Actually writing
Wow, that T13 post yesterday was quite busy. I guess maybe it is worth jumping on the bandwagon.
I think, you know, since I am a writer and all, I’d like to start actually blogging about writing (wow, I just spelled writing wrong).
So, I’ll ask you, my blog buddies, are there any particular writing related topics you’d like to read about?
I don’t know if I’m actually organized to do something like do it the same day every week, but I could probably manage semi-regularly.
Speaking of writing, I have been writing. And in first person no less. It’s…hard. This story definitely wants to be told in first person. My heroine is a witch.
So it’s kind of easy to get into her voice, but I’m really ingrained with writing in “she’s” instead of “I’s”.
And I haven’t yet decided if I’ll switch into his POV or not. So far I don’t want to but…we’ll, I guess we’ll see.
Do you switch back and forth between 1st and 3rd person? Which do you prefer? Which do you prefer reading?
(Personally, for full length especially I like 3rd, but for something relatively short I don’t mind 1st, and this is going to be around 15K).
March 23rd, 2007 at 9:25 am
Hi Emma! Great job on the writing! Well you probably already know my preference for pov - I like 3rd - can stomach some 1st - but my brain resists it all the way! Makes it hard to enjoy a book even if its good. But obviously there are tons of people out there that love 1st! So have fun writing it!
Cole
March 23rd, 2007 at 8:39 pm
I don’t really care if it’s 3rd or 1st, but I hate it when the POV gets switched back and forth, unless it’s done in a way that makes sense. I prefer writing in 3rd, though I did do a short 1st person narrative that a friend really liked. It was a comedy of errors and was super funny. Maybe some day I’ll actually do something about it. :)
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:13 pm
I definitely prefer to read 3rd person (especially in sex scenes, but that might just be a personal issue :D). And I especially hate to read books that switch between 1st and 3rd person unless, as Kaitlin said, it’s done in a way that makes sense. Just this week, I read a story like that — it started out, (paraphrasing big-time), “Let me tell you my story just as it happened to me,” and then out of the blue, about halfway through, it switched to 3rd person for a few key scenes so we could see what the bad guys were up to. Nooooooo! We’re supposed to see what the bad guys are up to through the 1st person character’s eyes! God, talk about totally yanking me out of the story. If it had been anything but an ebook, I’d have thrown it against the wall.
Well, now you know one of my pet peeve. :D
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Make that, one of my pet peeves. (blushing)
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:39 pm
I’ve never written in 1st person but I’d like to try. I’ve read some great 1st person books but they’re hard to pull off. I like 3rd person cos I like to know what’s going on in her AND his head. But if it’s done right I enjoy a 1st person read…
:)
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:57 pm
I’ve written in 1st and 3rd and I think my best work has been in 1st. I like the immediacy of it. What I hate is present tense, which I think a lot of newbie erotica writers use a lot. “You touched my skin and I felt a thousand fireworks” that kind of thing. I’ve never seen the point of a story where the protagonist is telling another character what’s happening when the other character is there with them.
March 24th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
I love writing in first person, but I know it’s not great for romance, so I try to limit it. It is great for chick-lit though, so I let rip then ;)
As for reading, I’ve never really been fussed either way. It does make for a very different story though, when only one person is telling it. I have read a few books where there have been alternating first person narratives, and they’ve been okay, but they’re the exception not the rule.
I find the book itself tends to dictate its narrative. Sometimes I’m trying to write in third, and it’s just not working–I’ll hear the main character narrating it inside my head.
But then that might just be me hearing voices…