At 04:15 am 06/04/99 GMT, GK wrote:

Elsa Bibat <aerolbj@epic.net> wrote:

	It ain't a classic but it's just an example. First person lends itself

well to character 

insights and bringing across emotion to the reader. But it's hard as hell

to write if you don't 

understand the character.

No offense intended, but if you don't understand the character, you
probably shouldn't be writing a fic about him/her.

To do it, the writer has to become an actor playing every role, 
able to understand all the characters' reasons and motivations; 
the trick is learning to leave yourself out and to become the 
person in question.

The real reason why first person doesn't work for a lot of stories is
that you often can't find a character who knows everything that you want
to relate in your story. It's great for fics that center around a
single, particular character, but it generally doesn't work for epics or
anything else where the limelight is shared by several characters.
(Occasionally you see people write in a first person where the narrator
changes from scene to scene; but this can get extremely confusing.)

Not always so; try reading Len Deighton's trilogy of spy novels, 
Berlin Game, Mexico Set, and London Match, and it's following 
series, Spy Hook, Spy Line, and Spy Sinker.  The first five stories 
are told from one person's point of view, which deliberately skews 
opinions one way, and then book six comes from an entirely different 
point of view, deliberately done to show how biased and untrustworthy 
one person's observations can be (especially when it comes to the 
world of espionage).  

There's also a Robert Silverberg novel (I forget the title) about 
four college friends who make a road trip to somewhere in Arizona 
to a religious cult that promises eternal life for two if two give 
up their lives.  The story isn't important, but the narrations is: 
each chapter is told from the viewpoint of one of the four men, 
and the personality of each comes out in the telling.  I'm not a 
Silverberg fan, so I never finished reading it, but it has an 
interesting feel, trying to figure out who's telling the truth, 
especially after two of the four die and their voices aren't 
being heard.

	Creepy, innit ? That's why almost nobody uses this POV, since the

reader can't 

empathize with the viewpoint character.

Right, that's the problem with second person. When you try to tell the
reader that he or she is the character, they're likely to respond with
disbelief. "I wouldn't do that!"

I can't name one well known novel written in second person; 
can anyone else?  I don't think any serious work has ever 
been done that way.  Trying to read such text would feel 
like sitting in front of a hypnotist..."You are getting 
sleepy...".

As always, being the author it's 
your choice of what POV to use for maximum effect. 

What POV to use is your choice, yes, but which one tells your story the
best is a (sort of) objective matter. I've seen a lot of fics written in
omniscient perspective that IMO would've worked better with a limited
third person.

Really, any story can be told from any perspective, what matters is 
the author's ability to tell it.  If the writer can't put himself 
into the role (or leave himself out of it), certain POVs can't do 
the idea justice.  In the end, it's whether the story is well told 
that matters.

I may write and post an essay on narrative POV if people are interested
in seeing it.

Oo!  Please do!



Shunsuke

"Gee, I wonder what all these nice men do when they're not working."   -
Rally Vincent
"Drink, smoke, watch TV, and gamble.  It's a tradition."   - Bean Bandit
     (from "Riding Bean")