First-Person Novels

Most research says that the majority of readers don't prefer stories written in first person, and I am one of them. I like third person much better. For one thing, it is easier to get the point of view of more than one person, and I prefer that. I find first person very limiting, both as a reader and a writer.

First person also lends itself to a lot of just telling, and readers want to be shown, not told. When too much of a story is just told, it's harder to relate to the characters and be drawn into the book. And of course, first person has a limited perspective. It is much harder to show the big picture and what is really happening.

In first person, the story tends to either bog down with the narrator's emotions and be moody or become too bland with the narrator just observing others. Either way, it keeps the story from moving forward. I read almost 300 books a year, and in all the years I've been reading, I have only had one or two books I thought worked it first person. It is a difficult form to execute well and a hard style for me to appreciate.

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