Comments on: Testing new Muscles

By: Peter Hentges

Peter Hentges — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 05:01:46 +0000

Oddly enough, I was reading some Zelazny this afternoon as I passed time in the downtown Minneapolis library between appointments. Just browsing for something short to read and picked up Unicorn Variations (if I recall the title of the collection correctly). The title story therein was not first person, but I remember fondly his use of first person in other works.

By: Elio M. García, Jr.

Elio M. García, Jr. — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 07:22:29 +0000

Very interesting news! The interstitials can be some of the best parts in the series.

First person seems to be having a little bit of a revival lately, at least in novels. Or maybe I’m just reading them more.

By: Stephen Leigh

Stephen Leigh — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:08:06 +0000

Have fun with the interstitials, Melinda — I always have!

First person is a mode I’ve used before — there’s an ease to being able to sink into the character, to simply *be* the character and not have to worry about other viewpoints. To me, writing in first person is like playing a RPG in print. The form allows for greater character identification, certainly.

By: Walter Jon Williams

Walter Jon Williams — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 21:15:34 +0000

I’ve always found first person challenging, because I’m always tempted to slip into the merely conversational.

First-person prose provides an illusion of a conversation with another person, but it’s still an illusion— the writer still has to make the same kind of disciplined choices he makes with any other form of prose.

My problem is that I start to fall for the illusion myself, and my prose slops over into the lazy solecisms that I allow myself in actual conversation.

By: Melinda

Melinda — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 16:46:18 +0000

I have a bad habit of using the adjective form because I’ve structured the sentence using _is, was, or seems_. As a result the writing ends up losing a lot of its punch. Now that I’m writing in first person I find this quirk of mine stands out like a klieg light. So, this will end up as a good lesson as well as being fun.

I guess the “conversational” problem doesn’t afflict me because I’ve written so many screenplays, and the dialogue has to feel like conversation but not actually flow like conversation.