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only_more_love) wrote2008-03-05 09:49 am
only_more_love) wrote2008-03-05 09:49 am
Random thoughts about writing and reading
I'm going to have to come back and add to this post later, but I wanted to jot this down while it was still fresh in my head.
1. There is nothing inherently wrong with first person point of view in fiction, but I am so tired of seeing it in so many of the novels I browse through at the bookstore. I know it lends intimacy to a story, etc., but at least right now, I would strongly prefer to read third person point of view writing. "I, I, and more I." No thanks.
2. Second person point of view--why? I just don't get it. The thought of trying to read a story or book that is filled with sentences like "You walk through a dark forest without a guide," makes me nauseous. Reminds me of those "Choose Your Own Adventure" books that were out when I was a kid.
3. Maybe I'm being too picky, but it bugs me when I read fanfic or fiction where there are sections like this:
The doorbell rang, jarring Booth from the rather pleasant dream he'd been having. As he got up from his chair in order to see who was on his doorstep, he felt Brennan's eyes linger on the long, lean lines of his body.
OR
Her neck hurt because she had been poring over bones all day. Sighing wearily, she brushed a strand of silky brown hair off her face and tucked it behind her ear.
[ETA: I made up those sentences; I didn't snag them from someone else's stories.]
I don't know if other people notice point of view slips like that, but they make me cringe. Why? Because unless they're really vain, people don't think of themselves that way. In the first example, we're clearly in Booth's head, and I'm positive Booth doesn't think of "the long, lean lines of his body" at random moments. Just as I'm sure that Brennan, whose head we're in in the second example, doesn't think of her "silky brown hair" when she shoves it off her face. Do you think about your hair color when you tuck your hair behind your ear? I seriously doubt it. People might look at other people and characterize their bodies and features that way, but they rarely think of themselves similarly.
I'm not saying this is an unforgivable error. But it is something I notice and worry about having pop up in my own writing. I have no idea if it will ever happen, but I would like to aim for publication at some point, and there are so many bad habits one can develop as a writer. It's much harder to break a bad habit than it is to avoid developing it in the first place.
It is, of course, difficult to maintain whatever point of view you choose for a given work. Still, I believe it's worth the effort.
4. "Go away," she hissed.
This mistake always makes me laugh. There are no sibilants in "Go away," so she couldn't have hissed it.
5. "Honey, I'm home," she grinned.
I see that all the time in fanfiction, and it's just plain wrong. An action isn't a dialogue tag. A person cannot grin or smile or frown a sentence.
This works:
She grinned. "Honey, I'm home."
So does this:
"Honey, I'm home," she said, grinning.
There are reasons why writing is considered a difficult exercise. *g*
Be back later to edit this post.
1. There is nothing inherently wrong with first person point of view in fiction, but I am so tired of seeing it in so many of the novels I browse through at the bookstore. I know it lends intimacy to a story, etc., but at least right now, I would strongly prefer to read third person point of view writing. "I, I, and more I." No thanks.
2. Second person point of view--why? I just don't get it. The thought of trying to read a story or book that is filled with sentences like "You walk through a dark forest without a guide," makes me nauseous. Reminds me of those "Choose Your Own Adventure" books that were out when I was a kid.
3. Maybe I'm being too picky, but it bugs me when I read fanfic or fiction where there are sections like this:
The doorbell rang, jarring Booth from the rather pleasant dream he'd been having. As he got up from his chair in order to see who was on his doorstep, he felt Brennan's eyes linger on the long, lean lines of his body.
OR
Her neck hurt because she had been poring over bones all day. Sighing wearily, she brushed a strand of silky brown hair off her face and tucked it behind her ear.
[ETA: I made up those sentences; I didn't snag them from someone else's stories.]
I don't know if other people notice point of view slips like that, but they make me cringe. Why? Because unless they're really vain, people don't think of themselves that way. In the first example, we're clearly in Booth's head, and I'm positive Booth doesn't think of "the long, lean lines of his body" at random moments. Just as I'm sure that Brennan, whose head we're in in the second example, doesn't think of her "silky brown hair" when she shoves it off her face. Do you think about your hair color when you tuck your hair behind your ear? I seriously doubt it. People might look at other people and characterize their bodies and features that way, but they rarely think of themselves similarly.
I'm not saying this is an unforgivable error. But it is something I notice and worry about having pop up in my own writing. I have no idea if it will ever happen, but I would like to aim for publication at some point, and there are so many bad habits one can develop as a writer. It's much harder to break a bad habit than it is to avoid developing it in the first place.
It is, of course, difficult to maintain whatever point of view you choose for a given work. Still, I believe it's worth the effort.
4. "Go away," she hissed.
This mistake always makes me laugh. There are no sibilants in "Go away," so she couldn't have hissed it.
5. "Honey, I'm home," she grinned.
I see that all the time in fanfiction, and it's just plain wrong. An action isn't a dialogue tag. A person cannot grin or smile or frown a sentence.
This works:
She grinned. "Honey, I'm home."
So does this:
"Honey, I'm home," she said, grinning.
There are reasons why writing is considered a difficult exercise. *g*
Be back later to edit this post.
####
If you've recently read an enjoyable novel, would you mind commenting with the title? I need something to read. I don't read horror, but every other genre is fair game. The only other restriction is that the novel not be written in first person point of view. There's nothing wrong with first person POV; I just don't want to read it right now.
And yes, I know tastes differ. I won't blame you if I don't like the book. :)
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I'm so with you on point number three. It's really funny too because it makes the characters seem really vain! Like they go around all day just thinking about their silky hair and lean muscles. :) While most published books don't have examples quite that obvious, I've seen professional authors slip around between third person omniscient and third person limited many times too.
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You Oughtta Know by
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I don't know if you know the House fandom, but this is one of the better ones of my friend's(
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And I totally agree on point 5. Same goes for shrugged too. Words are not shrug-able. :)
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(Anonymous) 2008-03-06 12:51 am (UTC)(link)I just finished Atonement (haven't seen the movie yet, wanted to read the book first) and I just started The Thirteenth Tale (which is first person, sort of, but so far so good).
If you want a good suspense novel, check out Shutter Island from Dennis Lehane, or his Kenzie-Gennaro mystery series.
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Anyway, I've recently discovered Margaret Atwood, and particularly like A Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake. I'm also a big fan of Kim Stanley Robinson and highly recommend The Years of Rice and Salt, it's an alternate history type of plot. If you like historical fiction, anything by W. Michael and Kathleen Gear is very good, especially the Anasazi mystery series and the First North Americans series.
I could go on, but those are the first that come to mind.
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A good book or two
(Anonymous) 2008-03-06 04:40 am (UTC)(link)Enjoy!
Amy
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As for Booth thinking about the long, lean lines of his body LMAO. I hear you. I also get annoyed when he gets one whiff of Brennan's perfume, or the soap she just used in the shower and is an immediate olfactory savant - 'she smelled of jasmine and sandalwood with a hint of wild orchid' - like Booth would know what any of those things smelled like (well, maybe the sandalwood but who doesn't get knocked over at ten feet by that stuff)... anyway, I digress...
As for the, "Honey I'm home," she grinned. I do that! And I realise it's not strictly speaking correct, but I'm not sure it matters either. It's one of those grey areas for me where the rules of language butt up against my liking for stuff being a little off the wall... and my tendency to want to bend the rules at all times (not just in writing). One of my favourite writers is Irvine Welsh. He writes in a kind of stream of consciousness way, without even speech marks etcetera. Somehow it sucks you in to the real human behind the dialogue.
I'm not sure that made any sense now!
Lastly.. "Go away," she hissed... hee :) So true!
x
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The Curse of Chalion - Lois McMaster Bujold
Doomsday Book - Connie Willis
Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Sunshine - Robin McKinley
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
All sf or fantasy - I do read non-sf/f books, but the books I've enjoyed recently are all first person POV!
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Ya know, when I first started writing, all I did was write in first person. Incessantly, even. Now I just can't do it. I find I can describe much more by using third person. This way lets me let the auidence see what I see (however big a picture as I chose to reveal) versus what a single character sees.
Unless you have a story (like a lot of fics) that changes first person POV's every chapter. Or changes points of view in the chapter. That just seems to jerky and unfocused to me.
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