Conflict, Logical Response, Point of View

[jimbutcher]

Conflict, Logical Response and Point of View

Comments

[scrump]

Don't forget another of the greatest strengths of first-person, which proceeds from one of its greatest challenges: your protagonist doesn't know everything. Which allows for more of your favorite thing: CONFLICT.

The hero being wrong is a truly excellent way to get your readers involved. QV Robert B. Parker's Spenser failing to save his client. Or John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee failing to protect Meyer.

[drivingblind]

Gatsby is a clever novel, in its ways, but it is not one I would hold up to someone as a "here, learn the craft from this". It's a rulebreaker, at least in part, and for getting one's feet off the ground, I'd suggest that starting within the confines of the rules (inasmuch as Jim's laying some out) is going to bear more "saleable" fruit.

[jimbutcher]

Well, in essence, yeah. Gatsby is a great piece of literature--but literature, as Mark Twain said, is something everyone wants to have read, but no one wants to actually read. :) That puts it in the 'interesting but useless' category when it comes to writing genre fiction

Most lucrative genre?

[stevekelner]

I'm not sure you're on target about romance being the most lucrative genre for writers. Romance books, with few exceptions, have very short shelf-lives and are never reprinted. Most romance writers I know might be able to make more money short-term (dunno for sure), but if so, it's because they get paid more up front and they write 3-4 books a year at least. SF and mystery, on the other hand, have poor advances for the most part, but can be reprinted and reprinted and reprinted...fans in those genres also track down past books by authors. I attend the New England Bookseller's Association every year on the Sisters in Crime/Mystery Writers of America booth, which we share with the Romance Writers of America, and I gotta say RWA is the most professional bunch of writers I hang with--or at least professional-looking!

Love the LJ, though. I'm interested in how you tackle motivation--I'm doing it my way (psychological) on my LJ...

[cousinjean]

I'm one of the (apparently) few who thrives in third person and flounders in first. But I also don't think I could successfully plot a mystery to save my life, so I guess that works out.

Actually, my biggest (and only) frustration with the Dresden novels is that we're limited to Harry's POV. But I think it's a testament to your ability to create such vivid and fascinating characters that I long for a peek into some of their heads, too. This also backs up your point about the usefulness of first person--it does tend to ramp up suspense when we're as clueless as the narrator about what the other characters are thinking and feeling.

[ma_petite7263]

Thank you again, Jim. I'm one of those people in a writing/lit major at a 4-year university, and something like the professional writing program would be so great to have available (mid-eastern Missouri sucks for anything useful). Your advice is extremely helpful because of that.

I must be one of those weird people; 1st person POV annoys me sometimes (unless the character is dynamic and way cool, like you Harry or LKH's Anita Blake). I like knowing what the other main characters are thinking, what their motivations are, what makes them tick, so being stuck with just one person's view drives me crazy.

[nyankolove]

Hi, I just wanted to mention that third person omniscient viewpoint also makes it possible to describe the character's inner thoughts and feelings, not just a godlike knowledge of possible outcomes like in the example above. Also, the limited omniscient viewpoint is still popular. Personally, I often find third person objective writing to be really dry (if not done well) because it's often difficult to tell what character's motivations are and to get involved in the story. It's the difference between just watching a story play out and being able to become part of the character's world.