First Person POV

I don't know about romance (as in genre), but The Time Traveler's Wife (sci-fi love story) is written in 1st person.

Romance

MillyBecker said:

Can anyone give me an example of a recent contemporary romance written in 1st person?

Is it a good idea, or should I stick with third person limited?

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It depends largely on tehe publisher and genre you have in mind. Mainstream romances have certainly been written in first person, though I can't bring one to mind, but Harlequin and Silhouette style romances are always done in third person.

MillyBecker said:

Can anyone give me an example of a recent contemporary romance written in 1st person?

Is it a good idea, or should I stick with third person limited?

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Altough more chick lit than you might be looking for, Jane Green's Mr. Maybe and Marion Keyes "Walsh family" books are beautiful examples of successful 1st person writing.

I like read first and third person books equally so as a reader it makes no difference to me.

It's a good idea if you can do it well.

Jamesaritchie said:

It depends largely on tehe publisher and genre you have in mind. Mainstream romances have certainly been written in first person, though I can't bring one to mind, but Harlequin and Silhouette style romances are always done in third person.

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Harlequin Tender Romance (known in the US as Harlequin Romance), has published the odd 1st person romance (at least they did a few while I was there), but yes, it's quite rare, and I think you'd have to have an exceptional book for most of the 'series' to want to pick up a 1st person novel.

While not a romance, the recent The Lovely Bones is in first person, I believe.

I recently read a fantasy romance in first -- can't recall the title. All the same my advice would be: don't.

veinglory said:

I recently read a fantasy romance in first -- can't recall the title. All the same my advice would be: don't.

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Any reason why? Just curious, as though I'm not writing a romance, I've just completed a fantasy novel which, for the most part, is written in first person. I know it's (kind of) unusual for the genre, but it seemed to fit the character I was writing.

I love to write in first, really. I write by identifying with the protagonist and seeing the world through his eyes -- therefore I am effectively 'translating' into third. However, my experiences is that:

--Most publishers discourage it, many explicitly discourage or disallow it in their guidelines.
--Most readers prefer third. Either innately and because they are far more used to reading third and so it is more natural for them.
--The two editors I have worked with both strongly discouraged the use of first.
--Many beginner writers use first, leading to a connections in people's minds between writing in first and writing badly.

Third will simply be an easier sell. Of course the world is rampant with exceptions to these sorts of 'rules'.

Try translating to 3rd POV for the second draft. See how it reads.

What you've said makes sense (unfortunately for my WIP). I did try translating a bit of it into 3rd, but it just flattened the writing, despite 3rd working well in other things I've done.

For me, the trick was realising that third doesn't stop you from reporting thoughts and feelings directly.


But if that piece is just not willing to be third, well -- what can you do

Unfortunately, this is the second fantasy novel I've written in first (though the first I've completed). The next is going to be in third, no matter what happens

Who knows, if I feel confident enough, maybe I'll post a snippet in Share Your Work and ask for opinions one way or the other... (I probably won't though)

There's probably a reason why romance novelists and publishers prefer third person. Romance involves both protagonists, usually on equal footing. First person would make it one-sided and also impossbile to report on what the other protagonist is thinking. It's simply not a very efficient way to tell a story about two people in love... Also, the readers want to be themselves involved in the story (pretending they're the heroine, perhaps?) so it'd be easier for them if it's 3rd person (1st person feels too "close" to the character).

veinglory said:

I love to write in first, really. I write by identifying with the protagonist and seeing the world through his eyes

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This is the same reason I write in first person. I try other POVs and struggle. When I am the person telling the story I can forget that I am not really the person...it's like I'm telling this true story...I get so wrapped up in the story I am telling and the 'I' of it. It's a shame more publishers don't request it. It's also my favourite POV to read.

Richard: I recently finished reading The Time Traveller's Wife, which did a decent job of getting two first person characters simultaneously.

Clare: Punch him, Henry.

Henry: WHAM!

Richard: Ooof!

Linda Howard's To Die For is written in first person. In this interview she tells AAR how her editor felt about the book.

I enjoy the first person POV as well. Steven Brusts' Vlad Taltos books are excellent examples of the first person POV.

Jamesaritchie said:

It depends largely on tehe publisher and genre you have in mind. Mainstream romances have certainly been written in first person, though I can't bring one to mind, but Harlequin and Silhouette style romances are always done in third person.

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Please, let's agree to never say NEVER or ALWAYS, because as soon as someone tells a writer that they should ALWAYS, or NEVER, some other writer comes along and succeeds at doing what others were told to never do.

With that in mind, I will say that recently there have been some Harlequin and Silhoutte first-person POV books. Please note that there haven't been MANY, and as a newcomer trying to get in the door -- well, it's hard to say if you're better served by conforming to the norm (my usual preference) or by being different.

I recently read a book called The Man Behind the Mask by Christine Rimmer. It's published by Silhouette, but not for one of their "lines" - it's a single title. It's a paranormal. The back cover blurb is third person, and when I started to read, I expected thrid person - and found first person.

At first I was disappointed because it was the heroine's POV - and I was disappointed that I was going to miss out on the hero's thoughts/etc.

Ha! The surprise was on ME! Christine wrote the book from alternating first-person POVs, both hero and heroine - and I really enjoyed it.

There have also been other books that sometimes insert certain bits in first-person POV - either from a journal/diary entry, or something like that - when the rest of the story is in 3rd.

Why stick with 3-person limited? (indeed, someone enlighten me - what does the "limited" mean? That you're not in EVERYONE's head, only some characters?) Personally, I think with deep 3rd-person, you can still obtain most of the intimacy of 1st .

Do as James suggested - try it in both POVs and see which is going to work best for your story. Just know that 1st-person romance is going to be a slightly tougher sell.

Susan G.

do as James suggested - try it in both POVs and see which is going to work best for your story. Just know that 1st-person romance is going to be a slightly tougher sell.

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"He leaned closer to me, the sweat from a hard day's work on the ranch mixing with the flowers of my perfume. Such sweet grime." I think you are right

I hope I remember correctly but Herman Raucher's 'There Should Have Been Castles' is written in first person from alternating perspectives. His and hers.

Call me narrow-minded but I dislike romance, dislike first person, dislike even more writers who do cute things like alernating the POV from chapter to chapter, like in this book.

And yet the book had me crying like a baby for hours at the end. I told all my friends to read it and they all scoffed and read it secretly and cried like I did. Young adolescent guys all chatting in hushed tones about this wartime romance that we all had secretly read and didn't tell anyone because we didn't want to pass as soft. One of the most intense reading experiences I have ever had. I don't dare read it again twenty years later in case the book doesn't do the same things to me now as it did when I was in school, but check it out Milly and tell me if I was wrong.



Os.

Anatole Ghio said:

I haven't read it, but Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier was written in first person... it is held in high regard by many.

- Anatole

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Getting advice about romance from someone who has 'drink some grog and read my blog' at the bottom of his posts.

I love these boards.



Os.

I think it depends on the feeling you get when you tell the story. For instance, in my first (and so far only) published book, I had to tell it in first person. I became that girl. In two other not-yet-published ms., I wrote them in third person. It was the way the words came to me, the feeling that I needed to get into everyone's head. It usually doesn't bother me when I read either first person or third person POV books. Now, it's the first person POV present tense that bothers me. I can't remember the mystery I read that was written that way, but it took me three tries to get past the first page and into the flow of first person present tense.