Writing Formats - ie - 1st etc

[Sylvetra_Snake]

I am curious in the many different writing styles there are out there, and their pros and cons, and what people think about them.

I originally wrote in 1st person when i was 16 (when i started writing proper novel size books) and enjoyed writing in the style, yet now i look back on my stories from that time, i struggle to read it because of the constant I did this and I did that. It is not that i dislike it, but IMO i think it is something that needs more care than when writing in third person.

Oh, and this may sound like a daft question but what is 2nd person?

Also, there are present and past tenses. I always write in past tense in my current novels, much like many books that are out there, and i didn't really know much about present tense. I think the different tenses give a different feel to how the story flows.

Food for thought.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

The questions you're asking aren't really about formatting -- a subject that has been done to death here recently, so you may not get many responses.

First person is "I"
Second person is "You"
Third person is "He, she, or it"

So just as a first person narrative tells the story from the narrator's POV, and third person is a story about other people (or in Science Fiction and Fantasy about other ... er, individuals, of whatever species or gender), second person addresses the reader and tells him or her a story about him or herself.

As in:

"You are going down a corridor and you see an open door before you. Light pours out from that door, so you decide to go in. No sooner have you stepped into the room on the other side ..." and so forth.

The intent, I suppose, is to be more intimate, but it has quite a few drawbacks when used in fiction (for one thing, it's difficult to do it without wearing out the pronoun) and is not used very often.

Writing a story in the present tense presents a number of difficulties. It's supposed to impart a sense of immediacy, but since readers are more accustomed to stories told in the past tense, the effect can be distancing instead. It can be done well and to great effect, but much of the time when people use it, it's just for the sake of being different. They don't really ask themselves, "Is this the best way to tell the story?" In my opinion, for whatever it's worth, this is something that writers shouldn't try until they've already mastered writing in the past tense.

 

[The Ace]

Second-person (you were....)fiction is extremely difficult to do well. Many bestselling authors would never attempt it.

First-person narrative ( I was...) gives an intimacy, as if the author is speaking directly to the reader, but is offset by a person's inability to be in more than one place at any given time. This can be mitigated by the use of different narrators, but this is a difficult technique to pull off.

Third person narrative (he was...) gives the reader some distance, allowing related but separate events to be told from a position 'Above,' the action and a bigger picture to be drawn.

Writing in the past tense is so common for one reason alone..... it works. Events are described, as they happened, by an eyewitness telling his story afterwards . This gives enormous flexibility, making the writer's job much easier.

Present tense narration means that events have to be fixed within a very short time-frame, cramping the writer's style and creativity.

 

[Mystic Maiden]

Greetings everyone.
I'm rediting a completed novel and considering using 1st person for my heroine's chapters. I know it's a limited POV but I seem to be getting more into my character's feelings with 1st person.
Is 1st person acceptable in fantasy? Can you site some works or some authors that write from this POV?
Mystic Maiden

 

[Mammon]

One of the projects I am writing at the moment is writen in present time. This is because I wanted to try something new, but it also fits the story. Its about people who lost their memory so i think it also gives a better idea of what the person knows and what not. I feel it is not so difficult to write when you put your mind to it. People who have read it think it is very good and refreasing. So I guess it works. I would post a part in the critiques forum but then I first have to translate it into english.

to Mystic Maiden: well, I can't think of any reason it couldn't be acceptable. But I can't recall any books that used FPV (first person view) in fantasy.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss, which is very popular just now, is largely written in first person.

 

[Mystic Maiden]

Thanks. I'll check out the author.
Mammon, if you need insight into people who lose their memories let me know. I am caregiver to my 94 year old mother, who has lost most of her memories and now lives in the present. I think its hardest on those of us who still remember.
MM

 

[Hilarious Joke]

I'm sorry about your mother, MM.

The best first person fantasy writing I've ever read (in fact one of my favourite series ever) is Robin Hobb's Assassin trilogy. The way she gets around the restriction of first person that Ace referred to is by the central character having the Skill, a type of magic which allows him to connect with people far away from him and see through their eyes (amongst other things). It worked beautifully, in my humble opinion, because we really got to understand Fitz - his motivations and worries, his feelings and impressions. This made everything seem more real.

If you haven't read them, you should, The Assassin's Apprentice is the first.

 

[Mystic Maiden]

Thanks everyone. I'll check out those books.