tell me also your feelings for the oxford comma

[meiface]

Inquiring minds wish to know:

Poll Narration POVsTell me more! Does second person feel like Choose Your Own Adventure? Does first person make you feel closer to the narrator? Do you hate constant switching between character POVs regardless of whether it's first person or third person

Comments

[reddwarfer]

For me, first person works only when I'm either in a fandom where the canon is in first person or when I'm reading an original narrative. I really can't stand reading first person in TV fandoms or third person fandoms mainly because I don't find it easy to assume the thoughts of someone who has already made am impression on me. When you read in first person, there's a little expectation to lose yourself as the person...and it's easier if you don't come to the story with expectations.

I don't tend to like second person fics because it feels too distant.

Third person is my preference for fanfic. Unless, as I early stated, the canon is a first person canon.

[meiface]

Huh...LJ notifs are not timely.

I think I agree with your thoughts on first person - it's definitely easier to approach original fiction with it than to fandoms/narratives that have already been established as third person in canon. Of course, always with the well-written exceptions, because I've read fantastic first person POV HP fic (after I get over my initial reluctance, hah).

Second person in fic, in my experience, tends to be used extremely pretentiously, for some sort of ~artistic~ feel. I've also seen it used really effectively though. I guess it will always depend on the writing!

[notbang]

Generally for fic, I prefer third person, and for published fiction, I'll take either third person or first person though I tend toward the former. I don't like second person POV that much b/c it seems so ~dramatic, so if I see it, I probably won't read it (though there have been a couple pieces, which I really liked; they were original writing).

I don't like switching between characters' POVs b/c mostly it's jarring. I think the caveat is always 'if it's well-written', which I think is mostly true b/c if it's well-written you hopefully won't get distracted by technical mishaps (e.g., too much tell instead of show, characters don't speak/think/act like real people, etc.). I think in fic I'll stick to strictly third person whereas I'm more flexible about first vs. third in published fiction. I don't think I could stick to second person for a long piece of work.

[notbang]

Also, oxford comma forever! :D

[meiface]

YES, ALWAYS ♥

[meiface]

I don't mind some switching between character POVs but even in professional writing I've seen it done poorly which makes me grumpy about the entire thing. :F It can be a sign of bad writing, I think, if you can't manage to tell your story within only one POV but have to go hopping between characters. (Not always true, especially in epic sagas, but a lot of times I've seen it, it's to ~give sudden insight~ from one character who has knowledge another character doesn't. So, kind of lazy, imo.)

I'm so intrigued by how many people hate second person! I don't blame them at all, since it's a common thing and rarely well done, but it makes me want to hunt down amazing second-person fic/original work, haha.

[jibrailis]

Third limited is probably my favourite and go-to. I think first person POVs can be truly excellent, but there's not a lot of writers I can think of who can pull it off -- for me, what makes a first person POV great is if the voice has something unique or interesting to it. That's when I prefer first person POV to all other POVs, if the voice is very distinctive. Otherwise I tend to prefer third person POVs in both fanfiction and professional fiction.

I know a lot of people don't like second person, but I really have nothing against it. It's not my favourite either, and I generally wouldn't want to see a sustained usage of it in a longer fic, but for shorter fics, why not.

[meiface]

Writing a good first person POV definitely takes skill, I agree - so I kind of want to practice! I may try it out in an old familiar fandom; I don't know if I would feel comfortable leaping into a new fandom with a new narrative style, considering my still-tenuous grasp on character voices.

I kind of want to experiment with second person again too. I've mostly only seen it in short pieces too; I wonder if anyone's successfully pulled off a long story using it (or if they had any readers haha).

[sapphynashi]

Almost said "I hate it" for second person POV, but eh, there are a couple examples of it being done well. I think it only really works in small doses with a lot of consideration for every technical aspect of the writing (and obviously, I don't mean artsy flourishes). A certain flow and flexibility is needed to prevent the story from sounding too textbook or blunt

[meiface]

lolol I don't think I saw half as much second person POV fic until kpop, where lowercase, pretentiously-spaced second person POV fic was practically the norm. WHAT IS THIS SHIT, thought I. And yet, some were decent. A few may have been excellent.

On the whole, though, I definitely love third-limited the best too. I forgot to ask about present tense v. past tense though! Hmm. Another thing people have strong feelings about, I suspect.

I think I have a kneejerk hatred of journal formats, mostly because I don't ever think they are as necessary or as interesting as the author thinks they are. I always think the story would've been better told in traditional narrative, even if it were first person POV. :(

I am waiting to see where you go with your chapters and character POVs!

[meiface]

Very true about how ficcers can get character voice wrong in first person - or it's not even necessarily wrong as maybe being a different interpretation than one we've formed. In published fiction, we're not approaching the narrator with a preconceived idea of character and voice so it is far less likely to ping us as wrong. (Though I've read characters I hated and do gave up the book for...)

I also think its fun to experiment with different writing styles, despite my preferences. :D