I am not sure if I am a wanabe writer or if I am just early in my development as a writer. People have commented to me that, in their view, I am a professional writer. Well as good for the ego as that is, I realize that there is much to know about the craft.
I want to be very clear that I was not an English Literature major but was in fact an Electrician for over 30 years. I am very accustomed to writing technical explanations but this fiction genre is a new effort for me. I am going to make many errors but I hope that you will all understand that the telling of the story is much more important than the sentence structure and gramar. I plan to improve on that as I go along, but it is far too late in my life to learn exactly how to write before I start telling stories.
I have been working on a story called Captain Brown (Project name) and have decided to scrap it and start over because there is just so much to learn from many of the authors here. So far, you have all been so nice to me and as some of you know, just a kind word once in a while can make all the difference.
Tonight, not being sure exactly what was meant by the terms, first, second and third person, I did some reading on it and as it turned out, it did clear some things up for me. In looking at the work of David Weber's Honor Harrington series, it does not seem to be in first person. There does not seem to be a single place in the series where she refers to herself as I. I think it may be third person with quite a lot of dialogue.
In a few minutes, I am going to start over on Captain Brown and do it in first person. Perhaps many of my stories will be first person, at least for a while. In one explanation of "first person", the author uses the word "I" just once and then launches into description of the surroundings without using "I" any more. I really like the example used and I am going to try to duplicate it in my own work.
Please wish me luck.
Gwenellen
Point of View
Okay I'm gonna take a shot at this.
First Person - the character is the author, telling the story. It's like you're sitting around with some friends describing something that happened to you.
I never thought that such a chance encounter would change my life in so many ways. When I saw her standing there, looking helplessly at the keys dangling from the ignition of her locked car, I just had to offer my help. I guess that was my first mistake.
First person has the limitation of only being able to describe what the focus character can see and know. If it happens outside their knowledge, they can only describe it after-the-fact. One classic way to deal with this is:
I didn't find out until much later what Jenny was doing while I was leading the two thugs away. She made a beeline for the nearest phone booth and called her uncle, a detective with the police department.
Second Person - Is a bit more tricky, and is very seldom used. It's like you, the author, are telling someone else about something that is happening to them. The best analogy I can come up with is like a dungeon master in a D&D game:
You see an attractive young woman standing by a car looking in the window. As you draw nearer, she looks up at you, a helpless expression on her face, and you can see a set of keys dangling from the ignition.
Third Person - the author/narrator is from a perspective outside the story. This is the most common form for fiction.
When Carl saw the pretty brunette standing there, staring helplessly at the keys dangling from the ignition of her locked car, he felt obligated to help. He was a nice guy, after all, and he couldn't very well leave the girl standing there, so he went over and offered his assitance. That was his first mistake.
There is a lot more to point-of-view than this of course, but that's kinda my nutshell explanation.
Scott
Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of--but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.
Lazarus Long - Robert A. Heinlein's 'Time Enough for Love'
Bree
The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.
-- Tom Clancy
http://genomorph.tglibrary.com/ (Currently broken)
http://bree-ramsey314.livejournal.com/
Twitter: @genomorph
Agreed
So what happened to the brunette the guy and the car keys?
He's made a mistake, but what?
You can't tantalise us with half a story, that's cruel, mean and very unusual.
Please let us know what happened and did the detective get the thugs?
Nick B
Carl's Real Name Was Tiger
He allowed the girl to use his cell phone to call OnStar, and then went on to win the Buick Open. His mistake was in not realizing the "girl" was his wife.
The TG element? His old caddy, Fluff.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Someone sounds like a golf fan to me
You mean there's two of us who also write TG fiction?
I wrote an almost 70,000 word golf epic. The Great Shift- Mulligans. Maybe I should re-post it.
Danielle(Who just got back with her daughters from a golf course but I didn't play)
PS- I don't always write long stories. At least 5 of my 26 stories weigh in at less than 5,000 words.
Daniel, author of maid, whore, bimbo, and sissy free TG fiction since 2000
What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.- Oscar Levant
So true, Danielle
I tend to write first person as it works well most of the time for me, particulary as my stories are strongly biased towards dialog.
It has its difficulties and I have experimented with either third person or first person but multiple points of view, but that last one is tricky. You need to specifically delinate whose frame of reference a scene is from. Karen_J used it in "Twins" effectively, a favorite of mine. Angela Rasch/Amelia_R's "Peaches" and "Sky" used it effectively as well, also excellent stories.
Mulligans is a great story even if you don't like golf all that much. It's one of the best Great Shift stories I've read with the possible exception of The Last Boyscouts unfinished story at FM.
Good to hear you were able to spend some time with your daughter, Danielle. Keep fighting.
John in Wauwatosa
John in Wauwatosa