Massive, subject matter... I am planning in writing my third book in 1st Person POV

I tried writing 1st person but I made the mistake of having the character pretty down and bitter and out for revenge, so when I went back and read my first few chapters I found I didn't like the character, so I binned it. I'm being drawn back to the idea for something I'm playing with now, but I'm concerned its going to wind up a bit Sam Spade.

I'd echo the Rivers of London comment. I think Ben Aronnovich nails it. He creates a character that's likable, flawed and you'd happily have a pint with.
 
Martin Gill said:
He creates a character that's likable, flawed and you'd happily have a pint with.
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What is the point of only writing likable characters? Doesn't it all just get a little bit plain vanilla?

I intend to create some 1st person PoV characters that make your skin crawl when you're in their skin.
 
Phyrebrat said:
Likeable is the wrong word.

It's sympathetic, or otherwise characters the reader can empathise with.

pH
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I understand what you are saying here and appreciate that this is reasonably good advice. Generating reader empathy is a good way to keep them reading.

My problem is I struggle to follow good advice. I am less interested in empathy and more in compulsion.
 
Charles Gull said:
What is the point of only writing likable characters?
Click to expand...

Yep, empathy is a better word. However I stand by the comment that PC Grant in Rivers of London is written as a likable person, someone you could happily get on with, and for me as a reader that puts me on his side immediately. There's other ways of building empathy. Personally, I don't want to read books where I have no empathy for the main character(s). If I think they are irredeemable sh*tbags then I'm hardly going to want to stick around for 300 pages to see them win. That doesn't mean they have to be super nice.

The problem I had when I tried 1st person was I picked a story where the narrator was out for revenge - justified revenge - but I found I wrote him too bitter and complaining about being wronged. However that was a while ago and I've learned a lot since, so I'm up for giving it another go. I started a new draft this week of a different story but I still found I wasn't getting on with 1st person, and I also gravitate towards writing multiple POV stories, so i'm having to rethink a lot of what I know.
 
Martin Gill said:
Yep, empathy is a better word. However I stand by the comment that PC Grant in Rivers of London is written as a likable person, someone you could happily get on with, and for me as a reader that puts me on his side immediately. There's other ways of building empathy. Personally, I don't want to read books where I have no empathy for the main character(s). If I think they are irredeemable sh*tbags then I'm hardly going to want to stick around for 300 pages to see them win. That doesn't mean they have to be super nice.

The problem I had when I tried 1st person was I picked a story where the narrator was out for revenge - justified revenge - but I found I wrote him too bitter and complaining about being wronged. However that was a while ago and I've learned a lot since, so I'm up for giving it another go. I started a new draft this week of a different story but I still found I wasn't getting on with 1st person, and I also gravitate towards writing multiple POV stories, so i'm having to rethink a lot of what I know.
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In my experience writing 1st person PoV isn't for everyone. For me it is more an acting challenge than a writing one, per se.
When I write this PoV I try and sink into the character, become them. It is no longer an act of creating a story but far more experiencing it through them.
I find it a big challenge to put aside all the qualities and values that make me me and put on a suit of clothes that makes me someone else whilst I'm writing that character's story.
Because of the way this works in my head, I often write long rambling blocks of text. When I read them back to myself they feel more like an interview, pub anecdote or campfire story transcript than authored prose. Then I don the persona of an editor or journalist and try and arrange it into something others can comfortably read.
 
I agree I think it's a thin line between empathetic and 'likeable'. I'm trying to think of a novel rather than a TV or film but I'm struggling (possibly because I'm covering a history revision class and the girls are squealing and screaming instead of talking). However, I would say that in TV land Walter White from Breaking Bad or Gaius Baltar from Battlestar Galactica are great examples of wicked men with whom we care and feel sympathy and empathy for.

I suppose Roland Deschain from The Dark Tower series has somewhat questionable morals, in a novel.

pH
 
I also have to mention that not only is writing 1st person present not for everyone, quite clearly reading it isn't for everyone either.

I have been picking up lots of headwind opposing the use of 1st person present in my own work. Unfortunately, none of the feedback I have received has made it clear whether the problem is that it is simply unusual or has a fundamental weakness.

Perhaps it just needs its own audience.
 
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