First person POV

Or the character just... tells the story? First person doesn't require a framing conceit, it can just exist on its own.

Once upon a time it was expected that a first person narrator had to use some sort of frame device like that to explain their storytelling.

It's not required any more. First person POV is a common, conventional form that readers simply accept. If you don't include an in-story excuse for it, hardly anyone (except maybe another writer) will notice it isn't there. In fact, contemporary readers want to be directly immersed in the story and the presence of any kind of external frame makes that much harder -- it places the story at least one or two steps removed from the reader and it intrudes extra layers of context and artifice that may not actually add anything to the reader's experience.

If you want a first person narrator, just go ahead tell your story in first person. No explanation needed. Readers won't mind.

The first four options are kind of...eh. Not that they aren't done (and can't be done well), but epistolary stories are hard to pull off without falling into the trap of "telling" instead of "showing." Whenever I read a story that's done in journal-format and things get overly descriptive, I always think, "People don't write like that in their journal." Which may not be true of course, but it's still jars me as a reader.

That said, with contemporary fiction, you could use blogs.

I've read countless novels in first-person POV where the character is simply narrating the story as it unfolds.

Nonicks said:

just to have the feeling that it's told to someone. It's easier for me as a writer.

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The option of occasionally breaking the fourth wall is there, if that's what you're going for. You can also 'frame' the story with a prologue (be warned, a lot of people have very strong feelings about prologues), but, as others have said, it's not really necessary. Have you read The Monstrumologist? It might be what you're looking for.

Nonicks said:

Yes, I know readers won't mind, and I don't want to have a frame or something, just to have the feeling that it's told to someone. It's easier for me as a writer.

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Not sure I follow how it's easier to have the 'feeling that it's told to someone'.

If it helps you, imagine whoever you want sitting in the corner, listening - or reading over your shoulder. In reality it's 'told' to exactly the same people as your Third person story only it's in First person POV. Your potential readers.

As Beth said, just relate the story as it happens/happened.

Agree with everyone. A first person narration doesn't need a framing device, though there's no problem with having one if you want to go that way. Otherwise, just assume it's the character's internal monologue, or something.

Nonicks said:

Hi everybody!

I've been thinking about first person POV possibilities and this is what I found:
1. the character can tell their story by writing it down as a diary (public or private)
2. the character can tell their story by telling his/her story to somebody
3. a letter to another person
4. interview (the name of the wind, for example, or interview with the vampire)

But what else? I can't think of other possibilities, and I'm not sure I want any of the above options.

Thanks in advance!

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Hi Nonicks. If you analyze it a lot, it can start to not make sense (whether first or third person). Like no matter what, the narrator wouldn't be telling all these details. But it's almost like we've all as readers agreed to ignore that, in the same way we choose to suspend disbelief for things or believe in worlds that we really don't believe in.

Re: the options, the narrator could be recording everything, or telling the story to their own imaginary friend, or maybe we the readers have special abilities to be invisible and go along with them. Maybe none make total sense, but I think the important thing is making it feel authentic and natural to readers, so they're not distracted by these things and can just get lost in the story.

CJ

benbenberi said:

Once upon a time it was expected that a first person narrator had to use some sort of frame device like that to explain their storytelling.

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When?

caw

2. the character can tell their story by telling his/her story to somebody

the 'somebody' is the reader ... just start talking to them

Hey nonicks, out of curiosity, what type of book are you writing? Young Adult? Sci-fi? Fantasy? I'm currently reading a framed book that might fit the style you're interested in. ILLUMINAE by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. IMO this is an example of framing done right if you're still interested in this style.

What everyone else said. I'm doing galleys right now for a book told in first person. FYI - It is a middle-grade novel written for children 8-12 years old. First person is found a lot more in MG and YA and not as much in adult novels, at least in my experience. If you are still feeling uneasy, I would suggest reading some books written in first person. But you may have to visit the children's section of a bookstore or library to do this.

Melody said:

I would suggest reading some books

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Always the best piece of advice for a question of this sort.

caw

Melody said:

First person is found a lot more in MG and YA and not as much in adult novels, at least in my experience.

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Quite a bit of urban fantasy is told in first person, for anyone looking for adult examples. Patricia Briggs (which I happen to be reading right now) is but one suggestion.

Melody said:

First person is found a lot more in MG and YA and not as much in adult novels, at least in my experience.

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First person is just as popular as third in gazillions of adult genres, including all the ones I read - M/T/S, chick lit, crime and contemporary. From Margaret Atwood to Marian Keyes, Dick Francis to Sue Grafton, Amy Tan to Michael Chabon, Nick Earls to Nelson Demille... just a few examples I can see right now on my bookshelf.

Sometimes we writers think too much.

I don't read framed POV. It's too stilted for my taste. In my first person crime novel the male lead is me and I let in unfold just like I let my real life unfold.

ETA: John D. MacDonald ties it up and puts a bow on it in his McGee novels.

Aside, to Cindyt--to me, a humorous frame can add a lot. For example, the frame POV in The Princess Bride. Examples from other media: the narrators in Arrested Development, Dear White People, and the Royal Tenenbaums. I don't think it's a coincidence, though, that these frames are all 3rd POV, framing stories mostly told/shown in 1st POV.

WriteMinded said:

Sometimes we writers think too much.

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True, that.

1st person POV is to put you in the narrator's shoes. If you force it to only be a diary or etc, you are taking the reader right out of the narrator's shoes. Letters and diary entries are good for when you want 1st person multiple POV like Dracula, but having them just tell the story is better like Bret Easton Ellis' Rules of Attraction.