My sister nancyfulda is a slush reader for Baen and she has lots of good thoughts on writing. Today she has some good thoughts on writing in first person. (http://nancyfulda.livejournal.com/83225.html?view=170009#t170009) I commented to her entry and I’m posting my comment here for my own reference.

Telling a story in first person has the power to draw a reader into the story, because theoretically the reader is sitting next to the teller and hearing the story. Because of that I often spend a great deal of time wondering when the narrator is telling the story. Who am I supposed to be? Is the narrator an old man telling a story of his youth with me as one of his grandkids? Is the narrator a young man telling what happened last week and I’m one of his friends? Those two different situations will radically change the narration of the same story. It should also change the voice of the story. If the narrator is 14 he should not be using the vocabulary of a college graduate. If the narrator is 60 he shouldn’t be using the teenage street slang of today. It may be that none of that information actually makes it into the story, but the writer needs to know it or there will be inconsistencies that will bug the reader.

Also first person removes the fear that the protagonist will fail to survive a life/death situation. After all, he’s here to tell the tale. Unless of course we’re all dead and the narrator is telling this in the afterlife. I’ve seen that done enjoyably.

First person narrators often give brief glimpses into the future. It is a tool that can be handled to amazing effect, but more often isn’t. As a reader I don’t want to end a touching scene by being told that then next time I see this person she will die. The narrator just ruined the suspense and the natural unfolding of the story.

First person narration has a powerful set of tools. Unfortunately powerful tools used incorrectly just make a mess.