 

[KittyOfSteele]

I haven't tried writing in first-person yet, I might try it as a 750 or something some day... Too many "I" statements feel... egotistical, somehow? I know it's not, it probably says more about my own personality than anything else

I noticed that too! However, that's a weakness that I've experienced only when I write in English. I never had that happening in Spanish*, or with the flash fiction pieces I wrote to practice my Portuguese.

*Writing in English is fairly recent, as I started writing erotica in English because I didn't feel Spanish was good enough for it. Turns out, after reading some erotica in Spanish, I got proven wrong, and it feels like it's a whole lot better. However, there are more English speakers in the world than Spanish speakers, and as far as I know (I might be wrong on this) erotica is quite a niche for the Spanish-speaking folks. For most of us, our introduction to erotica was 50 Shades, and even I found it ridiculous, though to be fair, I wasn't as much of a libertine as I am now, and I never realized 50 Shades was just a poor example until I found myself writing my own erotica once, and never picking it up... until six years ago. That's when I switched from writing in Spanish to writing in English.

 

[PennyThompson]

that's a weakness that I've experienced only when I write in English. I never had that happening in Spanish

That's very interesting! Do you have any ideas why? Is it because of the differences in how pronouns are used?
(I'm not at all fluent, I just barely passed two sections of Spanish in college )

 

[Voboy]

I find the story dictates how it wants to be told.

My usual preference is for FP, both as reader and as writer, but there are times the story just wants to be written in TP. Over time, I've noticed I tend to lean toward TP for SF and fantasy pieces, and FP for more contemporary stuff (even when it has magical or supernatural components).

I am a VERY character-driven writer. I must like the characters themselves, or I won't write the story. Most of those characters seem to want to tell their own story, so I let them. There have been a few occasions where I agonized over which to use, only to realize I needn't have bothered; once I started writing, I knew within a hundred words which style I should use. So when in doubt, I just start writing.

 

[JGittes]

I experience the world in first person, and that's how I write.