The Internet is full of champions for first person point-of-view, and a fair bit of insistence that no YA book in third person will ever get published*. To be clear, I get that first person has an immediacy to it that is particularly appealing to YA audiences and lends itself to “voice-y” writing. All of that is awesome, and I think it’s great to have all the POVs (even 3rd omniscient!) in books. Variety is a good thing. I just wanted to take a moment to share what I love about third person limited.
Third person provides by far the most immersive reading experience for me, personally. When reading in third, I can imagine myself in the narrative, seeing the story through the protagonist’s eyes. On the other hand, when the protagonist is “I”, it’s not me. It’s someone talking to me. The character is vividly themselves, and that unavoidable not-me-ness is itself a barrier for putting myself in the story. Along the same lines, I find an irritating or angsty character to be extra irritating in first person because the voice is so strong. My hypothesis is that third is more immersive into the world and/or external conflict, while first has the ability to really showcase a great character. Though if an entire cast of characters is fascinating, I think that also swings towards third person. POV says something about scope and focus, and I wonder if my preference was influenced by reading a ton of epic fantasy as a kind.
To be honest, I’m also not someone who sees a great divide between so-called character-driven and plot-driven fiction. I subscribe to the philosophy that character in conflict IS story. So perhaps the tradeoff between first and third person is more about where you fall on the spectrum of immediacy to immersivity.
Just thinking aloud here.
In other news, I finished watching season six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer this weekend. I was thrilled by the penultimate episode, and the promise that Giles was going to go postal on Willow. But what really struck me about the finale was Xander’s Samwise Gamgee moment, in which his loyalty superpower saves the day. And how not so many episodes ago, he left Anya at the alter–a loyalty low-point. Nice reversal. I had a lot of fun recasting this entire season in terms of Xander’s arc.
And finally, word count metrics!
I didn’t exactly hit my goal of 6k words this week, but I’m within 40 words, which I’m not going to sweat.
* Post updated with footnote for clarity: all the books I just linked are indeed YA told in 3rd person POV.
This is exactly my issue with 1st and 3rd person POVs, and I think is why for me YA has this sameness to it which is exactly what I don’t look for in a book. (But I don’t appear to have the same issue with non-YA 1st person book but it tends to be the odd duck anyhow.)
Also, high fives on wordage!
Oh, I’m so glad to know I’m not alone–or crazy! We can be crazy together.
Sometimes I wonder if the 1st person trend in YA isn’t changing a bit. I feel like maybe half of the books I’ve picked up over the past year have been in 3rd, and I wasn’t selecting the books based on POV at all, just what looked interesting. Though I recognize my experience in this regard absolutely pales compared to the more voracious readers out there.
I also enjoy adult 1st person just fine, though the books that immediately spring to mind are more literary (I wish I were home so I could steal over to my bookshelf for examples). I wonder if it has to do with the breadth of the protagonist’s life experience coloring the narrative and/or a more nuanced worldview? Dunno…
Though to be absolutely fair, another contributing factor may be my preference for interior monologue to be on the restrained side, and it’s totally possible to go overboard in either 1st or 3rd in that respect. First person doesn’t require the author to spend all their time instead the character’s headspace–it just seems to be a common style choice in YA.
Oh man, thanks so much for your comment! You’ve inspired me to ponder this more deeply.
Just chiming in to say I concur 1000% regarding POV.
Thanks for your comment, Douglas!