(no subject)

[ginny_t]

A message to authors of the world: if you're going to write in first person, write it properly, damnit! This is not third person with I instead of she. This is supposed to be an intimate view. Histories come out slowly, not in info dumps. Descriptions, same (and please to be passing on descriptions of breasts, hips, and lips, kthxbai).

Ugh.

Comments

[sarcasm-hime.livejournal.com]

I'm reading a biography of Mata Hari and the author keeps referring to her 'heaving loins' and 'rounded buttocks' on stage.

[monkeyman.livejournal.com]

Hey, I've only played with it a couple of times, and I think I wrote responsibly ...

[jmeadows.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've only played with it a few times, and suddenly I'm not sure anymore!

[monkeyman.livejournal.com]

Teh Ginnygirl™ is a POV tyrant! Sic semper tyrannisssssss!

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

Don't make me use examples! A four-year-old's POV describing 16th-century clothing with words like "creamy silk"? C'mon.

[monkeyman.livejournal.com]

LOL -- that's hilarious.

Actually, second person bothers me more over an extended piece ... thinking in particular of Bright Lights, Big City, where most if not all of the novel is "You" this and "You" that. Umm, no. It's not really me. Seriously, kthxbyebye.

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

Part of the problem is Sarah Monette and Robin McKinley. They've used it so very well that nothing else will do.

[jmeadows.livejournal.com]

Ruining it for the rest of us!

I haven't read Monette, but I do loff McKinley.

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

I adore the Felix & Mildmay stories (Okay, she calls it The Doctrine of Labyrinths--Melusine, the Virtu, and the Mirador) for themselves. However, I also recommend them to a writer who's curious about excellent use of first-person POV. The voices are great and extremely distinctive.

Another impressive use of first-person POV is Maximum Light by Nancy Kress. It's a 15 minutes into the future (or 2 years) sort of science fiction story that's quite interesting (and a little eye-opening).

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

I'm expressing myself poorly this afternoon. *hangs head*

[jmeadows.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what you mean? (Heh.) Your last comment seemed pretty well expressed to me.

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

I think I have a bad case of l'esprit d'escalier. As soon as I post a comment, I think of a better way I should've said it.

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

Mmmm.... hips.

[monkeyman.livejournal.com]

:D

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

mmmmmm… hips. This is where I miss my teasex icon. You'll pretend that I used that one?