Writing in the 3rd Person

A Blank White Page has been toying with the idea of writing in the third person.  Her reasons for this are as follows:

1 – ABWP sometimes feels that the author of this blog is actually a separate person from her daytime alter-ego, so writing in the 3rd person seems natural.

2 – ABWP is currently writing a MS in the 1st person, so she’d like to keep her 3rd person writing skills fresh.

3 – Variety is the spice of life (yes, ABWP occasionally has VODKA with her tonic.  Sometimes she even has a pint!  She is a wild, adventurous soul!)

ABWP is interested in the effect this has on writing.  Her first MS was written in the 3rd person, but she has chosen 1st person for her current WIP.  She finds this quite limiting–but also quite exciting!  The intimacy!  The direct-line into the mind of the character!  But also only ONE character and perspective!

What think you, blogger-friends?  Do you prefer to read (or write) in one or the other?  What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

Editorial Ass just announced the AWESOMEST CONTEST EVER!

Okay, if you’re trying to write a book, this is a MUST.  Pop over to Moonrat’s blog for details on how to enter to win a crit of the first 20 pages of your MS — or even your WIP–as long as you’re 20 pages in.

Feel like I should write something more, but this is SO AMAZING that anything else would be anticlimactic.

Have you gone to Moonrat’s blog yet?  Deadline is 11pm EST tonight (think that equates to 4am tomorrow morning for us Londoners), so off you go…

“Oh, you should write about (insert random event)…”

Recently Bethany made a comment on one of my posts highlighting how this hated phrase (Oh, you should write about…) suggests that we writers are often confused with stenographers.  Oh, how very true.  Does this happen to anyone else?

Here’s the scenario:

You’re in a bar, enjoying your very first delicious gin&tonic (Tanqueray with cucumber, which came only after a fifteen-minute discussion with the bartender, where you had to explain that you know it’s Hendrick’s that’s supposed to be served with cucumber, but you really, really like Tanqueray with cucumber and couldn’t they drop a slice of cucumber into your drink instead of a lime wedge since you can see the sliced cucumber and it’s sitting right next to the sliced lime), when you mention very vaguely (because God knows you want to avoid the “Oh, I’m thinking of writing a book too…” debacle) that you are a writer.

Big mistake.

“Oh, really?”  comes the response.  “You should write about (insert random event that means absolutely nothing to anyone beyond the parties involved).”

Huh.

Well, gee, thanks for the suggestion.  Since I am a writer, I MUST be all out of ideas.  I’ll get right on that.  I’ll just forget about that half a manuscript I’m desperately trying to finish while holding a full-time day job.  Clearly I should be writing a play-by-play of my day instead.

My gin&tonic is now gone.  Another discussion with the bartender ensues.

Halfway through this second drink I am usually able to casually say, “Oh, that’s a good idea.  Maybe I will.”

And maybe I actually will write about how pee rained from the office ceiling today (okay, that’s a bad example, as that was pretty funny), but chances are that it’s gonna be a lot lower on my priority list than that half-manuscript I’ve been toiling over for the last two years.

And sometimes it ends there, and I have a third drink, and all is well.  Other times, however, I get this:

“It’d make a great novel.”

Pause.

MASSIVE HEAD EXPLOSION!!!

No, it would NOT make a great novel.  It has to be fiction to be a novel.  And it can’t be fiction because it ACTUALLY HAPPENED.  It wasn’t even a good story.  I HAVE an idea for a great novel.  I’ve spent TWO YEARS trying to turn said idea into a great novel.  I have enough ideas.  What I need is to produce a great novel.  Believe me, you do NOT want to have a discussion about the difficulties of producing a great novel.  Or even a good-enough-to-be-published novel.

Lets discuss the merits of cucumber as a garnish for a Tanqueray&Tonic instead.

Why copywriting is a great day job for an aspiring author—No. 2

Okay, this probably should have been number one, but here goes:

Practice

The more you write, the better you get.  Simple.

I used to work as a barmaid.  Loads of friends suggested that this should provide me with great inspiration for writing.  Nope.  All I gained working in a bar was an intolerance for the words “Oy, Luv!” and an affinity for gin.

Mixing drinks taught me to mix better drinks.  Writing teaches me to write better.

I often forget how lucky I am to have a day job that allows me to write every day.  Even better, it also provides the occasional opportunity to write something creative.  Pretty sweet deal, when I think about it.

Write for Your Life has a great new post on this here.