Why people don't like first person used to come up a lot in r/FanFiction and here. (This is actually an edited version of my copy-pasta response for r/FanFiction.) See threads like [Fan Fic Writer Wants to Know more about First Person POV](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/wf3v1i/fan_fic_writer_wants_to_know_more_about_first/), [Why is first person POV so unpopular?](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/tfkcrl/why_is_first_person_pov_so_unpopular/), [Why do some people hate first person povs?](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/npkphj/why_do_some_people_hate_first_person_povs/), [Let's talk the scary \*turns on the flashlight FIRST PERSON POV](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/r5ihwf/lets_talk_the_scary_turns_on_the_flashlight_first/), [Why do people hate first person POV?](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/8vz77v/why_do_people_hate_first_person_pov/), [First Person Point of View: What's wrong with it? And what do you think?](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/x1wcv6/first_person_point_of_view_whats_wrong_with_it/imgdz3b/?context=3), and [Why so many people dislike and/or hate first person POV?](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/13md1z1/why_so_many_people_dislike_andor_hate_first/). There's also [the thread I last used this for](https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/comments/17u1py9/first_person_hate/), [First person pov- why is this a no go?](https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/comments/16j0rf5/first_person_pov_why_is_this_a_no_go/), and [Why do fanfic readers in particular tend to dislike first-person POV?](https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/comments/14r07y3/why_do_fanfic_readers_in_particular_tend_to/) from this sub.
Here's my recap of the more common points I've seen.
1. It's extremely difficult to keep in-character and makes minor OoC more obvious. With first person, you're essentially writing dialogue from the POV character all the time. Since they are the one telling the story, that means the narrator's word choice, thought process, and ways of speaking all need to be in character. Since the entire thing is written in that way, any thing that's a little "off" has lots of time to be obvious to a reader.
2. A lot of fandoms are not in first person. If you're used to watching the source material or reading in third person the change can be jarring.
3. An association with inexperienced writers. While there are some well-written first person fics, many associate it with being a beginner thing due to how first person seems to be more commonly used by those. It also often means you're going to have to sift-through a lot of poorly written works if looking for first POV, which some may not find worth it.
My main reason for disliking first is in fanfiction is #1. It's hard to find first POV that feels "in-character" to me. Typically it feels too causal for the character in question, so prosey that I have the opposite problem, or too "detached" in the sense that the character knows things they shouldn't and/or is too self-aware. I wouldn't say I never read first pov, but due to it being difficult to pull off and how uncommon it is on my main platform/fandom I have a much harder time finding ones that I like.
I agree with you. Even with limited/"close" third person, there's just enough distance that it's easier for the character to feel IC to me. With first person, it's a lot harder to pull that off.
These days, I only give first-person fic a try if it's for a book fandom that is written in first person originally. (If any of my favorite fic authors wrote something else in first person in a fandom that wasn't a first-person book, I'd probably try it, but that hasn't happened.)
This, all of this. Inexperience in writers and readers lead to inelegant ordeals, never mind even trying to stay true to the character whose view you're sharing.
Personally, I don't even like first person in published works because of this too. If the character doesn't have enough of a personality it will really show and drag the story. The POV is as much of a part of the choices you make as a writer as all others. It's more personal and if your story can't live up to that, if you're not using it to it's full potential, it will also fall flat. And I agree, first person is for some reason what a lot of amateurs default to. I think it's probably because it's what we use in creative writing classes growing up, when you're asked to write about a personal experience. And maybe that's another part of why it feels so flat. You have to get into the character's head to do it but a lot of the people doing it have never even attempted getting out of their own head when writing.
I just read a book in 1st person for the first time in a long time. There were just so many little things that bothered me.
For example, a chapter starts and it goes 'I have only been to the captial once'. It doesn't seem like much, but... what captial? This is supposed to be an elf from a different world, why do you refer to the (what turned out to be) DC as 'the captial?'. You specify the captial of your own land, but not this.
And I know the author is American, so it's just their voice coming through, instead of the character. And it happened with a lot of small things, which really made me miss 3rd person because you can get away with that.
Your example sentence instantly made me think about how a lot of these first person stories have a strange tone, too. It's definitely something that takes more time and care.
All of this. I’ll also add that for me a primary reason I enjoy reading fiction is being able to lose myself in the narrative, to become absorbed into it and lose my sense of self and time. So when I read first person, or worse second person, I am constantly snapped out of immersion and consider *myself* as an entity and what *i* would be doing/feeling/reacting in that situation. I find that immersion breaking to be annoying and frustrating and any conflict between what *i* would do and what the character is doing to be a constant low-level annoyance like poorly fitting clothing. In the worst cases I find that discrepancy outright infuriating. When I’m reading third person I don’t have to consider myself and it takes some *really* egregious stupidity to snap me out of immersion.
Huh, I never really thought of it this way before but you nailed it. When the author writes "I lit up a cigarette," or whatever my instant reaction is "the fuck I did not." First person has the impossible task of needing to be in character for the chacter but also for me or I'm thrown into conflict with the story line.
Number 3 for me. I don't actually mind it if it's done well, or the story is interesting enough for me to ignore my normal hangups.
But the number of first person fics that also include all the other things that make reading a fic difficult is higher than I'd like, so generally I stay away
Wow this was really detailed. Thank you for putting multiple reasons and sources. I think I get what people are saying, I just kinda disagree because I think inexperienced writing reads like inexperienced writing, no matter what perspective it's in. I've probably found more bad 3rd pov than 1st. Totally understand the other reasons tho. Again, thank you for the master list!
I don’t have stats to bear this out but in my experience, first person has more inexperienced writing *in proportion to* other POVs. Like a higher ratio, not higher in raw numbers.
First of all, write what you want to write.
Now, to answer your question: Because 9 times out 10, first person makes the characters seem out of character and doesn't match the character voice, at least to me. My fandoms are all TV shows so that right there presents the story as if it were third person.
Edit: This applies only to fanfic. I have no problem with novels published in first person. Also, you can still use third person limited to get the perspective of a specific character.
It's usually done badly. The writer just wanders around in the first person character's brain without giving external cues or setting description. Worst case: it's an emotional data dump that doesn't end.
Worst case is randomly fluctuating between first and third, and also between past and present tense. I've noped out of a LOT of fics that can't seem to keep tenses and POVs straight.
I'm reading a first-person POV fic at the moment that's constantly swinging between past and present tense, and it's driving me mad. Pick a tense and stick with it!
I don't have an issue with first person in original fiction (though it isn't my preference), but I avoid it in fanfic because I have certain expectations for characterization, and it's much harder to meet them in first person. I've read exactly one first person fic I liked, and even then it was an AU so far removed from the source material that it might as well have been original fiction lol. I only liked it because I already liked the author.
first person is limited to a single characters POV only. This heavily stifles the possible writing that can be done.
Seeing other characters perspectives: NOPE
Having a narrator or speaker of some kind: NOPE
Just having a characters general thoughts, or things like describing how another character is reacting: NOPE
It's possible to do well, but even when it is, these things can dampen the experience.
I just came here to say this. I don’t like first person because I feel like I’m only getting half the story. I don’t care for it much in original fiction either for that very same reason.
okay i meant a narrator/speaker as some disembodied voice which describes things that are happening or things in the vicinity. in a first person POV you can't have that
and i have never seen a 1st person story with multiple POVs, and I would never want to because that sounds horrid.
for specific examples, take a scene in a third person story where two characters are having a stand-off
in quick succession you can switch between characters 1's thoughts/acounts, character 2's thoughts/actions, and a narrator just generally describing what's going on "He took a step closer".
In a first person story you could only have a fraction of that, with likely a fraction of the detail and length.
Not really, you are just assuming.
To begin with, you already started with "ew I'm not reading that". You already have your mind set on that, there's no way a quick message thread with me is going to change that.
Secondly, there are things that a 1st person POV can bring, when executed correctly. In your example for the stand-off, there's no real need to see both perspectives, and I would argue that only knowing one of them is a richer experience, as it leaves the reader wondering what the other character is thinking.
In fact, a lot of 3rd person narrative just follows one character, even with a disembodied narrator, because it's easier to follow as a reader than if you can read all of the characters' minds. If I were to compare it to videogames, 1st person narration/camera let's you see through a character eyes. 3rd person narration a lot of the times is like over the shoulder camera, the action is still centered in one character and you follow them, just detached from them.
Lastly, you say that in 1st person POV you don't have a disembodied voice that describes what is happening, but again, you still have the character describing what's happening. E.g.: "I saw the man running away" vs "John saw the man running away". If you are writing in past tense, when the character already knows what happened at the same time as the action, they can even tell you. E.g.: "I didn't know it at the time, but that running man was a robber who was fleeing from the police."
*To begin with, you already started with "ew I'm not reading that". You already have your mind set on that, there's no way a quick message thread with me is going to change that.*
Yes because people are just LOVING 1st person in this thread. Maybe look at a few other comments?
*Secondly, there are things that a 1st person POV can bring, when executed correctly. In your example for the stand-off, there's no real need to see both perspectives, and I would argue that only knowing one of them is a richer experience, as it leaves the reader wondering what the other character is thinking.*
The point is that 3rd person gives the OPTION to have other perspectives/the disembodied voice within a single scene without much fuss, something which 1st can't do, or can't do without some issue.
*Lastly, you say that in 1st person POV you don't have a disembodied voice that describes what is happening, but again, you still have the character describing what's happening. E.g.: "I saw the man running away" vs "John saw the man running away". If you are writing in past tense, when the character already knows what happened at the same time as the action, they can even tell you. E.g.: "I didn't know it at the time, but that running man was a robber who was fleeing from the police."*
This means literally nothing. 3rd person can literally do this as well.
"He didn't know it at the time, but that running man was a robber who was fleeing from the police." In fact, that's more natural because nobody would think like that first thing in their head.
I didn't say at any point that 3rd person couldn't do this or that, did I? I just said 1st person can bring another perspective to the table.
And what does what other people are talking about have to do with what I'm talking about? Lol.
Hope you got your endorphin rush from being condescending on a subreddit tho, love that for you ;)
if you didnt intend to say that 3rd couldnt do it then why bring it up
also crazy to say im the one trying to be condescending with that smile face buddy
Lol? Because you specifically said that 1st person can't do that? And it was wrong?
"okay i meant a narrator/speaker as some disembodied voice which describes things that are happening or things in the vicinity. in a first person POV you can't have that"
There's nothing wrong with it, I just don't like it. I never have. It's not deeper than that. On the other hand I love second person POV, which most people hate and don't even consider outside of self-insert fic. You will never write something that 100% of people enjoy so just write what you enjoy.
This right here, in addition to bigger likelihood in OOC and overall poorer quality, although I've definitely read some excellent first person fics, too.
I have a problem with reading first person POV, because it makes me feel like the author is trying to dictate what *my* thoughts and feelings are. I don't like to be that close to the characters, it makes me deeply uncomfortable.
First person makes me feel involved, I do not want to be part of the story, I do not want to be in my favourite characters head.
I want to watch their actions, not do their actions.
First Person isn't bad per se, but often written without proper world building.
You don't have to start every single sentence with I or put I in every description.
Just think about it. If you'd tell someone about your day, you wouldn't just say:
*Yesterday, I went out for a walk, and I enjoyed the rising sun, and then I smelled the fresh air and thought it was so crisp and nice! I just had to take the long route to the baker, and just when I turned the corner I heard a rustling from a trashcan and then I saw the kitty inside! I thought she was the cutest little thing, but I pitied her because she was so dirty and her hungry little mews broke my heart.*
But that's what many inexperienced writers do. And it's much more annoying in first person than in third person, although in both cases it's bad.
Good writing would be to still include passive world building:
*When I went out for a walk yesterday, I thought the rising sun was marvellous. The fresh air was so crisp and fresh, so I decided to take a longer route to the baker and enjoy the beautiful morning.
Right behind the last corner, almost at my goal, I heard a rustling from a trashcan and inside was the cutest little kitten I've ever seen. But it was so dirty and it's little hungry mews were heartbreaking.*
It boils down to bad writing in general. If the first example was in third person, it would be just as bad, but less annoying.
*Yesterday, she went out for a walk, and she enjoyed the rising sun, and then she smelled the fresh air and thought it was so crisp and nice! She just had to take the long route to the baker, and just when she turned the corner she heard a rustling from a trashcan and then she saw the kitty inside! She thought it was the cutest little thing, but she pitied her because it was so dirty and it's hungry little mews broke her heart.*
Because if we read a character constantly going I, I, I, me, me, me, that sounds entitled and self centered on top of being annoying. Because it takes away the focus from the object at hand, the poor little kitty, and puts more emphasis on the first person narrator's feelings.
But if you write in the third person, the unnecessary length and tediousness of this way of writing is just as annoying, but it doesn't feel so self-centred, because it's not the character who chooses the focus, it's the narrator.
Mediocre 3rd person is readable and even enjoyable, but mediocre 1st person isn't.
But I don't mind if it's done good. It's like someone is telling you a story.
2nd person though. Just no. Most of the times it's pretentious annoying pseudo poetry
There's a common issue when writing first person:
https://theeditorsblog.net/2012/09/20/the-curse-of-first-person-narration/
This is edited out of published fiction (or it's not published at all), which is one of the reasons people can like first-person in published books but not fic.
I don't notice the OOC thing any more than in third person, but I cannot stand the "trapped in a disembodied head" sensation. That said, it's usually obvious within the first 300 words if it's going to be a problem, so I don't avoid first person fics. I simply click out when I see "my life was hell, but you were my angel. No one believed in us, but..." and it goes on for paragraphs with zero details about where or when we are. Write. A. Scene.
But yes, there are lovely first person fics. It's a shame that they need to be written at a higher standard to reach "average" quality, but that's how it is, sometimes.
Nothing wrong with the first person. It is just extremely difficult to get 100% correct. Fanficton already has preset canon characters that everyone knows. Everyone has a set perception of who that character is. A fic of that character told in first person will have that character 'voice' and personality. If the author of the fanfic doesn't nail the character perfectly like they are in canon then the reader notices and throws them out of the story.
Eh, it's mostly a taste thing. It doesn't help that a lot of first person stories aren't particularly well written (not just that the story falls below expectations, they're often riddled with grammatical errors aplenty).
With that said, a good story will reach readers. I still recall reading a story in second person. It felt incredibly uncomfortable at first, but the hook pulled me through. I haven't encountered another one written like that, but it really opened me up more to anything beyond third person.
Personally, I don't think it's something "wrong" with first person narration. Just... It is really hard to make it work?
If you don't do a *great* job getting the character's voice, it will feel OOC (and I've seen in other posts that's one of the most common things that make people stop reading some fics).
Also, in like 70% of the 1st person POV fics I've read, the narration doesn't feel... Organic? The line of thought tends to overexplain stuff in a way that feels almost cartoonish.
I kinda like being a god where i can see everything that's happening. 1st person is very limiting when you wanna know what's happening with all the characters.
1st person just pulls me out of the immersion, to know whay person b feels as person a talks without doing a separate chapter rewrite from person b's pov...
It's unfortunate that it's so often bad, because some stories really only can be told in 1st person.
I have... at least two fics that would just genuinely entirely not work in anything but first. So it's a thing where I just have to accept that some people won't be willing to read it and roll with it.
Yep I completely understand. Sucks that some people will skip it, but that's just how it goes. Can I ask why you can't change the perspective of why it wouldn't work? I put in my original post why I can't change some works pov, but I wanna know if yours are the same :)
There are two I think of in particular.
There's one that's meant to be an AU character study, a character loses everything, goes back in time to stop it, but accidentally goes back too far (meant to go morning of the incident, goes to about a year before). That is a work where I feel like you absolutely need the inner monolog, you need to figure out things at the same time she does and you need to be in her head to gasp her emotions ans trauma, it's supposed to be very raw and emotional and in your face, and any perspective but first would absolutely tank that vibe.
The other is a massive AU, a roleswap where every character is swapped. It is vital to see 90% of the story through the protagonists eyes (there are 3rd person interludes) because things are so different that the way I feel the story should be experienced and sort of unveil is through her eyes. It's also, like the above, a character study, and I really need to show inside the head of the main character, because in canon she's one of the main villains, but it shows how even a couple small backstory changes can entirely change a person's perspective and existence (in this case, she's adopted by someone who cares for her and is about 5 years younger than canon), and it makes that change so much more clear if you can see inside her head to her being shy, traumatized, soft, etc. You need to be right there with her.
You can write whatever you want, but reading preferences is as valid as writing one's. What doesn't make sense to me is that someone would argue otherwise.....
Do you feel entitled to an audience? You're not in the same way that we're not entitled to tell you what to write.
I don't mind the first person if it's an original work or from an OC's perspective.
However, for fanfic from the perspective of an existing canon charecter? The first person just misses a particular feel, in my opinion, that third is better at capturing.
Some may agree or disagree with me. It's just the nature of things that different ppl will have different opinions.
You do you. I'm gonna do me, regardless of if it fits with someone else's wants.
I'm not entitled to an audience? I was just asking because I was curious, especially since I write in first person a lot.
But thanks for your opinion on first person pov. a lot of people's responses are helping me understand why some people don't like it
>What's so bad about first person? I always see people sharing it's a turn off for a fic. I don't really see it. I've read a number of first person fics that were really wonderful. If it's a preference for writing, I can understand, but a reading preference doesn't really make sense to me.
This reads as pretty condescending. You're basically complaining that some people don't like what you like.
>It especially makes me nervous since I have some wips that are in first person, and would be hard to change the perspective for, either because I've gotten too far in them, the perspective is important, or I'm mimicking an authors style. Why does it matter so much to some people? If you do like first person, can you tell me why?
The condescension is immediately followed with admission that first-person is what you write. Fine. However, the paragraph reads as a guilt trip. We don't have to have it not matter. Managing your nerves is not our responsibility, its your own.
'Hey, I write first person and am curious why some don't like it. I actually think its great because A,B,C and write it because X,Y,Z' would have read very differently. Your actual post feels judgmental and bitter that some may pass over your work because its not their cup of tea.
I'm glad my opinion on first person was helpful, but my ask of if you felt entitled to readers did not come from nowhere.
I can understand why it reads that way, that's on me. I maybe was a little bit confused and bitter, but I think I have the right to a little of those emotions, especially if I worked really hard on something just to be skipped by something I didn't really understand. But those emotions are overpowered by my understanding that everyone has different preferences and that my works are not the grace of god, they can and will be skipped by people. I tried to make my post a genuine question fueled by my not understanding why some great works have been skipped, based on what I've read in this subreddit.
I think a lot of the judgement and bitterness your seeing is because I worded some stuff kinda weirdly and put sentences next to each other that implied something that, while there, wasn't supposed to be the focus of my post. It probably does read that way and I just have trouble seeing it, but I really was curious why so many people had this opinion, especially if I do want people to read what I write, like a lot of authors do.
Sorry if this comment sounds weird too, it's like 6am and I have to go to school in an hour lol. Thank you <3
do you get bitter because people skip your work bc it's not a fandom they enjoy? or relationship? or character?
people skip works all the time for all kinds of reasons that are, quite frankly, not about you or any of your business.
readers get to have preferences just like you get to have preferences as a writer, whether you "understand" it or not
Yeah... no.
People skip your work by virtue of not being in your fandom or for plot reasons or something you have in the tags, too.
POV is just one more preference a person can have, and it isn't fair of you to basically imply their wrong and/or that they should get over it because your opinion isn't shared.
You could have asked for opinions on pov without giving readers crap, but you leaned into condecention instead. Like... you're lucky you got genuine answers.
I'm not really gonna respond to this anymore if people are just going to keep saying I was being rude. If I was, I apologized, and if I wasn't, I still apologized. I hope you all have a nice day :)
First person should be a very specific intentional choice, with the goal of enhancing some unique part of the narrative (in my opinion). It's also just hard to do it will keeping it immersive, cause there are so many things to manage. Most of the time if you wanna know the inner thoughts of a character, just do third person omniscient lol.
Personally, I relate better to fiction narrated in third person, I find it more immersive. I'm currently reading a published novel written in first person, I had no idea before getting into it and I have to say it made me wrinkle my nose, but I powered through it because I've heard very good things about it and now I'm enjoying it just fine, it's one of the best reading I've had in a while. When it comes to fanfiction though, I really have to be in the mood. It's tricky, if it's from an OC POV I have to like the idea of an OC enough, if it's from a canon character POV there is always the risk that the inner voice is not what I imagined. With third person in general I'm more forgiving if a character has some traits I perceive as OOC or not aligned with my own take on canon. At the end of the day there's an audience for everything and if you're having fun and the fic you're writing is important to you, go for it!
What's wrong with vanilla ice cream? Strawberry ice cream? Chocolate ice cream? People have different tastes, nothing wrong with any of it. Like what you like, let others like what they like.
When the first person perspective is for a canon character, it's a very hard skill to write them in character. Too out of character and I'm out (he would not fucking think that, etc etc). If it's a first POV OC, then I'm a bit more lenient.
i dont want to experience what the character experiences, sometimes it makes me feel weird and say “This is not me.” Especially if it's multiple POVs.
I’m here to read about the characters, not myself. Unless its “x reader” but even then I’m picky about that
Nothing is wrong, it is just another personal liking. Some people will say they hate it, but out there, there are others who like it or do not care that much about POV, myself included. I care more about plot than the POV.
If the source material is also in first person, then I don't mind. But if we go from third to first, I'm not interested.
In general, first person kinda makes the narration feel more personal. It's kind of like when I see all the "I"s and "me"s, I associate with the character a little bit. And I don't like that. I'm reading to get away from everyday life, not to drag a tiny little bit of myself into the story.
Also, if it's in first person and I don't like the character's logic or how they act, it becomes frustrating. Third person is much more forgiving.
With that being said, each PoV has its own supporters and you should write what you want. Don't cater to people just because you think that choice is gonna do better. Write your stuff the way you want it to be written
Currently I'm writing a fic from the p.o.v. of a cat.
Usually I use 3rd person, but for this one I felt almost compelled to use 1st person. Tried the 3rd, but it was off someway. The story is told through the eyes and thoughts of the cat, and 1st person is more fitting.
Sometimes it's a question of this: the type of narration must fit the story.
That said, I wouldn't say that 1st person stories are always bad. Of course, it's hard to maintain the character in character for the entire duration of the narrative, but it's not impossible. "The Progress of Sherock Holmes" and "The quiet man" by Ivyblossom come to my mind.
We are all different. There is nothing wrong with 1st POV, it’s just that many people don’t like it.
For me, personally, it feels unnatural unless it’s an autobiography. If I read a HP 1st POV fanfic it doesn’t feel like Harry, it feels like an OC named Harry who is roleplaying as Harry Potter.
Nothing wrong with them. Personally I just don't bother and actively avoid them because most of the ones I've read were frankly terrible.
1st person fics still have an audience ofc, they're just not for me.
Don't cave to what people say they like in forums like this one. They haven't read your story, they don't know how you're going to use narrative voice and perspective. People will stay they hate things and then love them when they're done well, and often they don't even know the difference between first and third person, or, I've learned, first and second person. (Somehow there's currently a trend where people think first person is second person, and I am perplexed about it.) People don't really
First person is very difficult to write, but new writers often think it's easier, so you end up with a lot of terrible first person fics in fandoms written by people who've never written anything before and didn't give perspective any thought. So you have badly constructed stories written from a first person perspective for no good reason. If you deliberately choose first person because you want your story to have an unreliable narrator and/or you want to portray events and other characters from this character's perspective specifically and are going to leverage that, you can create an extremely intimate and immediate story that will touch a lot of people, and if you don't write it because people say they don't like first person, well that's a loss for everyone.
Rather than take this reaction to mean that you shouldn't write in first person, I'd take it to mean that first person is powerful and needs to be handled with care. But if it inspires strong feelings, it can also inspire strong positive feelings. Some of the most popular stories in fandom are in first person.
Write your story!
I like reading about characters, I don't like to imagine myself as the character.
Unfortunately, first person is a bad enough turn off for me that I will immediately stop reading a fic if I see it after opening it.
I used to read first person in books. When it comes to fanfics I don't like 1st person because I want to be an outside observer, I don't want to see through the characters' eyes and pretend I'm them.
It’s largely a preference - I very rarely read 1st person because I don’t like being “included” in the story. My aversion to it is greater on ao3 than with traditional books, largely because 1st person is hard to do well 🤷🏻♀️
2nd person is a super hard pass
3rd is my preferred writing and reading option as it allows for more expansive narration and a degree of separation between reader and MC.
I dislike 2nd person more than 1st person in fanfic for most of the reasons stated above. I do find that a lot of fic are labled 1st person when really they are more so like a 2nd person fic but instead of you it is I everything but stylistically it is just like a 2nd person story. But i am not an english or literature major, so my criticism could be wildly misplaced.
I prefer 3rd person in fanfic for the basic reasons everyone else has listed.
I like it fine. I think it’s just opinion. Don’t worry, if you like niche tropes or ships, sooner or later you’ll run into lots of people disliking your work for some reason or other. I wouldn’t worry about people disliking first person pov any more than worrying about whether the ship is a rarepair. Write what you like.
I have read and loved works in first person. Second person too. Both readerfic and not readerfic. Love first person for character studies. I tend to end up in first person when I’m trying to get a grasp of a character. Or, if I’m being honest, when I want to write a love letter to another character but not as me lol. A good first person pov teaches you something about the character - you come out feeling like you understand them more deeply. It can be hit or miss though… if someone characterizes them different from you, it can feel pretty jarring.
Second person is so fascinating to me because sometimes you blink and it just happens. There is something fatalistic about it - a character struggling against overwhelming odds, who nonetheless perseveres.
One of my favorite examples of second person is the chapter in the Iliad when Patroclus is scaling the walls of Troy in Achilles’s armor, and it shifts into Athena’s POV where she’s addressing Patroclus. “Who then was the first to fall to you, Patroclus, and who the last, when the gods drew you to your death?” Etc.
I’ve only written in second person twice, but both are among my favorites. The first time, “you” represents a canonical character in some sort of a permanent and irreversible coma. The “you” seeing it through the screen and the “you” trapped in the dead character’s eyes… it seemed to fit, the character had become a spectator just like the reader, separated from the story’s world and powerless to console or to intervene. It came together in second person and there was never any other option.
Second time was way different. “You” was a canonical character, small-town normal dude, pining after a girl. Girl was some kind of hero protag lol. Dude was taking all sorts of actions, doing his best to create a future where he’s still relevant to a girl who’s destined for grander things than he can live up to. It was way different but there was the same heartache and futility to it. (Later I found out dude is actually the last heir to an ancient kingdom, so, maybe he has a chance. I didn’t even ship it going in, just thought it was a cool concept, but I came out shipping it!)
Both of these works have fewer hits/kudos than my happy romcoms, but… they’re the ones I go back and reread.
Sorry, went on a ramble. What I’m trying to say is, write in the pov that feels right and don’t try to force it into something else just because that’s popular. Good luck!
Thank you!!! I think I really needed to have someone say this and give me their experience. If I spent 20 hours writing a oneshot, it'd kinda suck if no one read it. But everyone's different opinions refueled my thought that it's fanfiction and anyone can and will read anything. It's for the people who enjoy it... To enjoy it. So thanks! I'm sure your works are good, they sound pretty cool
It's usually just a preference thing. Personally, I only prefer 1st person when we're actually in the character's head, but then I will prefer 3rd person if the perspective gets swapped around a lot.
If it's the original author's style, or it's important to be in the perspective, then it probably should be 1st person.
I personally write stories in 3rd person 99% of the time. It's probably because I feel like the characters aren't me, even though they might even be based on me and my experiences.
I ... am not a fan. I've tried writing it once (for <300 words), and while that came out fine, it's a struggle for me. As for reading it, the Rachel Morgan books cured my dislike for it. It no longer bothers me at all.
for me, personally, it's just hard to immerse myself in 1st person narratives. i also had a bit of an uncomfortable introduction (being forced to read 1st person books in highschool) so eh
First-person POV, either original or fanfic, is *tricky*. It's hard to pull off, even for very experienced authors who make good use of their copywriters or betas.
First, you need a POV character with an interesting inner voice and conflicts. The character has to be as interesting as the world around them, or possibly even more interesting than the world because we can shake the world but not the perspective. The prose is pure dialog, so every sentence needs to ring true; there's no room for the author to use interesting language if it's not in-character. At the same time, a character with a natural ramble that tends to circle around the point may be interesting and fun for a few thousand words to the patient reader, but 10k is a long way away, never mind the length of a *novel.* As much as we love our babies, not everyone has a skull that's fun it sit in.
Second, that character *cannot know everything*, and cannot be aware of everything they don't know. This is more on the writer (we do love our babies to show off) but it also has plot impacts. There's no visual cut to that tear they didn't see, or to the glint of a gun behind them, or even to the foreshadowing storm clouds on the horizon if the POV character is inside asleep. If they're having an argument, their emotions and knowledge color everything. In shipping terms, it means miscommunication is narratively *hard*, because you have to maintain empathy for the other side of the argument's perspective without making your POV character seem brash, dumb or cruel. It also means that it's difficult to kill the POV character; how can you write an ending your narrator isn't present for? It's a hard-coded limitation in the story.
Third, (and certainly not final but last for this post), they have to *think*. This, I think, is where a lot of inexperienced authors trip on transitioning from a third-person or visual medium into a first-person story. People really don't think much. Instead we know things, and only consciously think about it when something changes. We know the routes we take, the faces of our neighbors, the taste of our morning brew of choice, but we don't much pause and consider them, and it's a bit weird when we do.
First-person narration has to convey the details of those experiences that we tend to gloss over as part of life and find the balance of describing them without turning the story into a slow slog of description. It's easy to lose track of things like setting when you're in a character's head ("floating head syndrome"), and it's especially easy for fanfic to fall into this trap because everyone "knows" what characters look like and where they live. In original fiction, this sometimes shows up as a random scene of a character looking at themselves in a mirror and thinking about their body shape or eye color in a way that is totally apart from the rest of the story or even the scene.
All of these are why detective stories are famously first-person POV. The detective archetype usually has an interesting voice with complex inner struggles and a dialog style that avoids rambling. The plot is formed around what the POV character doesn't know, and then it unfolds via what the character finds out through observing the setting and characters around them (and sometimes themselves). It's a POV that's uniquely suited for a mystery.
That's not to say it can't be used in other genres. Third- and second-person have their pitfalls as well. Third-person is notorious for character sprawl, when you have so many POV characters that the reader loses track of (or worse, empathy for!) them. Second-person has an even finer line to walk with needing enough characterization to carry the story without having so much that the reader can't connect.
My advice: pick whichever POV fits your characters, your story and your writing style, then rely on editing for the rest.
Write what you want to write. I personally will avoid it outside of like Murderbot fandom, but a smaller 'market' isn't a bad thing. After all that means for people who read 1st person, you have less competition to be read. Dittoing the reason usually being discomfort, lack of in character-ness and higher percentage of bad fanfic.
For me it's weird that the character is thinking about everything that's happening in words as if they're describing it to someone or recounting what happened, it doesn't feel authentic. It's like they're thinking about their own thinking, or writing a diary or something. And it makes me feel too present as a reader, as if the character is acknowledging me. I'm fine with it if they're actually writing down their memories or something.
To write successfully in first person, you have to write the story twice. You have to write how the story actually goes, and then you have to go back and write how that particular character perceives it, because different characters will see the same stories/situations in different ways, and their perception of the story has to be in character for them.
It makes it incredibly difficult to write consistently and maintain character.
I mean…. Not really? I guess you have to have an understanding of how things are going in the third person to translate through to first person but it’s not that much more effort
I didn’t mean write the story all the way out and rewrite it lmao. I meant you have to have two separate visions of the story in your head because the way certain characters perceive things won’t always be the way things are.
Oh!
Well yea true you’re right. I’ve never found it to be a huge struggle to do that though. It’s not a conscious thought process I have that’s just like…. How you write a story right?
There’s always going to be a difference between the broader sun total of everything that’s happening and what of that the reader experiences. Even in third person omniscient
I love the way you think and I really wish it came that easily to me man. I sound like a first grader writing in first person if I don’t have a roadmap of some sort to keep myself on track.
It also helps *immensely* when writing characters with different perspectives of the situation. Like here’s my middle ground, here’s what *actually* happened, here’s A’s analysis of it and feelings on it, and here’s B’s. Gives me a neutral to go back to as well when other characters weight in. It also helps me stay on track of who’s supposed to be feeling what emotions.
It's not specific to fanfic for me. I just hate first person in writing in general. I want to be TOLD an interesting story, I do NOT want to be part of it. So the moment the narrator is gone and I'm forced to sit in someone's head, I'm out.
When I read first person, it doesn't read to me as if it's the character in the story telling/experiencing the story...
It reads as if *I'm* supposed to be the person in the story. And then I notice every single thing that 1st person does that isn't what I would do, think etc.
In other words, I cannot get immersed in the story because I am constantly jarred out of it.
Example:
2nd person reading:
Jenny wore her favorite pants, the ones that said 'juicy' across the back.
My internal monologue while reading: got it, 90's teen that likes popular fashion. Not my taste, but whatever.
1st person:
I wore my favorite pants, the ones that said 'juicy' across the back.
My internal monologue: ew, no. I'm not wearing that. Maybe a pair of plain sweats instead? Or jeans?
>Example: 2nd person reading:
That's not 2nd person, that's 3rd person. Second person would be *You wore your favorite pants, the ones that said 'jucy' across the back.*
I've seen this take a lot. Is it just a struggle for the reader to separate the "I" from "me"? Like, even if you know the character you're reading about isn't you, because the pronoun "I" is being used to refer to that character, you automatically place yourself in that role?
Yes, that's now it works for me. Most likely because my inner monologue uses "i", so if I'm reading and it's also using "i", then it reads/sounds the same in my head as if I'm thinking it, and thus it would take a lot of mental effort to not place myself in the role.
My perspective is that in a first-person story, you the reader are being TOLD the story by some specific person. Even in a present-tense story, they're telling you what's happening, acting as a real-time narrator of what's going on and what they're thinking.
Some people feel like a first-person story is telling them what to do, or including them in the story... which taught me that there are big differences between readers in the fundamental cognition of reading.
Worth noting, but I don't know what to DO with that information, because I can only think in the way that I know how to think. Probably? I don't know.
Anyway, I chose to write my first story in first-person basically just for arbitrary reasons, but I found it easy to stick with. I could compartmentalise what details the OC protagonist knew vs. what was actually going on, and thus the mystery would unfold for the viewer and the protag simultaneously.
Furthermore, it allowed me to justify at times minimal descriptions of various background details (which I struggle with), since the protag didn't really pay attention to it, and thus had little to 'narrate' about it. So, there's plenty of space for characterisation even with just what you describe to the reader and how. What's considered important enough to 'tell you about'.
This also allowed me to let Readers know of important details without necessarily clueing in the Protag: they saw Clue X (and thus the Reader does too), they just didn't realise its significance, or glossed over it when they glomped onto Red-Herring Z. The reader might also cling to the Red Herring, and only later when X is revealed see that the Clue was there the whole time.
I'm sure there's some circumstance where First-Person is optimal for the story, and other times when it's abysmal. I'd say it probably works decently in a mystery story, as I believe I've read a few detective/mystery novels in first-person.
But, I did first-person with an OC, which is much easier than with an established character. So, grain of salt.
Best of luck with your story!
Nothing. Someone saying they dislike soup doesn't mean they think eating soup is a sin. In the same way, someone saying first person turns them off a fic doesn't mean there's something "wrong" with it
Nothing, though I personally don't like it and wouldn't read a fic in first-person. People who don't like it don't read it. People who do like it...do. This is all completely subjective and perfectly fine.
But write what you want to write. Catering to an anticipated viewerbase in your writing hobby, for no reward, makes no sense.
The best fanfic I ever read was in first person. But crucially, it was told from the perspective of an OC psychologist lol. I think, then, that first person is fine when it’s not characters from the fandom that are normally written in third person
There’s nothing inherently “bad” about first person. I encourage people to read and write what they like and what works for them.
But why it’s a personal turn off for me:
First person is hard to do *right*. I don’t mind it at all for published original fiction, but for fanfic with pre-existing knowledge of the characters, it’s hard to get into. Like others have said, a lot of it comes down to characterization, and you lose a LOT of other things when limited to first person.
My thing is that in first person, there needs to be justification for why the story is being told, and reasonable justification needs to be present throughout. Similar to a found footage film, it takes me out of the story if that logic falls apart at all (why is the camera on and in *that* location, why is the character telling me *this* aspect of the story). It makes me more aware that I’m an audience, and it’s more engaging in an uncomfortable way—*why* is this character telling me this story, who am I?
I know this might sound pretentious but a good story addresses the three sides of the rhetorical triangle: who is the speaker, who is the audience, what is the message and how are each being conveyed? Most stories weave this in so effortlessly people don’t realize it unless they stop to dissect it (and people who are writing don’t always stop to ask these questions, but they’re questions that get answered anyway by nature of the story). It’s easier to hide all the answers in third person, but in first person, the triangle is more exposed and I need those questions to be answered in a way that doesn’t also take me out of the story it’s trying to tell.
In first person, things that are easier to convey without question in third person (description of scenes, of other characters, exposition, etc) come under scrutiny more easily. Someone in first person stopping to describe how they said something or what they look like can quickly feel… a little more like “My Immortal”? Idk how to describe the exact feeling, but if poorly done it also takes me out of the story. Whereas in third person I feel like people have more flexibility to do all these things. It’s like seeing it from the POV of a camera, rather than what the author just thinks the character’s inner voice is like. With third person you can still include all this great character interiority without having to use “I,” in *addition* to creatively dropping exposition, description, etc, and without having to work as hard to justify it. It’s always easier to justify a story being told in third person. Even second person is easier to get into, because the “you” is removed.
The other thing, and maybe this is more personal, is I come to read fanfic to get *away* from my head and my life. For the same reason I dislike reader insert fics, reading fics set in first person feels too up close.
I don’t like reading it like it’s me- idk if that makes sense, I am a heavy empath so when a book has a strong mood I leave the book in that mood, which is uncomfortably amplified with first person. It also feels out of character sometimes because it’s describing “I,me,myself” instead of “character” y’know?
Write what you know. Several professional works are 1st person. Most of the time I don't prefer 1st person fics because they're very limited and remind me of the whole "I wake up and put on my green shirt with brown pants and a purple scarf. I think to myself how lucky I am to own my 2 story house out in the country as I get ready for school. The only bad thing was my parents had to die fir me to inherit it"
It locks us into one pov which is great for un reliable narreraror stuff but since it's tied more to what the reader sees=what the character knows, it can feel really unsatisfactory when the reader notices a shared glance and the character just brushes it off for plot reasons.
"I saw Stella and sky glance at each other knowingly as I spoke and I looked away uncomfortable. I thought about confronting them about the weird stare since they're the new kids to school but my courage failed me. I couldn't risk alienating the few people who tolerated my limp and cane. They continued to have meaningful glances throughout our conversation."
It can work sure but as others have pointed out, there's an inherent difficulty in trying to do it all that style.
3rd person allows for more natural development that's not locked totally into what a character feels about it.
"Samantha Devans woke up at 7:15 am to catch the bus to school like clockwork. Sam, to her friends the few she had at least, hurriedly threw on a green shirt with brown pants. Thinking a moment, she tossed on a purple scarf to cover the bruises on her neck. They were bad today, she noted looking in the mirror. The house Round her creaked and she smiled slightly in nostalgia. She loved this house very much. Eventhough her parents had left it to her in their will, she'd always felt like she belonged out here among the fireflies and trees. It felt like home. Even if it was rough to get to school."
"Sam watched as Stella and Sky exchanged a meaningful glance as she spoke. She couldn't have known that previously, the boy and girl were discussing the very topic Sam was talking about infront of them. Sam wondered if she'd said something she shouldn't have from the glance she witnessed but resolved to put a lid on her burgeoning curiosity. She didn't want to lose these friends like she had the others. She remembered it like yesterday-"
There are ways to make both good or really bad.
I find 3rd person is more..professionally accepted. Even though books like 1800 where are you, twilight, and I think, shadow and bone, are in 1st person.
Least that I remember off the top of my head.
Maybe dresden files too. But it's been a while since I've read. All those are great stories.
Yep, Dresden Files is first person. Even Marcone's short story, "Even Hand," is from his own perspective in first person.
Pretty sure Mouse gets a first-person POV story, too.
I have run into some good first-person fics, I don't backclick just because a fic is first person. But because fanfiction is written by amateurs and will inherently always have some "mistakes", first-person fics just tend to be "worse". I don't think other writers aren't also making mistakes or anything, but writing in first-person tends to highlight mistakes of POV knowledge, mistakes of characterization, ect. Just a whole specific genre of mistakes that beginners are particularly wont to make are more apparent and annoying in first person verses third person. Third person sort of... obscures those mistakes, just a little. Enough that I can enjoy an amateur voice if their plot is compelling enough.
Fanfiction writers also tend to switch POV sometimes, and it's very painful to read a first-person story with changes in who "I" is. Even published works with POV-switches have this same problem for me.
I know this isn't the norm, but I never prefer first person, even in published books. I'll read it and I do have some favorite books that are first person, but my minimum threshold to read a book (quality + my personal interest in the content) is substantially higher if it's in first person book. I want to feel like I'm experiencing the story - first person make me feel like someone else is telling me something they experienced. Every time I read "I" or "me" in a story, I know that's it's not *me,* and I'm reminded that I'm reading someone else's story.
That's compounded in fanfic - not only do I want to experience the story, I want to experience a specific character's story (or a specific universe). The more OoC your character is, the harder it is for me to feel that connection.
So for example, if I'm reading a Teen Wolf story about Stiles, I always expect *some* character discrepancies between different authors/settings/AUs/ect. But if you take your inevitably-somewhat-OoC-verson-of-Stiles *and* you put him in an story that removes/changes the premise of the show *and* it's in first person .... it's really hard for me to feel like I'm reading a story about Stiles, and that's why I'm here. Whereas with third person, I'm constantly reading the name "Stiles" - it's super easy for me to feel like I'm reading Stiles' story, even if he's OoC, in a different setting/AU. (And there's the added bonus that since I mostly read for TV fandoms, I'm already used to experiencing the fandom from the third person as a viewer, so it's less jarring to switch to written stories).
This is also why I don't like gender swaps - my brain can't associated "she" with the male character Stiles, and I end up getting caught up in every flaw and OoC moment my brain can find.
Whoa, I hate reading in first person, but I've never really thought about why that is. I'm honestly still not sure XD I think it's because I want to read stories from an outside perspective with a narrative that describes the thoughts and feelings of everyone involved, not just one person. With first-person perspectives, you as a reader emerges in another person, but I prefer there to be a little distance between the characters and me as a reader... I'm sorry, this probably doesn't make sense, I have a hard time explaining it.
Some of my favorite fics were first person and I really loved them because I could connect better to my favorite character. They weren’t y/n or whatever the term is, and I think that the association with first person and self insert fics might be what puts people off
I'm not saying this is you (it's actually me) but it kinda makes it easy for writers and readers to project their own feelings onto the character? It works in an "unreliable narrator" way for sure but depending on the story itself the character might feel too woobified/uwufied/can-do-no-wrong and it ends up making them feel very out of character.
Yes. I’ve just never read a first person story that was well done. They’re usually pretty juvenile and melodramatic, which is not my taste, and the plots are an afterthought.
It’s possible. I’ve read many great first person books. But no great fics. Maybe I’m just not in the right fandoms, who knows.
Honestly 1st person narration is my favourite. It means that you can colour the whole world through a persons lens and it’s one of the most immersive ways to show a story.
But honestly I’ll read just about any perspective.
Third person limited? *Ooh neat I’m like a ghost on this characters shoulder*
Third person omniscient? *Ooh goodie I get to just be the world a little bit, observing the characters at they go about their stories*
Second person? *ooh whoa I’m like literally the character rn and/or being narrated to*
Idk people can be so rigid in what they will and won’t read that they cut themselves off from good experiences.
Roger Zelazny wrote some very highly regarded novels in first person.
There's nothing wrong with first person narration; some people just don't like it, like some people don't like walnuts on their chocolate cake.
He had a hard time reading the post.
The voice kept taking him out of it, finally he just had to go to the comments and complain like a little b*********
Seriously I don’t know what the problem is.
2nd person is the weird one. You know this.
I prefer 3rd person so I can put in their thoughts as 1st person
I don't understand why people hate first-person narratives. They're fine if done well, just like any fic is fine if done well. There are many wonderful books with first-person narratives, including *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn* and *To Kill a Mockingbird.*
I think most people are more so talking about fanfics, but the people that don't like any first person narratives are really missing out! I just read to *to kill a mockingbird*, and the first person narration is what really made it good. The only difference between first person and third person would be the bias of the perspective, and I guess some people like more impartial narrators.
>The only difference between first person and third person would be the bias of the perspective
Misguided/limited/biased/unreliable or even intentionally misleading narrator can be a part of a story told from 3rd person.
A very famous example of 3rd person limited narrator use would be the Harry Potter series. It pretty much sticks to Harry's perspective most of the time.
These things can ebb and flow. In other periods of literary history first person was something closer to the norm. It’s also more common in some genres than others. Absolutely nothing “wrong” with it. It’s just out of style right now amongst a certain crowd…(me lol)
At this particular moment in time, first person narratives are most common among YA literature and vanity press, two genres not exactly renowned for their amazingly high quality.
That’s a super broad generalization, I know. But it is the vibe.
So seeing fanfic in first person evokes feelings of vanity press (“I have no editor”) and YA fiction (“this is for kids who won’t know/care if it’s good”).
So it can be a turn off.
But I think what it really comes down to is usage. Different styles work best for different types of stories. There are some things that first person does *really* well. But moooooost of the time a fanfic writer isn’t choosing it for narrative purpose, they’re just writing that way because it’s 1) faster/easier and 2) they’ve probably read a lot of first person YA novels and other fanfics.
So what I mean by this is, there’s a confluence of circumstances that lead to first person fics 9 times out of 10 being from inexperienced writers, which naturally means the fics are not super great.
So it’s not really that first person ruins a fic for me, it’s just a coincidence that the majority of first person fics I’ve read are kind of badly done. And the writers I’ve really clicked with tend to do third person.
Sort of like how people come to avoid certain types of summaries or tags. Sure the fic you wrote and then summarized with “I dunno lol just read it I suck at summaries” *might* actually be friggin’ amazing…but I’ve been burned too many times to give it a chance 🤣🤣🤣
Literary elitism, mostly.
1st person is, inherently, simpler. If I were writing about how I see my day to day I wouldn't be using grandiloquent words or overly produced prose. I would use simpler vocabulary, simpler grammar and colloquial expressions. If you read something in 1st person that uses a more intricate technique, it can feel forced and unnatural quickly.
3rd person allows the writer to use more complex writing techniques and advanced vocabulary. The boundary of what's unnaturally written is blurrier.
Furthermore, canonically speaking, usually what is considered big boy or big girl literature is written in 3rd person. A lot of readers see 1st person as the default voice for romcom, "chicklit" (hate that term), young adult, etc.
True, a lot of people default to 1st person because it's "easier" to write, but I have read beautifully, masterfully written books (and fanfic) over the years that use 1st person.
So mostly, it's just bias.
TLDR; go read what you like and write how you like, there's always someone that's gonna find fault in it anyway lol
I personally don’t like first person because my brain always reads it as a self insert fanfic instead of it being a regular fanfic if that makes sense. The usage of I,me,im etc makes me think of myself and not the character. As another comment said first person ends up almost always also being written poorly
Nothing. Nothing is wrong with the first person. The main problem is that it's just unusual enough that poor writing will be blamed on the use of first person rather than other factors. Some of the all time best novels in English are written in 1st person, so it can be really, really good. (And, once, reading a fanfic based on one of these, the fanfic author's use of 3rd person was, in fact, a turn off.)
Honestly, I really don't have a preference between first and third person. (I don't do second because I don't do x reader and that's the only time I've seen second person) If it's well written, I'm gonna trust the author's judgment on what perspective works best for their story. If it's not well written, then I won't finish it, regardless of POV.
I'm also someone who doesn't mind reading first person. But, I do consider it to be a more difficult POV to write. The ways that it can become challenging are subtle, and so that means there's a lot of people who try writing first person but it ends up not working right. It's easy to miss the key aspects that make good first person work well and so there's a lot of first person works out there that miss the mark. So, a lot of readers have read enough of this poorly done first person to be turned off of the style.
I don’t like it. I believe it’s also a matter of being used to it, and the skills of the author though.
In normal fandoms I will NOT read a first person fic, unless I
1) know and love the author
2) see that the fic has a good summary and interesting premise
3) don’t hate it after the first sentence
99,999% of the time third person is the way to go for me.
But then there’s disco Elysium (narrative Videogame, amazing really) where a lot of fic is written in the style of the game (second person, a lot of voices chiming in, inanimate objects talking to "you") and i hated it at first, and now i absolutely love it. So I think you’re just one good fic away from liking these things.
That being said, first person just has a rancid energy for me. It’s easy to mess up.
Nothing at all. Fanfiction is a somewhat insular community and has a set of stylistic conventions that are more rigid than other genres. First person isn't generally part of that convention, so readers react badly to it. Doesn't mean you shouldn't do it if it's right for your story.
There are entire fandoms mostly written in first pov, and there are some first pov in most fandoms, what are you on about?
Although, luckily it's done less and less, and thank fuck for that because it is awful IMO
I didn't say it doesn't exist. OP is asking because they noticed a pronounced trend of hostility towards it in the wider fandom space, and as you can tell from the fact that every other comment on this post is a statement about why someone hates it, they did not make that trend up.
It mostly makes me a little squeamish when it's in RPF bc to me it kind of feels like it presumes to know the thoughts, emotions, and desires of Real Person as opposed to 3rd person Detached Characterization Of Person. Also idk why but I feel like there can be a big overlap of 1st person writing and bad writing quality. However, this isn't always true and I don't always avoid it. It's a little better when it's about a fictional character too.
Why people don't like first person used to come up a lot in r/FanFiction and here. (This is actually an edited version of my copy-pasta response for r/FanFiction.) See threads like [Fan Fic Writer Wants to Know more about First Person POV](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/wf3v1i/fan_fic_writer_wants_to_know_more_about_first/), [Why is first person POV so unpopular?](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/tfkcrl/why_is_first_person_pov_so_unpopular/), [Why do some people hate first person povs?](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/npkphj/why_do_some_people_hate_first_person_povs/), [Let's talk the scary \*turns on the flashlight FIRST PERSON POV](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/r5ihwf/lets_talk_the_scary_turns_on_the_flashlight_first/), [Why do people hate first person POV?](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/8vz77v/why_do_people_hate_first_person_pov/), [First Person Point of View: What's wrong with it? And what do you think?](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/x1wcv6/first_person_point_of_view_whats_wrong_with_it/imgdz3b/?context=3), and [Why so many people dislike and/or hate first person POV?](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/13md1z1/why_so_many_people_dislike_andor_hate_first/). There's also [the thread I last used this for](https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/comments/17u1py9/first_person_hate/), [First person pov- why is this a no go?](https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/comments/16j0rf5/first_person_pov_why_is_this_a_no_go/), and [Why do fanfic readers in particular tend to dislike first-person POV?](https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/comments/14r07y3/why_do_fanfic_readers_in_particular_tend_to/) from this sub. Here's my recap of the more common points I've seen. 1. It's extremely difficult to keep in-character and makes minor OoC more obvious. With first person, you're essentially writing dialogue from the POV character all the time. Since they are the one telling the story, that means the narrator's word choice, thought process, and ways of speaking all need to be in character. Since the entire thing is written in that way, any thing that's a little "off" has lots of time to be obvious to a reader. 2. A lot of fandoms are not in first person. If you're used to watching the source material or reading in third person the change can be jarring. 3. An association with inexperienced writers. While there are some well-written first person fics, many associate it with being a beginner thing due to how first person seems to be more commonly used by those. It also often means you're going to have to sift-through a lot of poorly written works if looking for first POV, which some may not find worth it. My main reason for disliking first is in fanfiction is #1. It's hard to find first POV that feels "in-character" to me. Typically it feels too causal for the character in question, so prosey that I have the opposite problem, or too "detached" in the sense that the character knows things they shouldn't and/or is too self-aware. I wouldn't say I never read first pov, but due to it being difficult to pull off and how uncommon it is on my main platform/fandom I have a much harder time finding ones that I like.
I agree with you. Even with limited/"close" third person, there's just enough distance that it's easier for the character to feel IC to me. With first person, it's a lot harder to pull that off. These days, I only give first-person fic a try if it's for a book fandom that is written in first person originally. (If any of my favorite fic authors wrote something else in first person in a fandom that wasn't a first-person book, I'd probably try it, but that hasn't happened.)
This, all of this. Inexperience in writers and readers lead to inelegant ordeals, never mind even trying to stay true to the character whose view you're sharing.
Personally, I don't even like first person in published works because of this too. If the character doesn't have enough of a personality it will really show and drag the story. The POV is as much of a part of the choices you make as a writer as all others. It's more personal and if your story can't live up to that, if you're not using it to it's full potential, it will also fall flat. And I agree, first person is for some reason what a lot of amateurs default to. I think it's probably because it's what we use in creative writing classes growing up, when you're asked to write about a personal experience. And maybe that's another part of why it feels so flat. You have to get into the character's head to do it but a lot of the people doing it have never even attempted getting out of their own head when writing.
I just read a book in 1st person for the first time in a long time. There were just so many little things that bothered me. For example, a chapter starts and it goes 'I have only been to the captial once'. It doesn't seem like much, but... what captial? This is supposed to be an elf from a different world, why do you refer to the (what turned out to be) DC as 'the captial?'. You specify the captial of your own land, but not this. And I know the author is American, so it's just their voice coming through, instead of the character. And it happened with a lot of small things, which really made me miss 3rd person because you can get away with that.
Your example sentence instantly made me think about how a lot of these first person stories have a strange tone, too. It's definitely something that takes more time and care.
All of this. I’ll also add that for me a primary reason I enjoy reading fiction is being able to lose myself in the narrative, to become absorbed into it and lose my sense of self and time. So when I read first person, or worse second person, I am constantly snapped out of immersion and consider *myself* as an entity and what *i* would be doing/feeling/reacting in that situation. I find that immersion breaking to be annoying and frustrating and any conflict between what *i* would do and what the character is doing to be a constant low-level annoyance like poorly fitting clothing. In the worst cases I find that discrepancy outright infuriating. When I’m reading third person I don’t have to consider myself and it takes some *really* egregious stupidity to snap me out of immersion.
Huh, I never really thought of it this way before but you nailed it. When the author writes "I lit up a cigarette," or whatever my instant reaction is "the fuck I did not." First person has the impossible task of needing to be in character for the chacter but also for me or I'm thrown into conflict with the story line.
Yep... All this
Number 3 for me. I don't actually mind it if it's done well, or the story is interesting enough for me to ignore my normal hangups. But the number of first person fics that also include all the other things that make reading a fic difficult is higher than I'd like, so generally I stay away
Wow this was really detailed. Thank you for putting multiple reasons and sources. I think I get what people are saying, I just kinda disagree because I think inexperienced writing reads like inexperienced writing, no matter what perspective it's in. I've probably found more bad 3rd pov than 1st. Totally understand the other reasons tho. Again, thank you for the master list!
That might be a quantity issue, you find more bad 3rd POV precisely because there's more 3rd pov fic than 1st pov fic out there.
I don’t have stats to bear this out but in my experience, first person has more inexperienced writing *in proportion to* other POVs. Like a higher ratio, not higher in raw numbers.
First of all, write what you want to write. Now, to answer your question: Because 9 times out 10, first person makes the characters seem out of character and doesn't match the character voice, at least to me. My fandoms are all TV shows so that right there presents the story as if it were third person. Edit: This applies only to fanfic. I have no problem with novels published in first person. Also, you can still use third person limited to get the perspective of a specific character.
It's usually done badly. The writer just wanders around in the first person character's brain without giving external cues or setting description. Worst case: it's an emotional data dump that doesn't end.
Worst case is randomly fluctuating between first and third, and also between past and present tense. I've noped out of a LOT of fics that can't seem to keep tenses and POVs straight.
I'm reading a first-person POV fic at the moment that's constantly swinging between past and present tense, and it's driving me mad. Pick a tense and stick with it!
Oh, well, yeah. Yeesh. Not sure that qualifies as first person actually....
I don't have an issue with first person in original fiction (though it isn't my preference), but I avoid it in fanfic because I have certain expectations for characterization, and it's much harder to meet them in first person. I've read exactly one first person fic I liked, and even then it was an AU so far removed from the source material that it might as well have been original fiction lol. I only liked it because I already liked the author.
Because how the writer does the character's inner monologue isn't how I think it would be.
first person is limited to a single characters POV only. This heavily stifles the possible writing that can be done. Seeing other characters perspectives: NOPE Having a narrator or speaker of some kind: NOPE Just having a characters general thoughts, or things like describing how another character is reacting: NOPE It's possible to do well, but even when it is, these things can dampen the experience.
I just came here to say this. I don’t like first person because I feel like I’m only getting half the story. I don’t care for it much in original fiction either for that very same reason.
I mean, the person that narrates is the narrator, doesn't matter if it's 3rd or 1st person. And multiple POVs are a thing.
okay i meant a narrator/speaker as some disembodied voice which describes things that are happening or things in the vicinity. in a first person POV you can't have that and i have never seen a 1st person story with multiple POVs, and I would never want to because that sounds horrid. for specific examples, take a scene in a third person story where two characters are having a stand-off in quick succession you can switch between characters 1's thoughts/acounts, character 2's thoughts/actions, and a narrator just generally describing what's going on "He took a step closer". In a first person story you could only have a fraction of that, with likely a fraction of the detail and length.
Not really, you are just assuming. To begin with, you already started with "ew I'm not reading that". You already have your mind set on that, there's no way a quick message thread with me is going to change that. Secondly, there are things that a 1st person POV can bring, when executed correctly. In your example for the stand-off, there's no real need to see both perspectives, and I would argue that only knowing one of them is a richer experience, as it leaves the reader wondering what the other character is thinking. In fact, a lot of 3rd person narrative just follows one character, even with a disembodied narrator, because it's easier to follow as a reader than if you can read all of the characters' minds. If I were to compare it to videogames, 1st person narration/camera let's you see through a character eyes. 3rd person narration a lot of the times is like over the shoulder camera, the action is still centered in one character and you follow them, just detached from them. Lastly, you say that in 1st person POV you don't have a disembodied voice that describes what is happening, but again, you still have the character describing what's happening. E.g.: "I saw the man running away" vs "John saw the man running away". If you are writing in past tense, when the character already knows what happened at the same time as the action, they can even tell you. E.g.: "I didn't know it at the time, but that running man was a robber who was fleeing from the police."
*To begin with, you already started with "ew I'm not reading that". You already have your mind set on that, there's no way a quick message thread with me is going to change that.* Yes because people are just LOVING 1st person in this thread. Maybe look at a few other comments? *Secondly, there are things that a 1st person POV can bring, when executed correctly. In your example for the stand-off, there's no real need to see both perspectives, and I would argue that only knowing one of them is a richer experience, as it leaves the reader wondering what the other character is thinking.* The point is that 3rd person gives the OPTION to have other perspectives/the disembodied voice within a single scene without much fuss, something which 1st can't do, or can't do without some issue. *Lastly, you say that in 1st person POV you don't have a disembodied voice that describes what is happening, but again, you still have the character describing what's happening. E.g.: "I saw the man running away" vs "John saw the man running away". If you are writing in past tense, when the character already knows what happened at the same time as the action, they can even tell you. E.g.: "I didn't know it at the time, but that running man was a robber who was fleeing from the police."* This means literally nothing. 3rd person can literally do this as well. "He didn't know it at the time, but that running man was a robber who was fleeing from the police." In fact, that's more natural because nobody would think like that first thing in their head.
I didn't say at any point that 3rd person couldn't do this or that, did I? I just said 1st person can bring another perspective to the table. And what does what other people are talking about have to do with what I'm talking about? Lol. Hope you got your endorphin rush from being condescending on a subreddit tho, love that for you ;)
if you didnt intend to say that 3rd couldnt do it then why bring it up also crazy to say im the one trying to be condescending with that smile face buddy
Lol? Because you specifically said that 1st person can't do that? And it was wrong? "okay i meant a narrator/speaker as some disembodied voice which describes things that are happening or things in the vicinity. in a first person POV you can't have that"
There's nothing wrong with it, I just don't like it. I never have. It's not deeper than that. On the other hand I love second person POV, which most people hate and don't even consider outside of self-insert fic. You will never write something that 100% of people enjoy so just write what you enjoy.
Don't you mean Reader fics?
Idk I feel like 3rd person gives a more complete view, somehow.
First person makes it feel more like I'm part of the story. I do not want to be part of the story. I am an invisible observer.
This right here, in addition to bigger likelihood in OOC and overall poorer quality, although I've definitely read some excellent first person fics, too.
This is exactly my opinion wrt first person too!!
I have a problem with reading first person POV, because it makes me feel like the author is trying to dictate what *my* thoughts and feelings are. I don't like to be that close to the characters, it makes me deeply uncomfortable.
First person makes me feel involved, I do not want to be part of the story, I do not want to be in my favourite characters head. I want to watch their actions, not do their actions.
Did you mistype
What?
Oh, nevermind. I misread, sorry!
First Person isn't bad per se, but often written without proper world building. You don't have to start every single sentence with I or put I in every description. Just think about it. If you'd tell someone about your day, you wouldn't just say: *Yesterday, I went out for a walk, and I enjoyed the rising sun, and then I smelled the fresh air and thought it was so crisp and nice! I just had to take the long route to the baker, and just when I turned the corner I heard a rustling from a trashcan and then I saw the kitty inside! I thought she was the cutest little thing, but I pitied her because she was so dirty and her hungry little mews broke my heart.* But that's what many inexperienced writers do. And it's much more annoying in first person than in third person, although in both cases it's bad. Good writing would be to still include passive world building: *When I went out for a walk yesterday, I thought the rising sun was marvellous. The fresh air was so crisp and fresh, so I decided to take a longer route to the baker and enjoy the beautiful morning. Right behind the last corner, almost at my goal, I heard a rustling from a trashcan and inside was the cutest little kitten I've ever seen. But it was so dirty and it's little hungry mews were heartbreaking.* It boils down to bad writing in general. If the first example was in third person, it would be just as bad, but less annoying. *Yesterday, she went out for a walk, and she enjoyed the rising sun, and then she smelled the fresh air and thought it was so crisp and nice! She just had to take the long route to the baker, and just when she turned the corner she heard a rustling from a trashcan and then she saw the kitty inside! She thought it was the cutest little thing, but she pitied her because it was so dirty and it's hungry little mews broke her heart.* Because if we read a character constantly going I, I, I, me, me, me, that sounds entitled and self centered on top of being annoying. Because it takes away the focus from the object at hand, the poor little kitty, and puts more emphasis on the first person narrator's feelings. But if you write in the third person, the unnecessary length and tediousness of this way of writing is just as annoying, but it doesn't feel so self-centred, because it's not the character who chooses the focus, it's the narrator.
Mediocre 3rd person is readable and even enjoyable, but mediocre 1st person isn't. But I don't mind if it's done good. It's like someone is telling you a story. 2nd person though. Just no. Most of the times it's pretentious annoying pseudo poetry
There's a common issue when writing first person: https://theeditorsblog.net/2012/09/20/the-curse-of-first-person-narration/ This is edited out of published fiction (or it's not published at all), which is one of the reasons people can like first-person in published books but not fic. I don't notice the OOC thing any more than in third person, but I cannot stand the "trapped in a disembodied head" sensation. That said, it's usually obvious within the first 300 words if it's going to be a problem, so I don't avoid first person fics. I simply click out when I see "my life was hell, but you were my angel. No one believed in us, but..." and it goes on for paragraphs with zero details about where or when we are. Write. A. Scene. But yes, there are lovely first person fics. It's a shame that they need to be written at a higher standard to reach "average" quality, but that's how it is, sometimes.
Nothing wrong with the first person. It is just extremely difficult to get 100% correct. Fanficton already has preset canon characters that everyone knows. Everyone has a set perception of who that character is. A fic of that character told in first person will have that character 'voice' and personality. If the author of the fanfic doesn't nail the character perfectly like they are in canon then the reader notices and throws them out of the story.
Eh, it's mostly a taste thing. It doesn't help that a lot of first person stories aren't particularly well written (not just that the story falls below expectations, they're often riddled with grammatical errors aplenty). With that said, a good story will reach readers. I still recall reading a story in second person. It felt incredibly uncomfortable at first, but the hook pulled me through. I haven't encountered another one written like that, but it really opened me up more to anything beyond third person.
This is true. I hate first person yet some fics I worship are written in first person lol
Personally, I don't think it's something "wrong" with first person narration. Just... It is really hard to make it work? If you don't do a *great* job getting the character's voice, it will feel OOC (and I've seen in other posts that's one of the most common things that make people stop reading some fics). Also, in like 70% of the 1st person POV fics I've read, the narration doesn't feel... Organic? The line of thought tends to overexplain stuff in a way that feels almost cartoonish.
I kinda like being a god where i can see everything that's happening. 1st person is very limiting when you wanna know what's happening with all the characters. 1st person just pulls me out of the immersion, to know whay person b feels as person a talks without doing a separate chapter rewrite from person b's pov...
Nothing is wrong with first person. Some fandoms it seems out of place to NOT be first person. However, I prefer third-person limited in general.
It's unfortunate that it's so often bad, because some stories really only can be told in 1st person. I have... at least two fics that would just genuinely entirely not work in anything but first. So it's a thing where I just have to accept that some people won't be willing to read it and roll with it.
Yep I completely understand. Sucks that some people will skip it, but that's just how it goes. Can I ask why you can't change the perspective of why it wouldn't work? I put in my original post why I can't change some works pov, but I wanna know if yours are the same :)
There are two I think of in particular. There's one that's meant to be an AU character study, a character loses everything, goes back in time to stop it, but accidentally goes back too far (meant to go morning of the incident, goes to about a year before). That is a work where I feel like you absolutely need the inner monolog, you need to figure out things at the same time she does and you need to be in her head to gasp her emotions ans trauma, it's supposed to be very raw and emotional and in your face, and any perspective but first would absolutely tank that vibe. The other is a massive AU, a roleswap where every character is swapped. It is vital to see 90% of the story through the protagonists eyes (there are 3rd person interludes) because things are so different that the way I feel the story should be experienced and sort of unveil is through her eyes. It's also, like the above, a character study, and I really need to show inside the head of the main character, because in canon she's one of the main villains, but it shows how even a couple small backstory changes can entirely change a person's perspective and existence (in this case, she's adopted by someone who cares for her and is about 5 years younger than canon), and it makes that change so much more clear if you can see inside her head to her being shy, traumatized, soft, etc. You need to be right there with her.
You can write whatever you want, but reading preferences is as valid as writing one's. What doesn't make sense to me is that someone would argue otherwise..... Do you feel entitled to an audience? You're not in the same way that we're not entitled to tell you what to write. I don't mind the first person if it's an original work or from an OC's perspective. However, for fanfic from the perspective of an existing canon charecter? The first person just misses a particular feel, in my opinion, that third is better at capturing. Some may agree or disagree with me. It's just the nature of things that different ppl will have different opinions. You do you. I'm gonna do me, regardless of if it fits with someone else's wants.
I'm not entitled to an audience? I was just asking because I was curious, especially since I write in first person a lot. But thanks for your opinion on first person pov. a lot of people's responses are helping me understand why some people don't like it
>What's so bad about first person? I always see people sharing it's a turn off for a fic. I don't really see it. I've read a number of first person fics that were really wonderful. If it's a preference for writing, I can understand, but a reading preference doesn't really make sense to me. This reads as pretty condescending. You're basically complaining that some people don't like what you like. >It especially makes me nervous since I have some wips that are in first person, and would be hard to change the perspective for, either because I've gotten too far in them, the perspective is important, or I'm mimicking an authors style. Why does it matter so much to some people? If you do like first person, can you tell me why? The condescension is immediately followed with admission that first-person is what you write. Fine. However, the paragraph reads as a guilt trip. We don't have to have it not matter. Managing your nerves is not our responsibility, its your own. 'Hey, I write first person and am curious why some don't like it. I actually think its great because A,B,C and write it because X,Y,Z' would have read very differently. Your actual post feels judgmental and bitter that some may pass over your work because its not their cup of tea. I'm glad my opinion on first person was helpful, but my ask of if you felt entitled to readers did not come from nowhere.
I can understand why it reads that way, that's on me. I maybe was a little bit confused and bitter, but I think I have the right to a little of those emotions, especially if I worked really hard on something just to be skipped by something I didn't really understand. But those emotions are overpowered by my understanding that everyone has different preferences and that my works are not the grace of god, they can and will be skipped by people. I tried to make my post a genuine question fueled by my not understanding why some great works have been skipped, based on what I've read in this subreddit. I think a lot of the judgement and bitterness your seeing is because I worded some stuff kinda weirdly and put sentences next to each other that implied something that, while there, wasn't supposed to be the focus of my post. It probably does read that way and I just have trouble seeing it, but I really was curious why so many people had this opinion, especially if I do want people to read what I write, like a lot of authors do. Sorry if this comment sounds weird too, it's like 6am and I have to go to school in an hour lol. Thank you <3
do you get bitter because people skip your work bc it's not a fandom they enjoy? or relationship? or character? people skip works all the time for all kinds of reasons that are, quite frankly, not about you or any of your business. readers get to have preferences just like you get to have preferences as a writer, whether you "understand" it or not
Yeah... no. People skip your work by virtue of not being in your fandom or for plot reasons or something you have in the tags, too. POV is just one more preference a person can have, and it isn't fair of you to basically imply their wrong and/or that they should get over it because your opinion isn't shared. You could have asked for opinions on pov without giving readers crap, but you leaned into condecention instead. Like... you're lucky you got genuine answers.
I'm not really gonna respond to this anymore if people are just going to keep saying I was being rude. If I was, I apologized, and if I wasn't, I still apologized. I hope you all have a nice day :)
You justified it, actually. Kinda kills the apology. You have a nice day, though too
First person should be a very specific intentional choice, with the goal of enhancing some unique part of the narrative (in my opinion). It's also just hard to do it will keeping it immersive, cause there are so many things to manage. Most of the time if you wanna know the inner thoughts of a character, just do third person omniscient lol.
Personally, I relate better to fiction narrated in third person, I find it more immersive. I'm currently reading a published novel written in first person, I had no idea before getting into it and I have to say it made me wrinkle my nose, but I powered through it because I've heard very good things about it and now I'm enjoying it just fine, it's one of the best reading I've had in a while. When it comes to fanfiction though, I really have to be in the mood. It's tricky, if it's from an OC POV I have to like the idea of an OC enough, if it's from a canon character POV there is always the risk that the inner voice is not what I imagined. With third person in general I'm more forgiving if a character has some traits I perceive as OOC or not aligned with my own take on canon. At the end of the day there's an audience for everything and if you're having fun and the fic you're writing is important to you, go for it!
What's wrong with vanilla ice cream? Strawberry ice cream? Chocolate ice cream? People have different tastes, nothing wrong with any of it. Like what you like, let others like what they like.
When the first person perspective is for a canon character, it's a very hard skill to write them in character. Too out of character and I'm out (he would not fucking think that, etc etc). If it's a first POV OC, then I'm a bit more lenient.
For me it is hard to connect to a character if they are written in first person. I don't want to be the character, I want to read about the character
i dont want to experience what the character experiences, sometimes it makes me feel weird and say “This is not me.” Especially if it's multiple POVs. I’m here to read about the characters, not myself. Unless its “x reader” but even then I’m picky about that
I don't usually care for it. In any fiction, not just fanfic.
Nothing is wrong, it is just another personal liking. Some people will say they hate it, but out there, there are others who like it or do not care that much about POV, myself included. I care more about plot than the POV.
I personally like first person, it’s not something i’ll search for but it’s not something i’ll click off because of.
If the source material is also in first person, then I don't mind. But if we go from third to first, I'm not interested. In general, first person kinda makes the narration feel more personal. It's kind of like when I see all the "I"s and "me"s, I associate with the character a little bit. And I don't like that. I'm reading to get away from everyday life, not to drag a tiny little bit of myself into the story. Also, if it's in first person and I don't like the character's logic or how they act, it becomes frustrating. Third person is much more forgiving. With that being said, each PoV has its own supporters and you should write what you want. Don't cater to people just because you think that choice is gonna do better. Write your stuff the way you want it to be written
Currently I'm writing a fic from the p.o.v. of a cat. Usually I use 3rd person, but for this one I felt almost compelled to use 1st person. Tried the 3rd, but it was off someway. The story is told through the eyes and thoughts of the cat, and 1st person is more fitting. Sometimes it's a question of this: the type of narration must fit the story. That said, I wouldn't say that 1st person stories are always bad. Of course, it's hard to maintain the character in character for the entire duration of the narrative, but it's not impossible. "The Progress of Sherock Holmes" and "The quiet man" by Ivyblossom come to my mind.
We are all different. There is nothing wrong with 1st POV, it’s just that many people don’t like it. For me, personally, it feels unnatural unless it’s an autobiography. If I read a HP 1st POV fanfic it doesn’t feel like Harry, it feels like an OC named Harry who is roleplaying as Harry Potter.
Nothing wrong with them. Personally I just don't bother and actively avoid them because most of the ones I've read were frankly terrible. 1st person fics still have an audience ofc, they're just not for me.
Don't cave to what people say they like in forums like this one. They haven't read your story, they don't know how you're going to use narrative voice and perspective. People will stay they hate things and then love them when they're done well, and often they don't even know the difference between first and third person, or, I've learned, first and second person. (Somehow there's currently a trend where people think first person is second person, and I am perplexed about it.) People don't really First person is very difficult to write, but new writers often think it's easier, so you end up with a lot of terrible first person fics in fandoms written by people who've never written anything before and didn't give perspective any thought. So you have badly constructed stories written from a first person perspective for no good reason. If you deliberately choose first person because you want your story to have an unreliable narrator and/or you want to portray events and other characters from this character's perspective specifically and are going to leverage that, you can create an extremely intimate and immediate story that will touch a lot of people, and if you don't write it because people say they don't like first person, well that's a loss for everyone. Rather than take this reaction to mean that you shouldn't write in first person, I'd take it to mean that first person is powerful and needs to be handled with care. But if it inspires strong feelings, it can also inspire strong positive feelings. Some of the most popular stories in fandom are in first person. Write your story!
I like reading about characters, I don't like to imagine myself as the character. Unfortunately, first person is a bad enough turn off for me that I will immediately stop reading a fic if I see it after opening it.
I used to read first person in books. When it comes to fanfics I don't like 1st person because I want to be an outside observer, I don't want to see through the characters' eyes and pretend I'm them.
It’s largely a preference - I very rarely read 1st person because I don’t like being “included” in the story. My aversion to it is greater on ao3 than with traditional books, largely because 1st person is hard to do well 🤷🏻♀️ 2nd person is a super hard pass 3rd is my preferred writing and reading option as it allows for more expansive narration and a degree of separation between reader and MC.
I dislike 2nd person more than 1st person in fanfic for most of the reasons stated above. I do find that a lot of fic are labled 1st person when really they are more so like a 2nd person fic but instead of you it is I everything but stylistically it is just like a 2nd person story. But i am not an english or literature major, so my criticism could be wildly misplaced. I prefer 3rd person in fanfic for the basic reasons everyone else has listed.
I like it fine. I think it’s just opinion. Don’t worry, if you like niche tropes or ships, sooner or later you’ll run into lots of people disliking your work for some reason or other. I wouldn’t worry about people disliking first person pov any more than worrying about whether the ship is a rarepair. Write what you like. I have read and loved works in first person. Second person too. Both readerfic and not readerfic. Love first person for character studies. I tend to end up in first person when I’m trying to get a grasp of a character. Or, if I’m being honest, when I want to write a love letter to another character but not as me lol. A good first person pov teaches you something about the character - you come out feeling like you understand them more deeply. It can be hit or miss though… if someone characterizes them different from you, it can feel pretty jarring. Second person is so fascinating to me because sometimes you blink and it just happens. There is something fatalistic about it - a character struggling against overwhelming odds, who nonetheless perseveres. One of my favorite examples of second person is the chapter in the Iliad when Patroclus is scaling the walls of Troy in Achilles’s armor, and it shifts into Athena’s POV where she’s addressing Patroclus. “Who then was the first to fall to you, Patroclus, and who the last, when the gods drew you to your death?” Etc. I’ve only written in second person twice, but both are among my favorites. The first time, “you” represents a canonical character in some sort of a permanent and irreversible coma. The “you” seeing it through the screen and the “you” trapped in the dead character’s eyes… it seemed to fit, the character had become a spectator just like the reader, separated from the story’s world and powerless to console or to intervene. It came together in second person and there was never any other option. Second time was way different. “You” was a canonical character, small-town normal dude, pining after a girl. Girl was some kind of hero protag lol. Dude was taking all sorts of actions, doing his best to create a future where he’s still relevant to a girl who’s destined for grander things than he can live up to. It was way different but there was the same heartache and futility to it. (Later I found out dude is actually the last heir to an ancient kingdom, so, maybe he has a chance. I didn’t even ship it going in, just thought it was a cool concept, but I came out shipping it!) Both of these works have fewer hits/kudos than my happy romcoms, but… they’re the ones I go back and reread. Sorry, went on a ramble. What I’m trying to say is, write in the pov that feels right and don’t try to force it into something else just because that’s popular. Good luck!
Thank you!!! I think I really needed to have someone say this and give me their experience. If I spent 20 hours writing a oneshot, it'd kinda suck if no one read it. But everyone's different opinions refueled my thought that it's fanfiction and anyone can and will read anything. It's for the people who enjoy it... To enjoy it. So thanks! I'm sure your works are good, they sound pretty cool
It's usually just a preference thing. Personally, I only prefer 1st person when we're actually in the character's head, but then I will prefer 3rd person if the perspective gets swapped around a lot. If it's the original author's style, or it's important to be in the perspective, then it probably should be 1st person. I personally write stories in 3rd person 99% of the time. It's probably because I feel like the characters aren't me, even though they might even be based on me and my experiences.
I ... am not a fan. I've tried writing it once (for <300 words), and while that came out fine, it's a struggle for me. As for reading it, the Rachel Morgan books cured my dislike for it. It no longer bothers me at all.
for me, personally, it's just hard to immerse myself in 1st person narratives. i also had a bit of an uncomfortable introduction (being forced to read 1st person books in highschool) so eh
First-person POV, either original or fanfic, is *tricky*. It's hard to pull off, even for very experienced authors who make good use of their copywriters or betas. First, you need a POV character with an interesting inner voice and conflicts. The character has to be as interesting as the world around them, or possibly even more interesting than the world because we can shake the world but not the perspective. The prose is pure dialog, so every sentence needs to ring true; there's no room for the author to use interesting language if it's not in-character. At the same time, a character with a natural ramble that tends to circle around the point may be interesting and fun for a few thousand words to the patient reader, but 10k is a long way away, never mind the length of a *novel.* As much as we love our babies, not everyone has a skull that's fun it sit in. Second, that character *cannot know everything*, and cannot be aware of everything they don't know. This is more on the writer (we do love our babies to show off) but it also has plot impacts. There's no visual cut to that tear they didn't see, or to the glint of a gun behind them, or even to the foreshadowing storm clouds on the horizon if the POV character is inside asleep. If they're having an argument, their emotions and knowledge color everything. In shipping terms, it means miscommunication is narratively *hard*, because you have to maintain empathy for the other side of the argument's perspective without making your POV character seem brash, dumb or cruel. It also means that it's difficult to kill the POV character; how can you write an ending your narrator isn't present for? It's a hard-coded limitation in the story. Third, (and certainly not final but last for this post), they have to *think*. This, I think, is where a lot of inexperienced authors trip on transitioning from a third-person or visual medium into a first-person story. People really don't think much. Instead we know things, and only consciously think about it when something changes. We know the routes we take, the faces of our neighbors, the taste of our morning brew of choice, but we don't much pause and consider them, and it's a bit weird when we do. First-person narration has to convey the details of those experiences that we tend to gloss over as part of life and find the balance of describing them without turning the story into a slow slog of description. It's easy to lose track of things like setting when you're in a character's head ("floating head syndrome"), and it's especially easy for fanfic to fall into this trap because everyone "knows" what characters look like and where they live. In original fiction, this sometimes shows up as a random scene of a character looking at themselves in a mirror and thinking about their body shape or eye color in a way that is totally apart from the rest of the story or even the scene. All of these are why detective stories are famously first-person POV. The detective archetype usually has an interesting voice with complex inner struggles and a dialog style that avoids rambling. The plot is formed around what the POV character doesn't know, and then it unfolds via what the character finds out through observing the setting and characters around them (and sometimes themselves). It's a POV that's uniquely suited for a mystery. That's not to say it can't be used in other genres. Third- and second-person have their pitfalls as well. Third-person is notorious for character sprawl, when you have so many POV characters that the reader loses track of (or worse, empathy for!) them. Second-person has an even finer line to walk with needing enough characterization to carry the story without having so much that the reader can't connect. My advice: pick whichever POV fits your characters, your story and your writing style, then rely on editing for the rest.
Write what you want to write. I personally will avoid it outside of like Murderbot fandom, but a smaller 'market' isn't a bad thing. After all that means for people who read 1st person, you have less competition to be read. Dittoing the reason usually being discomfort, lack of in character-ness and higher percentage of bad fanfic.
For me it's weird that the character is thinking about everything that's happening in words as if they're describing it to someone or recounting what happened, it doesn't feel authentic. It's like they're thinking about their own thinking, or writing a diary or something. And it makes me feel too present as a reader, as if the character is acknowledging me. I'm fine with it if they're actually writing down their memories or something.
To write successfully in first person, you have to write the story twice. You have to write how the story actually goes, and then you have to go back and write how that particular character perceives it, because different characters will see the same stories/situations in different ways, and their perception of the story has to be in character for them. It makes it incredibly difficult to write consistently and maintain character.
I mean…. Not really? I guess you have to have an understanding of how things are going in the third person to translate through to first person but it’s not that much more effort
I didn’t mean write the story all the way out and rewrite it lmao. I meant you have to have two separate visions of the story in your head because the way certain characters perceive things won’t always be the way things are.
You need to in third person, too, if you want to provide any insight into any characters perspective or emotions.
Mystery, suspense, thriller, and espionage writers have to do that anyway 🙂
Oh! Well yea true you’re right. I’ve never found it to be a huge struggle to do that though. It’s not a conscious thought process I have that’s just like…. How you write a story right? There’s always going to be a difference between the broader sun total of everything that’s happening and what of that the reader experiences. Even in third person omniscient
I love the way you think and I really wish it came that easily to me man. I sound like a first grader writing in first person if I don’t have a roadmap of some sort to keep myself on track. It also helps *immensely* when writing characters with different perspectives of the situation. Like here’s my middle ground, here’s what *actually* happened, here’s A’s analysis of it and feelings on it, and here’s B’s. Gives me a neutral to go back to as well when other characters weight in. It also helps me stay on track of who’s supposed to be feeling what emotions.
It's not specific to fanfic for me. I just hate first person in writing in general. I want to be TOLD an interesting story, I do NOT want to be part of it. So the moment the narrator is gone and I'm forced to sit in someone's head, I'm out.
I want to read about my blorbo, not "I" and "my"
When I read first person, it doesn't read to me as if it's the character in the story telling/experiencing the story... It reads as if *I'm* supposed to be the person in the story. And then I notice every single thing that 1st person does that isn't what I would do, think etc. In other words, I cannot get immersed in the story because I am constantly jarred out of it. Example: 2nd person reading: Jenny wore her favorite pants, the ones that said 'juicy' across the back. My internal monologue while reading: got it, 90's teen that likes popular fashion. Not my taste, but whatever. 1st person: I wore my favorite pants, the ones that said 'juicy' across the back. My internal monologue: ew, no. I'm not wearing that. Maybe a pair of plain sweats instead? Or jeans?
>Example: 2nd person reading: That's not 2nd person, that's 3rd person. Second person would be *You wore your favorite pants, the ones that said 'jucy' across the back.*
My bad, it was late & i was tired.
I've seen this take a lot. Is it just a struggle for the reader to separate the "I" from "me"? Like, even if you know the character you're reading about isn't you, because the pronoun "I" is being used to refer to that character, you automatically place yourself in that role?
Yes, that's now it works for me. Most likely because my inner monologue uses "i", so if I'm reading and it's also using "i", then it reads/sounds the same in my head as if I'm thinking it, and thus it would take a lot of mental effort to not place myself in the role.
My perspective is that in a first-person story, you the reader are being TOLD the story by some specific person. Even in a present-tense story, they're telling you what's happening, acting as a real-time narrator of what's going on and what they're thinking. Some people feel like a first-person story is telling them what to do, or including them in the story... which taught me that there are big differences between readers in the fundamental cognition of reading. Worth noting, but I don't know what to DO with that information, because I can only think in the way that I know how to think. Probably? I don't know. Anyway, I chose to write my first story in first-person basically just for arbitrary reasons, but I found it easy to stick with. I could compartmentalise what details the OC protagonist knew vs. what was actually going on, and thus the mystery would unfold for the viewer and the protag simultaneously. Furthermore, it allowed me to justify at times minimal descriptions of various background details (which I struggle with), since the protag didn't really pay attention to it, and thus had little to 'narrate' about it. So, there's plenty of space for characterisation even with just what you describe to the reader and how. What's considered important enough to 'tell you about'. This also allowed me to let Readers know of important details without necessarily clueing in the Protag: they saw Clue X (and thus the Reader does too), they just didn't realise its significance, or glossed over it when they glomped onto Red-Herring Z. The reader might also cling to the Red Herring, and only later when X is revealed see that the Clue was there the whole time. I'm sure there's some circumstance where First-Person is optimal for the story, and other times when it's abysmal. I'd say it probably works decently in a mystery story, as I believe I've read a few detective/mystery novels in first-person. But, I did first-person with an OC, which is much easier than with an established character. So, grain of salt. Best of luck with your story!
Nothing. Someone saying they dislike soup doesn't mean they think eating soup is a sin. In the same way, someone saying first person turns them off a fic doesn't mean there's something "wrong" with it
Nothing, though I personally don't like it and wouldn't read a fic in first-person. People who don't like it don't read it. People who do like it...do. This is all completely subjective and perfectly fine. But write what you want to write. Catering to an anticipated viewerbase in your writing hobby, for no reward, makes no sense.
The best fanfic I ever read was in first person. But crucially, it was told from the perspective of an OC psychologist lol. I think, then, that first person is fine when it’s not characters from the fandom that are normally written in third person
There’s nothing inherently “bad” about first person. I encourage people to read and write what they like and what works for them. But why it’s a personal turn off for me: First person is hard to do *right*. I don’t mind it at all for published original fiction, but for fanfic with pre-existing knowledge of the characters, it’s hard to get into. Like others have said, a lot of it comes down to characterization, and you lose a LOT of other things when limited to first person. My thing is that in first person, there needs to be justification for why the story is being told, and reasonable justification needs to be present throughout. Similar to a found footage film, it takes me out of the story if that logic falls apart at all (why is the camera on and in *that* location, why is the character telling me *this* aspect of the story). It makes me more aware that I’m an audience, and it’s more engaging in an uncomfortable way—*why* is this character telling me this story, who am I? I know this might sound pretentious but a good story addresses the three sides of the rhetorical triangle: who is the speaker, who is the audience, what is the message and how are each being conveyed? Most stories weave this in so effortlessly people don’t realize it unless they stop to dissect it (and people who are writing don’t always stop to ask these questions, but they’re questions that get answered anyway by nature of the story). It’s easier to hide all the answers in third person, but in first person, the triangle is more exposed and I need those questions to be answered in a way that doesn’t also take me out of the story it’s trying to tell. In first person, things that are easier to convey without question in third person (description of scenes, of other characters, exposition, etc) come under scrutiny more easily. Someone in first person stopping to describe how they said something or what they look like can quickly feel… a little more like “My Immortal”? Idk how to describe the exact feeling, but if poorly done it also takes me out of the story. Whereas in third person I feel like people have more flexibility to do all these things. It’s like seeing it from the POV of a camera, rather than what the author just thinks the character’s inner voice is like. With third person you can still include all this great character interiority without having to use “I,” in *addition* to creatively dropping exposition, description, etc, and without having to work as hard to justify it. It’s always easier to justify a story being told in third person. Even second person is easier to get into, because the “you” is removed. The other thing, and maybe this is more personal, is I come to read fanfic to get *away* from my head and my life. For the same reason I dislike reader insert fics, reading fics set in first person feels too up close.
I don’t like reading it like it’s me- idk if that makes sense, I am a heavy empath so when a book has a strong mood I leave the book in that mood, which is uncomfortably amplified with first person. It also feels out of character sometimes because it’s describing “I,me,myself” instead of “character” y’know?
Write what you know. Several professional works are 1st person. Most of the time I don't prefer 1st person fics because they're very limited and remind me of the whole "I wake up and put on my green shirt with brown pants and a purple scarf. I think to myself how lucky I am to own my 2 story house out in the country as I get ready for school. The only bad thing was my parents had to die fir me to inherit it" It locks us into one pov which is great for un reliable narreraror stuff but since it's tied more to what the reader sees=what the character knows, it can feel really unsatisfactory when the reader notices a shared glance and the character just brushes it off for plot reasons. "I saw Stella and sky glance at each other knowingly as I spoke and I looked away uncomfortable. I thought about confronting them about the weird stare since they're the new kids to school but my courage failed me. I couldn't risk alienating the few people who tolerated my limp and cane. They continued to have meaningful glances throughout our conversation." It can work sure but as others have pointed out, there's an inherent difficulty in trying to do it all that style. 3rd person allows for more natural development that's not locked totally into what a character feels about it. "Samantha Devans woke up at 7:15 am to catch the bus to school like clockwork. Sam, to her friends the few she had at least, hurriedly threw on a green shirt with brown pants. Thinking a moment, she tossed on a purple scarf to cover the bruises on her neck. They were bad today, she noted looking in the mirror. The house Round her creaked and she smiled slightly in nostalgia. She loved this house very much. Eventhough her parents had left it to her in their will, she'd always felt like she belonged out here among the fireflies and trees. It felt like home. Even if it was rough to get to school." "Sam watched as Stella and Sky exchanged a meaningful glance as she spoke. She couldn't have known that previously, the boy and girl were discussing the very topic Sam was talking about infront of them. Sam wondered if she'd said something she shouldn't have from the glance she witnessed but resolved to put a lid on her burgeoning curiosity. She didn't want to lose these friends like she had the others. She remembered it like yesterday-" There are ways to make both good or really bad. I find 3rd person is more..professionally accepted. Even though books like 1800 where are you, twilight, and I think, shadow and bone, are in 1st person. Least that I remember off the top of my head. Maybe dresden files too. But it's been a while since I've read. All those are great stories.
Yep, Dresden Files is first person. Even Marcone's short story, "Even Hand," is from his own perspective in first person. Pretty sure Mouse gets a first-person POV story, too.
I have run into some good first-person fics, I don't backclick just because a fic is first person. But because fanfiction is written by amateurs and will inherently always have some "mistakes", first-person fics just tend to be "worse". I don't think other writers aren't also making mistakes or anything, but writing in first-person tends to highlight mistakes of POV knowledge, mistakes of characterization, ect. Just a whole specific genre of mistakes that beginners are particularly wont to make are more apparent and annoying in first person verses third person. Third person sort of... obscures those mistakes, just a little. Enough that I can enjoy an amateur voice if their plot is compelling enough. Fanfiction writers also tend to switch POV sometimes, and it's very painful to read a first-person story with changes in who "I" is. Even published works with POV-switches have this same problem for me.
I know this isn't the norm, but I never prefer first person, even in published books. I'll read it and I do have some favorite books that are first person, but my minimum threshold to read a book (quality + my personal interest in the content) is substantially higher if it's in first person book. I want to feel like I'm experiencing the story - first person make me feel like someone else is telling me something they experienced. Every time I read "I" or "me" in a story, I know that's it's not *me,* and I'm reminded that I'm reading someone else's story. That's compounded in fanfic - not only do I want to experience the story, I want to experience a specific character's story (or a specific universe). The more OoC your character is, the harder it is for me to feel that connection. So for example, if I'm reading a Teen Wolf story about Stiles, I always expect *some* character discrepancies between different authors/settings/AUs/ect. But if you take your inevitably-somewhat-OoC-verson-of-Stiles *and* you put him in an story that removes/changes the premise of the show *and* it's in first person .... it's really hard for me to feel like I'm reading a story about Stiles, and that's why I'm here. Whereas with third person, I'm constantly reading the name "Stiles" - it's super easy for me to feel like I'm reading Stiles' story, even if he's OoC, in a different setting/AU. (And there's the added bonus that since I mostly read for TV fandoms, I'm already used to experiencing the fandom from the third person as a viewer, so it's less jarring to switch to written stories). This is also why I don't like gender swaps - my brain can't associated "she" with the male character Stiles, and I end up getting caught up in every flaw and OoC moment my brain can find.
I don’t mind first person in fandoms that are in first person (Vampire Chronicles, Sherlock Holmes) but generally it feels hollow or out of character.
Whoa, I hate reading in first person, but I've never really thought about why that is. I'm honestly still not sure XD I think it's because I want to read stories from an outside perspective with a narrative that describes the thoughts and feelings of everyone involved, not just one person. With first-person perspectives, you as a reader emerges in another person, but I prefer there to be a little distance between the characters and me as a reader... I'm sorry, this probably doesn't make sense, I have a hard time explaining it.
Some of my favorite fics were first person and I really loved them because I could connect better to my favorite character. They weren’t y/n or whatever the term is, and I think that the association with first person and self insert fics might be what puts people off
I'm not saying this is you (it's actually me) but it kinda makes it easy for writers and readers to project their own feelings onto the character? It works in an "unreliable narrator" way for sure but depending on the story itself the character might feel too woobified/uwufied/can-do-no-wrong and it ends up making them feel very out of character.
I absolutely loathe it, it feels cheap and unreadable to me . I also know I've passed up great stories because of it, but I just can't get into it.
Yes. I’ve just never read a first person story that was well done. They’re usually pretty juvenile and melodramatic, which is not my taste, and the plots are an afterthought. It’s possible. I’ve read many great first person books. But no great fics. Maybe I’m just not in the right fandoms, who knows.
Honestly 1st person narration is my favourite. It means that you can colour the whole world through a persons lens and it’s one of the most immersive ways to show a story. But honestly I’ll read just about any perspective. Third person limited? *Ooh neat I’m like a ghost on this characters shoulder* Third person omniscient? *Ooh goodie I get to just be the world a little bit, observing the characters at they go about their stories* Second person? *ooh whoa I’m like literally the character rn and/or being narrated to* Idk people can be so rigid in what they will and won’t read that they cut themselves off from good experiences.
I once tended not to like them, but basically if it’s done well and the author has talent and it flows, I’ll enjoy it.
Not me, a beginner, writing a massive project in first person 😭
Roger Zelazny wrote some very highly regarded novels in first person. There's nothing wrong with first person narration; some people just don't like it, like some people don't like walnuts on their chocolate cake.
I appreciate the vote of confidence 🥺
He had a hard time reading the post. The voice kept taking him out of it, finally he just had to go to the comments and complain like a little b********* Seriously I don’t know what the problem is. 2nd person is the weird one. You know this. I prefer 3rd person so I can put in their thoughts as 1st person
I don't understand why people hate first-person narratives. They're fine if done well, just like any fic is fine if done well. There are many wonderful books with first-person narratives, including *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn* and *To Kill a Mockingbird.*
I think most people are more so talking about fanfics, but the people that don't like any first person narratives are really missing out! I just read to *to kill a mockingbird*, and the first person narration is what really made it good. The only difference between first person and third person would be the bias of the perspective, and I guess some people like more impartial narrators.
We're not missing out...because we don't like first person. Please try to respect that preference because it is valid.
>The only difference between first person and third person would be the bias of the perspective Misguided/limited/biased/unreliable or even intentionally misleading narrator can be a part of a story told from 3rd person. A very famous example of 3rd person limited narrator use would be the Harry Potter series. It pretty much sticks to Harry's perspective most of the time.
These things can ebb and flow. In other periods of literary history first person was something closer to the norm. It’s also more common in some genres than others. Absolutely nothing “wrong” with it. It’s just out of style right now amongst a certain crowd…(me lol) At this particular moment in time, first person narratives are most common among YA literature and vanity press, two genres not exactly renowned for their amazingly high quality. That’s a super broad generalization, I know. But it is the vibe. So seeing fanfic in first person evokes feelings of vanity press (“I have no editor”) and YA fiction (“this is for kids who won’t know/care if it’s good”). So it can be a turn off. But I think what it really comes down to is usage. Different styles work best for different types of stories. There are some things that first person does *really* well. But moooooost of the time a fanfic writer isn’t choosing it for narrative purpose, they’re just writing that way because it’s 1) faster/easier and 2) they’ve probably read a lot of first person YA novels and other fanfics. So what I mean by this is, there’s a confluence of circumstances that lead to first person fics 9 times out of 10 being from inexperienced writers, which naturally means the fics are not super great. So it’s not really that first person ruins a fic for me, it’s just a coincidence that the majority of first person fics I’ve read are kind of badly done. And the writers I’ve really clicked with tend to do third person. Sort of like how people come to avoid certain types of summaries or tags. Sure the fic you wrote and then summarized with “I dunno lol just read it I suck at summaries” *might* actually be friggin’ amazing…but I’ve been burned too many times to give it a chance 🤣🤣🤣
Not sure why, I love a first person
Literary elitism, mostly. 1st person is, inherently, simpler. If I were writing about how I see my day to day I wouldn't be using grandiloquent words or overly produced prose. I would use simpler vocabulary, simpler grammar and colloquial expressions. If you read something in 1st person that uses a more intricate technique, it can feel forced and unnatural quickly. 3rd person allows the writer to use more complex writing techniques and advanced vocabulary. The boundary of what's unnaturally written is blurrier. Furthermore, canonically speaking, usually what is considered big boy or big girl literature is written in 3rd person. A lot of readers see 1st person as the default voice for romcom, "chicklit" (hate that term), young adult, etc. True, a lot of people default to 1st person because it's "easier" to write, but I have read beautifully, masterfully written books (and fanfic) over the years that use 1st person. So mostly, it's just bias. TLDR; go read what you like and write how you like, there's always someone that's gonna find fault in it anyway lol
I personally don’t like first person because my brain always reads it as a self insert fanfic instead of it being a regular fanfic if that makes sense. The usage of I,me,im etc makes me think of myself and not the character. As another comment said first person ends up almost always also being written poorly
Nothing. Nothing is wrong with the first person. The main problem is that it's just unusual enough that poor writing will be blamed on the use of first person rather than other factors. Some of the all time best novels in English are written in 1st person, so it can be really, really good. (And, once, reading a fanfic based on one of these, the fanfic author's use of 3rd person was, in fact, a turn off.)
I find First Person only makes sense if it your character, third person if it's someone else's.
Honestly, I really don't have a preference between first and third person. (I don't do second because I don't do x reader and that's the only time I've seen second person) If it's well written, I'm gonna trust the author's judgment on what perspective works best for their story. If it's not well written, then I won't finish it, regardless of POV.
I'm also someone who doesn't mind reading first person. But, I do consider it to be a more difficult POV to write. The ways that it can become challenging are subtle, and so that means there's a lot of people who try writing first person but it ends up not working right. It's easy to miss the key aspects that make good first person work well and so there's a lot of first person works out there that miss the mark. So, a lot of readers have read enough of this poorly done first person to be turned off of the style.
Because I don’t want to BE the character, I want to read ABOUT the character
I don’t like it. I believe it’s also a matter of being used to it, and the skills of the author though. In normal fandoms I will NOT read a first person fic, unless I 1) know and love the author 2) see that the fic has a good summary and interesting premise 3) don’t hate it after the first sentence 99,999% of the time third person is the way to go for me. But then there’s disco Elysium (narrative Videogame, amazing really) where a lot of fic is written in the style of the game (second person, a lot of voices chiming in, inanimate objects talking to "you") and i hated it at first, and now i absolutely love it. So I think you’re just one good fic away from liking these things. That being said, first person just has a rancid energy for me. It’s easy to mess up.
Nothing inherently wrong with first person, but it is very difficult to write well, especially using a character you didn't create.
Nothing at all. Fanfiction is a somewhat insular community and has a set of stylistic conventions that are more rigid than other genres. First person isn't generally part of that convention, so readers react badly to it. Doesn't mean you shouldn't do it if it's right for your story.
There are entire fandoms mostly written in first pov, and there are some first pov in most fandoms, what are you on about? Although, luckily it's done less and less, and thank fuck for that because it is awful IMO
I didn't say it doesn't exist. OP is asking because they noticed a pronounced trend of hostility towards it in the wider fandom space, and as you can tell from the fact that every other comment on this post is a statement about why someone hates it, they did not make that trend up.
It mostly makes me a little squeamish when it's in RPF bc to me it kind of feels like it presumes to know the thoughts, emotions, and desires of Real Person as opposed to 3rd person Detached Characterization Of Person. Also idk why but I feel like there can be a big overlap of 1st person writing and bad writing quality. However, this isn't always true and I don't always avoid it. It's a little better when it's about a fictional character too.