First Person Perils

My first three novels were written in third person, as I believed all novels should be. I had no experience in reading first person, and the thought of it struck me as odd. It may not have been until I started my first novella that I realized the main character felt too distant. I knew by then that first person point of view had grown more popular, so I decided to give it a try. It worked! Whatever magic first person held, it dropped me into the story, and I no longer felt like a bystander. Every book I've written since has used first person POV, and now it would feel strange reverting back to third. I'm sure I could do it; I just don't want to.

Naturally, one would think that this writing point of view would demand pages full of inner thoughts. I don't know if "a lot" really pertains to me, but there are some, of course. Know what? A person's inner thoughts aren't all that interesting. Maybe that's why I lean more toward dialogue. At least the main character isn't solely talking to herself. 

However.

One (I think) reviewer noted that the main character in one of my books came off as juvenile. In thinking about it, she may have had a point. Maybe I didn't add enough interior monologue. The thing is, I equate inner monologue with exposition, and I'm more of an "action" writer. Not action as in thrillers, but my main character is always doing things. Maybe she needed to ponder the meaning of life more (kidding). 

Too, perhaps my sentences are too choppy. If you're looking for someone to write a paragraph-long sentence, I'm not your guy. My plots are essentially: something happens, MC does something in reaction to that thing, rather than brood about it. That's one of the perils of writing in first person. "I" am action oriented, so my main characters are, too. 

I'm not panicking over whatever shortcomings my current novel possesses. I am nowhere near the editing phase, so everything that needs fixing can be fixed. When I open the Word doc, I have to page down to get to the point where I left off, and I naturally see some of my previous paragraphs. Some of the points I listed here are definitely present, but I'm not going to fall into the trap of editing those now. The story has to first be written ~ all the way through. 

Whatever weaknesses an author's writing reveals, at least being aware of them before it's too late is a win.