On First Person and Fanfic

[ladderax]

I was going to write a rare personal post, but I seem to have lost the ability to talk about myself except to blurt out TMI pity party crap on Twitter like "so restless, ugh" or "I can't write!!!" (These are not direct quotes, but they may as well be.) Taking a Twitter hiatus has been good for me. I think. I'm really quite terrible at assessing my

Comments

[sparkledark]

And is first person fic more acceptable in fandoms like The Hunger Games where the source canon is in first person?I have noticed that first person fic is a lot more prevalent in Hunger Games fandom than, say, Inception fandom or Walking Dead fandom or a few others I've been involved with over the past couple of years, so I'd guess the answer to that question is probably a yes

[ladderax]

This is a really insightful comment! I didn't even consider the idea that there's more at stake in getting the character's voice right. There is a little more stylistic leeway in third person, perhaps, and a bit more room for mediation by the author's way of seeing things. And it's harder to "sell" really poetic prose in first person too

[sparkledark]

There is a little more stylistic leeway in third person, perhaps, and a bit more room for mediation by the author's way of seeing things.Absolutely. I think with fandom first person it's really important to SOUND like the character, for the author to intrude as little as possible, which can be extremely difficult in some cases. Especially if there's not much to go on, which might be another reason the source material makes a difference. Like, I'd absolutely consider writing Katniss Everdeen in first person since we have three books of Katniss first person to reference and get inspiration from, but I would never in a million years attempt to write, say, Eames in first person. I think I have a decent grasp of him as a character, but there's just not enough canon for me to figure out what the inside of his head might sound like, you know? It's a super-intimate way to write, and when it's working and clicking it really is easier and more fun than anything for me, but being able to get there is dependent on a lot of different factors. And

[lathaina]

Someone (I forget who) once said that it depends on the source material.

Is the proscription against first person more of a "don't do this unless you're a highly skilled writer" rule?

Strangely enough, the former reason doesn't appear to apply as much to the Sherlock Holmes fandom, where, as you know, all the canon material has been written in first person. There could possibly be more fic written in first person due to the canon material as compared to other fandoms but it's not as blatantly rampant as it should be. Perhaps the 2nd rule is the reason behind this. One example I could possible cite to prove that the 2nd rule is true would be katieforsythe's works. It's certainly hard to do without sounding utterly strange and off but she manages to carry of off quite well. Therefore, I think it's clearly more up to the skill level than canon material. I can't really say anything about the writing style bit because I don't know enough about it but this is what I think anyway.

[lady_drace]

Well, I don't have a lot to offer here, because I never actually heard anything bad against first person POV. I've only ever written it once, but I think it turned out okay. So I don't see why you shouldn't.

[anatsuno]

I'm very late, but basically: I love everything. I think fandom's reluctance to deal with 1st and 2nd person fics is silly and down to habit and policing. I agree w/ sparkledark that a proper third omniscient has become so rare and hard to pull off now that it seems to me harder to write than 2nd or 1st person. I'm not surprised to see people opine that it also depends on the canon - it's harder to enforce a diktat against 1st person fic when the canon is in 1st person obviously... Probably the taboos against self-insert are part of what makes it less palatable for people, but since I suffer no such issue, I'm free to enjoy good first person fics when I come across them. :D

Also: DO NOT BE AFRAID. COMMANDEER ALL THE COCKS YOU WANT. <3

[bottledminx]

Fascinating look. I might have lost it a little over "YOU CAN'T WRITE ABOUT IT LIKE IT'S YOUR COCK! YOU CAN'T JUST COMMANDEER SOMEONE'S COCK LIKE THAT!"

...My cock it is indeed.