Monday, February 25, 2008

Losing Your Voice...?

Daily Stats
Words: 1000
Kleenex: 10 (there's hope for the trees)
Caffeine: morning cup + midmorning cappuccino + late afternoon cappuccino (it's laundry day, back off!)
Evil Calories: still can't move from ODing on apple pie

I've always preferred writing in first person, so when I began writing my first book, it was the obvious way to go. Third person was always a little bizarre to me. I didn't understand who I would be as third person (do I see all? do I only see what my MC sees? Am I God-like? If so, am I a God, or the God? If I'm the God, can make women stop wearing colored hosiery and outlaw tapered leg jeans?). I also thought that I would lose my voice writing in third person. That I'd just be a boring, robotic tone transcribing a story.

But, for my second book I decided to give third person a go. Oddly enough, I think I actually have a stronger voice. There's this little window of opportunity to poke fun at your MC that I don't think is there when you write in first person, especially if your MC is having a total brown out. I actually think I prefer it now.

And then I learned that several of my friends won't even consider reading a book if it's written in first person. I was totally baffled by this, but apparently it makes them "uncomfortable" to be that close to someones story (ummm...paging Dr. Freud!). So now I'm wondering...is this common? Are there many people out there that will cast a book aside simply because of the voice it's written in?

And on a totally different subject, when I opened my computer and read the top headlines this morning I was so thrilled that cappuccino almost came out of my nose. I was at a family event last night so I missed the Oscars, but I saw the amazing Marion Cotillard won best actress for her portrayal of Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose! If you haven't seen this movie, you must. Edith's life was immensely tragic, but the film is amazing, and Ms. Cotillard's portrayal is so incredible you'd think she was possessed by the little sparrow herself. So, go to Netflix and add it to your queue!



1 comment:

Amy said...

I love first-person narrative because it's like having a conversation with someone. I find first-person to be immediately engaging on page one. Third sometimes takes a few more pages to get into it.

If you haven't *seen* Marion's acceptance speech, find it somewhere! The show was totally lame (I kept switching to Zoolander on TBS), but luckily I caught her win. She was so genuninely emotional, it was a great moment.

As was the girl who won for writing Juno. Diablo Cody, I think. Harrison Ford was presenting, and she *clearly* had a fangirl moment when she realized that not only had she won an Oscar, but Han Solo was giving it to her. The look on her face gave it all away.