Try A New Perspective

I've never been comfortable writing in the 1st person. Whenever I have a story idea, I see it in my head as happening to someone else. The film in my head plays out like...a film, with discernable 3rd person characters, because Hollywood hasn't come up with a good equivalent of a "Write Your Own Adventure" novel.

This and "Blair Witch" are the closest we've come.
Plus, Jason Bourne's shaky cam. 

I'm not sure why I envision my storylines this way. I think part of it is because I was trained as a Medievalist, always envisioning a glorious past. People have been writing about the Trojan War since long after Troy even had the possibility of existing. And it is hard to write about something that happened so long ago as if I was a part of it. Other people were. I'm trying to tell their story.

Perhaps it's because I think less of where I am, and more of where other people are.* That I've always imagined that characters are doing something more exciting than I've ever done.

When really, I should accept that few ever will. 

This flips me into an interesting conundrum. I've never felt hampered by the 3rd person before. In fact, I believe that most of my favorite stories were written in the 3rd person. 

        Here are the first three stories to come to my mind:

1. Harry Potter- J.K. Rowling's epic explanation of why people can be terrible while they're young, and can still turn into great people. Give them a chance. (Seriously though, every adult in his life was a terrible kid. But the important ones got over it).
2. The Once and Future King- a guys finds a sword, another finds a cup. There's a lot of excitement in-between, though. You should really give it a look. 
3. Back in Action- a children's book by Elvira Woodruff which was a favorite of mine, concerning the adventures of 10 year old Noah and a magic powder which shrunk him and his friend to the size of his action figures, who also happened to come to life. This was an important tale to young me, who, with no shortage of real friends, always imagined having more.   

But let there not be equal representation here. After all, if there were not a conundrum, I would not be writing a blog post about this. 

Star Wars is the answer. I miss when Video Games allowed you to choose between the two pov's.

It makes a difference. 

Because sometimes you need to feel the stormtroopers burn as you swing. And sometimes you don't. 

Here's the flipside, that "outsider's pov."

      Books which are fantastic in the 1st person:

1. Gulliver's Travels- the story of a man learning what it is like to have ultimate power, ultimate weakness, and terrible ignorance. There are also horses, if you like that kind of thing.
2. The Historian- a book that will make you think vampires are really, historically real, and will also anger you because of the unbelievable, unmimicable effort that Elizabeth Kostova put into her world building. 
3. The Hunger Games- about the kids from children's television shows like Clarissa Explains it All and Clifford, all pitted against each other in a ring of death. [Seriously though- Suzanne Collins is a super genius, fantastic writer, and someone I'd be uneasy asking to babysit).  

So, here's my own experience. I've been writing on this book off-and-on for a few years (yes, my projects always run in the years because I have trouble commiting and I have always had to have 'real person jobs.' Annoying). I had it in 3rd person until just recently, when I decided to try shifting, and I've really enjoyed the result. 

Original 3rd person perspective:

Highway 280 was a lonely road from Sylacauga. It was only an hour and a half drive, past Alex City, past Dadeville…and then nothing but trees, which can make an hour pass in minutes with the right company, and minutes pass in hours with the wrong. Although they drove at a steady pace, there was the illusion of being motionless. Not even the leaves waved as they passed, the wind giving way to an August heat. They called it Fall Semester, but true fall, seasonal fall, wouldn’t come till late October, and two months of rising heat and scarce rain had scorched the Alabama landscape. The endless asphalt grey road radiated heat waves, only disturbed by the occasional pothole and the more than occasional patch of roadkill brown. 

New, first-person perspective, which I believe is an improvement:

"My name is Ryan Aleman. This all started in August, when we drove down to Auburn for the beginning of the semester. Highway 280 is a lonely road from Sylacauga. In the hour and a half drive, past Alex City, past Dadeville…there’s nothing but trees, which can make an hour pass in minutes with the right company, and minutes pass in hours with the wrong. We drove at a steady pace, but there was the illusion of being motionless. Not even the leaves waved as we passed, the wind giving way to an August heat. Yeah, they called it Fall Semester, but true fall, seasonal fall, wouldn’t come till late October, and two months of rising heat and scarce rain had scorched the Alabama landscape. The endless asphalt grey radiated heat waves, only disturbed by the occasional pothole and the more than occasional patch of roadkill brown."

It's a subtle change, but one I'm growing more and more confident with. I think it provides more imediacy, more insight into the character. I don't feel so bad dwelling on Ryan's thoughts, or describing what he sees. I guess, for some reason, this is just a story that I needed to tell from behind a set of eyes, instead of from the sky.

I just had to open myself up to the possibility. 

*(Although, I do believe that this often happens when authors try writing in the opposite gender, when it feels most natural to say, "she's doing this," or "he's throwing this," or "that person over there who feels different from me is having experiences." All I'm saying, in the relative safety of these parentheses, is that authors who are afraid of showing gender bias are probably more likely to write in 3rd person.)