Now a more intimate question...

[LaLia]

It's time for a new question, one that everyone can probably relate to, although perhaps the authors can even more.

The question: When you write stories, is there a difference for you (emotionally, intellectually, psychologically, and physically) whether you write in the first person, and especially when you put yourself in the role, or when you write as a "narrator"?

I'll start with the naked truth, as I've recently noticed this myself. When I write neutrally (Schattenspiel, Circle of Ylmarach, Ghost of Valentine's Day), there are moments where I can, or even have to, put myself in the role, but that's already professional, so to speak. Especially with "Schattenspiel", where I've now written down the script to the point where I've reached 14 parts, I've sometimes written 2-3 episodes in a row. The story is about fictional characters, and I write from different perspectives.

In comparison, I noticed, especially with "Im Netz des Fremden" but also with other first-person stories (Wrong Choices, Unhappy New Year, Line 7), that after a few pages, I often thought, "Fuck, I need new underwear and/or a cold shower."

So, is it the same for you, that you put yourself in the role much more in first-person? Or is that precisely why some people write in the first person less often? Or are there other differences? Tell us how it is for you.

And from the reader's perspective, the question would of course be similar: Does a story where you put yourself in the other person's shoes, with different feelings and "consequences," read better than a story in which you would never see yourself, or one that is so unrealistic that this wouldn't be the case anyway.

[Shocker]

I know what you mean, as I typically write about what I like, I used to have to take creative breaks because the scene did excite me.
To be frank the narrative perspective rarely affects that. I’m fairly certain I never chose first perspective of the main victim. I might inhabit the innocent bystander or the perpetrator. Else I prefer the 3rd person limited, as it allows me to incorporate a slight twist to the story if it pleases me, and it often does.

It’s difficult of making a first person narrator unreliable, as that means he is lying to himself, very few people do that. And if a professional author does it , I tend to hate it. Case in point Andreas Eschbach the Nobel Prize.

[LaLia]

Maybe there are differences between the role of victim and perpetrator, or even between man and woman!?

Regarding the first person in books... I think Kar May wrote in the first person, and very successfully, if I'm not mistaken!? A Song of Ice and Fire is also written from the perspective of several people as their respective narrators. Two famous examples that immediately came to mind. But yes, it's rather rare, and the problem is that you only have one perspective. So either I have to get everything, or you would have to include the omniscient narrator at the same time.

[Shocker]

Karl May wrote an extensive amount of novels in the first person, still a good read, but he also made his hero a shameless self insert.
I’m not enough of an author to pull of f a first person female perspective. As for GRRM he does multiple perspectives but maintains strict limited narrative for the chosen POV.

You might like what Scott Lynch did with his Gentlemen Bastards, he masterfully interweaves two timelines, yet always keeps clarity on which one he is describing. Him not actively writing is much more disappointing than Martin.

[Blue]

A difficult question, with no clear answer.
I once rummaged through my archived stories. There are stories I write from the first-person perspective, as the rapist. There are also stories in which the perpetrator or victim describes what's happening in the third person. And there are even three stories in which I attempted to describe the plot from the perspective of the female victim, which isn't easy, of course.
Usually, if there's only one rapist (or only one victim), then it's usually in the first-person perspective. If multiple people are involved, then it's usually in the third person. There are always exceptions, of course.
It also always depends on how intensively I want to put myself in the role of the main character. Or how much of my own thoughts I want to reveal.

[Claire]

I dont think I've noticed a difference for myself. I am often very detached while writing my stories regardless of which narrator I use, and it can even be the case that when I'm writing the more erotic parts of the story that their effect on me personally gets dulled a bit because I think so much about which words to use exactly, which phrasing flows the best while reading. For example, when I wrote It's okay, I feel a little lonely, too. and I was working on that section that blends memory and present and I had to make sure that the language for memory and present parallel each other, I could not just write whatever came to my mind but had to think about this very carefully. That makes it almost impossible for me to get completely absorbed in the narrative. But sometimes that does happen, when everything just flows naturally. The most recent example for me was writing the apartment scene in Sweet, Sweet Mess. At some point, I could feel the tension in that scene and it was killing me, it was almost unbearable.

[Vela Nanashi]

For me, I used to write in third person omniscient, as I was used to stories being written that way, and so I used that, but later I started experimenting, and found that first person let me feel a whole lot more, and also even though I could not really describe as many things in the scene, it allowed me to focus, get closer to one character, and it makes things a whole lot more intense for me, I also learned that if I tell a story about some past event I can't feel it as much, as if I tell a story that is going from moment to moment, in the present tense, and I notice how much more impact stories written in exactly first person present tense has for me.

After that I really don't like when stories use framing devices, or past tense, or when written by a dispassionate outside observer, they fail to do a lot for me, I need that closeness, to be inside a character, I also love jumping from character to character, but I want to fully be inside one character's mind at a time, it is hugely more effective for how much I can feel from the story.

So when I write these days, I need to be in the character, and yes sometimes that means I have to take breaks, a few stories put me into an extremely intense emotional state while writing, heart beating irregularly and fast, hands trembling so much I can barely write, so in those moments I am very much deeply affected by the character I inhabit, and I truly feel what they feel, what I am putting them through... of course I sometimes plan for this when getting ready to write, making sure whatever physical reactions my body will have can be handled with what I have around me... under me...

[LaLia]

So, apart from the past and present, we're quite similar...somehow the past feels more familiar. You usually tell something after it's happened, but I should try the present thing, although that would probably be a real challenge, going against my own habit.

[Vela Nanashi]

It may not be for everyone, it can be too intense and I think harder to plan a story, as if you plan it you know it in the telling the story after the fact way, so then writing it in present tense is harder. But I will be curious to see how it feels to write that way for you, if you try it. Still don't let me pressure you to write in a way you don't want to, I have strong opinions and desires, but they do not dictate what others must do.

[Lucius]

I am detached when I write, more so because I'm an ESL person and I tend to prefer third-person narratives set in the past. First person feels a bit different indeed, but I run into the 'It's not me!' wall when I attempt it, and the result leaves me unsatisfied. There are a few story embryos that I might want to grow...

It’s difficult of making a first person narrator unreliable, as that means he is lying to himself, very few people do that. And if a professional author does it , I tend to hate it. Case in point Andreas Eschbach the Nobel Prize.

An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears does it very well in my opinion, I think I've mentioned it already in another thread.