How Fiction Works Writing Meme - Day One

[meridian_rose]

Thanks so much to pristineungift for this meme :D
If you want to join in, you can find the full set of questions at pristineungift's entry:here
I'll make an index post when I've completed the meme with links to all my answers; they will all be tagged #how fiction works meme.

1 - What style of narration do you usually write in? Which do you prefer to read? First person singular, first person plural, second person singular (rarely well executed) , third person limited, third person omniscient? Are certain styles superior to others? Why or why not?

I write third person omniscient, and third person limited generally speaking. It depends on what I'm writing and whose POV is the most pressing – if it's a character piece, for example, I'll try and limit myself to that character's POV and they will interpret their surroundings; 'John appeared angry' or 'Jane actually seemed to be considering his throwaway suggestion ' rather than 'John was seriously annoyed' or 'Jane paused and gave this serious consideration for a moment; it wasn't a sensible option, but it was rather tempting to just board the first bus out of here'.

I will sometimes write first person, but rarely – short character introspection/missing scene fics where we're talking about fanfic, and personal backstory in original fic.

I would say I prefer to read third person narratives but that doesn't mean I don't read first person narratives. However, it depends on the character who is narrating. For instance, I like the Vampire Chronicles, which uses first person singular POV by a different character in each book.
However, I enjoy watching 'True Blood' but find the novels – and Sookie, the omniscient narrator – less enjoyable. I want to know what the other characters are up to, and the obsession with everything Sookie does and thinks irritates me in the books. Amongst other things I think she's a prude and a hypocrite, but that's another rant.

I wrote just one short piece in second person singular, and that was for a landcomm challenge. I struggled through Iain Bank's A Song of Stone which was written wholly or partly in this style. I think it can be useful; hypertext fiction, like the Choose Your Own Adventure YA books, for example, where you take on the part of the protagonist and make choices affecting the story's outcome. Also I'm thinking erotica fulfilling a particular kink could be enjoyable to read as a participant rather than a voyeur.

I don't think I've ever read or written anything using first person plural – 'we' rather than 'I'.

Comments

[aldersprig]

I hear ya on 1st vs. 3rd. I'm writing something in 1st mostly for the practice; I generally find it an awkward point of view.

[meridian_rose]

It's always good to practice and stretch yourself and your abilities :D

[aldersprig]

It's like writing yoga!

[hrhrionastar.livejournal.com]

Ooh, another writing meme!

You know I enjoy first person - it helps me get inside the head of the character (although if you don't like the viewpoint character, that doesn't help so much)...

I don't think I've ever come across anything written in first plural - now I'm tempted to try it, just because it seems so weird ;)

[meridian_rose]

Oh, you should :D It's fun to try new things. I was thinking about 'we' and something like Star Trek's Borg would fit: we are the Borg...or the auditors, from the Discworld, for whom individuality is fatal and thus must speak as 'we'. I suppose letter writing on behalf of a company could work; we are pleased to offer you the position.
I'll be interested to see what you come up with if you do tackle it :D

[dorothydeath.livejournal.com]

Another meme! Yay! :D
I love reading them but I rarely comment... My lurking nature sometimes gets the better of me. o_O

Usually I prefer third person. First person feels a little unnatural for me when I read/try to write it. It's just when I read "I go there. I do this" it always makes me think that I am not going anywhere because I sit here and read this book. o_O So it's more difficult for me to connect with the story. (I gave up reading the Sookie books for just this reason.) Though it depends, of course. If it's a short story or just one or two chapters to show someone's POV better (like Aura's backstory for example) then I don't mind.

BTW I really want to hear your Sookie rant. :D

[meridian_rose]

If I like the character it's okay. I got very involved with Interview with the Vampire - despite Louis's whining, I loved the rich detail...I think that's what is missing from some novels told in first person. You hear their thoughts but you don't really see the world they live in.

I don't think you do want to hear my Sookie rant...maybe one day I can frame it without resorting to the namecalling that comes to mind when I picture book Sookie. Oddly I quite like tv Sookie - but it's Eric and Jessica and Lafayette and Alcide and Pam who I enjoy most.

[dorothydeath.livejournal.com]

That's the difficulty with first person. A POV character cannot notice everything and everyone he tells you what he/she sees. It would have not been believable otherwise. And so much story is left untold.

Oh, I believe I do! I have a feeling that I share your opinions. ;D

Anna Paquin does a great job imho!
Those are my favorite characters too! :D And I like Sam and Tara a lot as well.

[meridian_rose]

Sam :D Although I'm tired of his brother's storyline.
And Tara; I like Tara when she's not arguing with Sookie. She was really brave when she helped them escape from that compound, and I felt for her, having to pretend to love Franklin. [Though I thought Franklin was an interesting character and I'm seeing the actor around, and he's really good at playing somewhat psychotic villains :D]

I think in the books Tara is dating a vampire named Franklin - he's physically older looking in the books - and very happy with him.

[dorothydeath.livejournal.com]

Little brothers are always trouble. :D

Tara is very brave and intelligent. It takes real guts to do what she did. But I fear what she's getting herself into lately. All this craziness with witches and fanatics... Scary.

I would love to see Tara being happy with an old wise vampire. I wonder why the show writers changed that part and where will it lead Tara now.

[madame-denna.livejournal.com]

This is a wonderful meme! I'm curious about the different POV's, but to be honest - until I read this - I didn't know what kind I'm writing. Only the term of 'first person narration' was known to me, because someone mentioned it to a fic I wrote.

But now I can tell xD, I write third person omniscient and third person limited at most. I'm a big Denna fan and I guess there is only one story, where she did not appear. My fics main paring is Denna/Cara, I do like Denna the best - but I write to 99 % from Cara's POV. I do enjoy Denna's POV, but I feel, that I might would not do her justice.

I tried writing first person singular, but I don't enjoy reading it, because I can't put myself into that persons mind while reading. It's strange, that I wrote it then, but it was actually a lot of fun, it also was a good one to podfic later.

I recently read a second person singular fic and it was great. I like to try new things, but this one is still waiting to be written xD

Thank for this post, I will totally bookmark it xD

[meridian_rose]

I'm glad it was helpful :D I learned a lot from doing this meme myself :D