I'm going to do a little craft spiel. I'm not sure readers will find this interesting, but maybe writers will?
Apparently, there are a lot of first person books out there now. I'm not a fan of first person--not as a reader and not as a writer. The problem is all the usage of the word I. It grates on me.
But there was a free book deal with one of my jams--I love the friends to lovers trope--so I decided to give it another try. This sat for a while before I had time to get to it, so this isn't a recent book. (And no, I will not reveal the title or author.)
And I found something else to frustrate the hell out of me as a reader. Actually, I can probably separate it out into two things.
First, neither the hero nor heroine had a strong enough voice to carry the narrative. And second, both characters read exactly alike. I couldn't see any difference between their voices, not even a little bit.
The one craft thing I've heard over and over about first person books is that the Point of View (POV) character needs to have a strong voice. If both the h/h are POV characters, then both need strong, distinct voices.
This book I tried to read seriously would have done better in third person POV.
I will admit to being a picky reader. I tend to analyze what I read and that does mean the author has to overcome my editor brain. This also gives me trouble watching movies and TV shows because I'm constantly studying what the screenwriter did. I had another writer tell me years ago that this phase would pass, but it hasn't. I'm still constantly analyzing everything I read or watch. So, like I said, it makes the bar harder to get over. And I pick apart my own writing even more intently!
And now I want to experiment. Could I write a first person story with both h/h as POV characters and pull it off? It would take the right two characters because I don't want them to sound a like and they should have an interesting voice.
The second question is do I want to even try? First of all, I have enough other stories I want to write. Secondly, while I wrote part of a short story in first person (BLOOD FEUD), I seriously do not like first person. The only reason BLOOD FEUD is partly first person is because Isobel insisted. But despite all this, the idea of trying has lingered in my brain. Maybe it goes nowhere and I scrap it, but maybe it could be fun?
