I have a confession. it's hard to stand up and admit it, but here goes (gulp)
I have 'I'itis. For those who are not aware of this condition, it occurs where you use I too often and inappropriately in stories.
It started when I was knee high to a little grasshopper. I was doing a fan-fiction based on Jack and Jill, it went something like:
Jack and I went up the hill to fetch a pail of water,
Jack fell down and broke his crown and I came tumbling after.
Only two I's but it was the start of a slippery slope.
Kristina has been helping me but it's a long uphill struggle and not a pretty sight.
So if you see too many I's in my stories, please think of me and my struggles to rid myself of this affliction.
Sue
PS my favourite film/book is I Robot.
Comments
I Sue... er Aye I mean
Ah, no I er, I mean, gee admission is half the battle... I think. I, um... no I can't. I... it's them 3 dot thingies. I just do like... I, no... ya know. Um...
... Kristina
ps... Hey Sue, maybe you should try for a job with Apple
I -- I -- I
We can see why Kristina is having trouble helping Karen.
As always,
Dru
As always,
Dru
First Person
is actually the literarily preferred format if you look through history. Especially with the Great American Authors. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huck Finn, and To Kill A Mockingbird to name a few.
One tries to avoid writing in the first person
for not only does it create problems with verisimilitude when describing the motivations of other characters, it can also leave one sounding dreadfully posh.
I dunno
I tend to write in third person, which is why the current experiment with Sk8r Grrls Book 3 is so different for me. But if you look through at the "big ones" throughout history, they tend to be in first person. In addition to the three I mentioned above. there's
A Christmas Carol
The Count of Monte Cristo
Don QuixoteGreat Expectations
Wuthering Heights
Robinson Crusoe
Moby Dick
... and the list goes on and on.
So why would first person be something to be avoided? Seems to me that to emulate the masters would be something for which most should strive.
All greats, all old
I think modern readers expect more. Writing in the first person you either have to describe all the other characters' motives through their actions, or risk your reader thinking you're making it up... mind you having your reader think you're making it all up, or even deceiving yourself, isn't such a bad thing.
I prefer the Olympian heights of the third person, much easier. :)
the hungry i
And yet Ceri, your very own AT LAST shows how just how wonderful first person can be. The charm of informal, personal storytelling, vernacular speech. There's an immediacy to it that draws a reader in, where third person feels kinda stodgy. I won't say first person would ADD anything to RONI GWYN, it was so excellent, but nothing would have been lost either. Neither is "better", it's what the story dictates.
More great first person lit'rature:
THE KILLER WITHIN ME by Jim Thompson
THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS (Heinlein had a real knack for 1st person informality)
ON THE ROAD...... THE BELL JAR...... DEATH ON THE INSTALLMENT PLAN
and other misanthropic gems by Louis Ferdinand Celine (king of the 3 little dots...)
and Geoff Brown's transgender classic (and talk about your I-itis!):
I WANT WHAT I WANT
I'm thinking of joining the Rastafarians so I can refer to myself as "I and I"...
~~~(not really), Laika
What borders on pure insanity?
Canada and Mexico.
.
narrators
Sometimes it helps the story when the narrator doesn't know everything that's going on - Lovecraft wrote some stories that take great advantage of that.
It also makes it easier for the writer. You don't have to research as much when your narrator wouldn't know the proper term for something technical.
You can still use a single character's point of view without writing in first person, but it gives you a little more flexibility if you want to describe a scene that your main character didn't witness.
The other aspect you can control is that since most stories are narrated in past tense, you can determine what the narrator may have learned since the time when the events took place.
I want to experiment with telling a story narrated in first person plural.
hoist upon my own petard
Thank you, 'At Last' was only my second finished attempt at first person, and the narrator is closer to being me than I wanted - the fastidiousness, obsessive attention to detail and compulsion to make a joke of everything are all me (the dress sense and decor aren't I'd like to point out again).
Many of my favourite books are written in the first person 'Great Expectations' for starters, or 'The Confessions of Felix Krull...', 'Portnoy's Complaint' and quite a few others. I'm not against it I just think it's harder to pull off than writing in the third person.
What the Dickens?
Not in my edition it isn't. Written in the first person I mean. A Christmas Carol.
Maybe you have a version written by Monica though?
On the broader aspect though I agree with you entirely. I am all for not avoiding anything. Although I would, if pushed, make an exception of trying to emulate the Masters, or Mistresses for that matter. That would lead only to stagnation and, more personally, the near certainty of falling flat on my face.
Hugs,
Fleurie
You have such pretty I's
I've read a couple of your stories, and have to say that I never thought there
were too many I's.
Sometimes I've written in the third person, but end up feeling distant
from what I'm writing.
Kaleigh
An Eye For An Eye
And I yam what I yam. Aye, aye, me hearties and ,of course we have the aye-aye, which is a lemur.
Ha Ha
Which could be mistaken for a Gallic wall which in turn is far from being a ha ha
Hugs,
Fleurie
joannebarbarella has it!
Write in pirate talk.
Aye, arh, avast ye and so on. Aye is a perfect substute for I.
John in Wauwatosa
John in Wauwatosa
You'll never catch me
writing in the first person. Maybe I should give it a try? In Darzit, yer cain't tell I nuzzin!
Angharad
Angharad
And what person is 'Bike' written in then ...
if not first person?
from today's 1-19-08 episode ...
" "You realise you are going to be going from one studio straight to another do you?" said Des.
"What do you mean?" asked Simon.
"These programmes clash for air time, Newsnight goes out on BBC before the news bulletin finishes. Did you remember that?"
Frankly I hadn't, but the alternative had been to record the interview, which means they can then edit it. Although I have great respect for these people, I don't know how much I can trust them. My story is so old hat these days, there are so many transsexuals in the world, it isn't really news any more, so it's the Simon connection which is the draw, and through him the bank story.
It's a journalist's dream really, Russian doll stories, starting with the smallest first and the biggest for the finale. The time rolled on, Paxman was cutting it fine. Then at just before ten pm, I was led to the studio, Simon came along with me. We had both been in makeup and were ready for the Newsnight interview afterwards.
We were led into the studio and settled down."
That isn't first person? Even the rest of it, the quotes, is being narrated in first person. ot did I catch you with your tongue firmly embedded in your cheek?
Holly
One of the most difficult things to give away is kindness.
It usually comes back to you.
Holly
Damn!
You noticed!Angharad thought she might have slipped that past the eagle eyed editor, or should that be eagle I'd? Most of my stuff is first person, so who am I to argue with great literary traditions?
Angharad
Angharad
Likely!
You'd argue with a board if you thought you could get your way, who do you think you are kidding? You keep on writing in first person, just spare us the autobiography please. Wait a min, is Cathy autobiographical? (Hmmm, somehow that sounds dirty!) ;)
KJT
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose"
Janis Joplin
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.” - Turkish Proverb
For your "I"s only...
:-) I couldn't resist. Probably should have though.
In any event, "I Robot" was a good story! I enjoyed most of what the good doctor wrote, but that one, where the Laws of Robotics start is good. I was less imprssed with the movie, but hey. It's good to expose more people to it.
I Am Legend
*I Wish*, but has any body seen the latest movie version? Not bad I think. Will Smith must like doing SF. I remember reading the book about 50 years ago, and the last man on earth had to narrate in the first person. Hollywood just cannot stomach the author's ending.
you read
in the cradle?
Angharad
Angharad
I got to see it on IMAX
Okay, I prefer other girls, but... the pull up bar scene... wow. And I've seen all 4 of the movie versions, but never gotten around to the book.
Stomach?
Hee hee!
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Aye Fink
Angharad,
You're so sweet. Unfortunately, I was well into my teens when I read it. I think Richard Matheson died just recently. He was in his eighties. He wrote quite a lot of other books but that was his classic.