Fanfic Question

[jetpack_monkey]

Do you find first-person present-tense narratives an enjoyable read? Would you read one? I'm writing a fic right now, and it just feels like a first-person present-tense narrative. I've been intrigued by the style since my introduction to the work of Dave Eggers, but if it's not something that people will find readable, then I'd rather not waste a lot of time on writing that way.

Comments

[jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com]

It's a very immediate fic, in its defense, from the perspective of a person who isn't given to reflection. And I'd argue that the primary purpose of fiction is to tell a story - reflection is just a positive upshot of a good deal of that.

However, it is sounding like I'm setting myself up to fail...

*sigh* I'll just have to tell the story that it's crazy and that it should be good and lay down in the past tense like a good little fic.

[thevelvetdays.livejournal.com]

Well, I think in terms of the point of fiction, we both have halves of the whole. Yes, fiction is about telling a story, but usually a writer is driven by a point to telling that story, which is what I was trying to clunkily say from underneath the snowpile. I think what I was trying to say is that it's harder to make one's point without the benefit of those 6 inches of breathing room third person, and particularly third person past provides. If you have multiple characters, especially, it can get very hairy in terms of keeping them straight with a first person narrative. Of course, you also have to get into perspective. First person omniscient (like sections of Gatsby, for example) can work much differently than limited first person and so on. So don't let me totally discourage you, just look at the characters and the story you're going to tell and see how the characters speak in your head and if they'll speak to your audience in the same way or if it will get confusing.

One type of structure I often enjoy in a short story (a very shirt story or else it gets annoying) is second person past, but it doesn't work for fanfic as much as cute little emotional vignettes. I just add that so I don't seem like some sort of third person activist.

By the way, this is my curse. I can work with other people's material, but I can't actually write on my own anymore. To extend the blizzard around me to a writing metaphor, I've been in the Big Chill of writer's block since 2002. But I'm always happy to blather on uselessly if I can help. ;)

[jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com]

I'm writing sort of a wacky hi-jinky goofball adventure starring Parker Abrams, with only one other major character and a handful of minor ones. It's supposed to have a very strong pop sensibility (or lack thereof), but nothing great in terms of emotional core. It's about two very shallow people who learn nothing, carried along by the currents of other people's lives.

So, in short, I don't have a point, really. I'm just amused by the concept.