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Point of View in NYCM stories

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td333777 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote td333777 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Point of View in NYCM stories
    Posted: 26 May 2020 at 4:37pm
Felt like starting a thread to discuss technique a little while we continue the torturous wait for third round results in the SSC.

I've written probably 60-70 short stories in my life, and I don't give a lot of conscious thought to picking a POV before I begin.  The POV just kind of...happens...when I start.  Most of the time, I default to third person because it allows me a larger breadth of storytelling.  I find first-person easier to use when I'm trying to misdirect for a twisty ending.  I did second-person once, in order to try to put the reader into a man's shoes who doesn't realize that he's slipping slowly into an affair.

I feel like first-person lends itself to more emotional scenes because readers don't have to infer a lot--the emotions and feelings come right out of the narrator's head.

Third-person seems to work better in action (although some very tense stuff can come out of first-person action/suspense when you want the reader concerned for the MC's safety.)

So I put the question to you all--why do you pick one POV over another?  Do you have a distinct tendency for one?  Has your POV inclination changed over time?  More of my first-person stories were written earlier in my writing career, but I've gotten more fond of 3rd person as time progressed.

I also wonder if there's an advantage in contests for one POV over another.  I know it's a small sample size, but four out of the last five Short Story winners have been first-person, and four of the last six Flash Fiction have been first-person as well.  If someone did a tabulation of POV for round 3 and the majority of entries are first-person, that could explain why first-person is so well-represented by overall winners.  Or maybe it doesn't.

What say you regarding POV?

Trey 




Edited by td333777 - 26 May 2020 at 4:38pm
FF '17 - 1st, SSC '18 - 2nd, FF '20 - 7th
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 May 2020 at 5:14pm
I write a lot of first person. Not sure why, but it's an intuitive decision like with you. In general with writing, I ask myself if the story is one character's, or if it's a group story. I've got one stand-alone novel that's third-person, and I was delighted to discover that there were so much more opportunities to develop the characters; and I saw some limitations on first-person writing. Interesting question! I've also written my middle grade series in which each volume has one of three different narrators who switch out. I think for the twelve volumes, it's Corey, Corey, Andi, Corey, Andi, Corey, Corey, Andi, Corey, Andi, Julianne (new character), Corey. (I hope that sentence was fun to read. I enjoyed typing it.) Tongue That gives some flexibility too of third-person writing because I can develop each character with a per-volume focus. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chrissie0707 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 May 2020 at 6:04pm
I have always written in third and HATED first-person with a fiery passion. 

I wrote one story in SSC last year in first, and it was rough. I wasn't sure about it, and my trusty beta readers were like "I don't like this. You don't write like this."

And then as I started writing more and more flash length stories for comps, first-person has been the POV that has popped into my head in the brainstorming phase. I've found that it's helpful for keeping to a lower word count and creating an emotional connection with the reader. I've found myself enjoying stories written in first-person much more lately, too, since I've started writing some that way. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jennifer.quail Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 May 2020 at 8:08pm
Whatever feels right for a particular story or character. Overall I probably average third person more often than first, as it's a bit more flexible if I need multiple POVs. Some characters absolutely seem to fit one more than another. (Aleksandra is always first person, past tense, Mattias is just a third-person-present kind of guy. ) Generally, it's about the tone of the story. Some just seem to flow better when they're in first and usually if I find something not working, when I change from first to third or vice-versa, it starts to work better.

One thing I can't stand is second person. It takes a really, really exceptional story for me not to bin it immediately seeing second person.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lexiconundrum Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 May 2020 at 12:21am
I love topics like this. The more I write, the more I find myself sticking with third-person limited POV. Writing third-person omniscient seems to have gone out of style. Another reason I usually stick with 3rd person is that it's sort of the tool I know best as a writer. I might pick up other tools once in a while, but for contests, I usually stick to where I'm strongest. 
1st person POV always feels disconnecting to me...I guess if I'm reading a story about Indiana Jones, I like to imagine that I could possibly have these adventures too...but I know that I am not the "I" of a 1st-person POV story, I'm not as interested. That said, Rebecca is one of my all-time favorite movies and books, so if the story's really good, I'm fine with it.
I think 2nd person works best with stories about abstract concepts. I wrote my R3 story in 2nd person, and I almost talked myself out of it because I do think it was a risky decision,  contest-wise. But I wanted to demonstrate my main character's feelings of dissociation and disconnection from her environment, and as though she was giving herself stage directions to cope with her situation. I felt strongly enough about it that I decided to keep it in 2nd person despite the risk, because so many people do dislike 2nd person. But I think if you have a specific goal in mind, 2nd person can work. When I was younger, I used to write things in 2nd person because I thought it made my stories sound soooo poetic (it didn't). :)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RichmondRoad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jun 2020 at 7:03pm
As is always the case I believe that there are no rules and anything can work in the hands of a master (I’d use master/mistress here in the spirit of gender equality ... but it has a bit of an S&M ring to it). But being no master myself I tend to go for whatever is easiest. I was always impressed by how J.P Donleavey could switch so seamlessly from 3rd person to 1st person and I have sometimes tried to imitate that ....but it has never worked.
My tendency is for 1st person because it seems like a more natural story telling vessel. My observation is that 3rd person is a bit of a ‘when in doubt’ refuge (that I take regularly). Great 3rd person short stories sometimes include, in the first sentence, the name and location of the protagonist, but the bad ones almost always do.
Whenever a story starts like ‘Little Joey lived alone in a tidy wooden house in Sommersby with a neatly trimmed hedge. By day he worked packing shelve’s at Robinson’s grocery and at night he dreamed of being a lion tamer’ I think, “oh, dear. Here we go again ...”
BUT .... as I regularly stress to anyone who would listen, what would I know?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WoodyGS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Jun 2020 at 6:30pm
love having this conversation. awesome to see how peers are using their unique strengths to make their technical choices. 
1st person: i use this when i have a vivid character who won't shut up. historically it's been my favorite. :) the drawback is remembering the character isn't necessarily a writer, wouldn't necessarily speak with the description or prose that we as author would default to in, say, 3rd. so i have to show more discipline (method acting?) with the way i describe things.

2nd: i use 2nd for stories driven by strong emotional or mental experiences. there's an immediacy to it, super internal, but it's not inhibited by a narrator's (read: human's) tendency to guard or make themselves look a certain way. when i was younger and writing characters similar to me, i would write first drafts in 2nd & then revise to 1st or 3rd later.

3rd: i use 3rd when i want us to look at the characters from the outside and have the reader retain their own separate identity (if that makes sense?). a more cinematic experience. i find 3rd most challenging because you're under the responsibility to control sooooo much more in the scene. i always have to be thinking: where is the camera? where have we situated the reader? what else does the reader need to be immersed? so many of you execute 3rd so well and i really admire that~!


Edited by WoodyGS - 03 Jun 2020 at 6:35pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote NorthernPixels Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Jun 2020 at 10:17am
I often write second-person at work. In a video game, when the character interacts with something, I write it like a dungeon master in D&D sort of. You stumble upon a mouldy tome, it crumbles apart in your fingertips as you attempt to turn the pages. 

That's really the only time I've thought about using second-person. 

Typically, I write in third-person when I'm more interested in a detached POV, when I want to explore a characters emotions and actions without their own voice attached to it. This is especially true if I have multiple POVs or want a more objective feeling to the story. I almost always use limited-third as well. 

On top of that, it feels timeless, somehow.

I use first-person when I want a more intimate or subjective take on something.  


Edited by NorthernPixels - 05 Jun 2020 at 10:20am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CathyM Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jun 2020 at 7:21am
For longer stories, I mainly use third-person. It gives the story more breadth, I feel. For short intense stories, I tend to use first to give the story an intimacy it needs for short and intense.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Vernacula Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Jun 2020 at 7:49pm
Everything I do is pretty instinctual. Maybe I shouldn't admit that, but there you go. I will say, I really feel first POV is best suited for shorter fiction, like flash. On very rare occasions, when I write something and it feels off I'll try changing perspective. I usually end up loving the stories where I've done this.
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