I know I discussed this subject recently, but I have been giving it more thought. Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of Bombshell books and I can’t believe how much voice matters in them. I’ll admit most of the books I’ve picked up have been written in first person. I didn’t choose them for that reason. I picked them based on back cover blurbs. (Yes, I’m a blurb slut.) The difference between authors is striking (at least in the books I’ve read). Let me explain.
When I pick up a book written in third person for the most part I’m reading for the story, not the voice. If you can tell a decent story, I’m hooked. I can’t say the same thing about a book written in first person. For some reason, the ‘voice’ in first person books comes through like a stereo cranked to ear bleed levels. Some make you want to bang your head to the music, while others make you clutch your ears and run screaming from the room.
What I’m realizing is that first person is much harder to write than third. Let me correct that by saying ‘write well’. I know reading and writing is subjective. I really do. I’m just shocked that I don’t give a first person book the same fifty pages that I allot to third person novels. (I give most books fifty pages to grab me before I put them down. Years ago I’d read the entire book whether I hated it or not.)
As a reader, how many pages do you give a book before you put it down and never finish it? If not pages, do you have a different yardstick to measure a book? Or do you always finish books that you buy?
September 13th, 2005
Bad first person is just …well…BAD! I think it’s worse than bad third person because it can be very jarring!(IE your stero analogy) It’s hard work to make 1st person look effortless.
As a reader I read until I don’t pick it up anymore. I have one at about page 85 or so that I have no desire to finish because it irritates me (btw it’s not the greatest first person I ever read). I have another, also first person, that’s at about page 200 or so. I could care less if I finish it. It’s not BAD it’s just not good enough to make me finish it =(
The last book I finished was third person =)
by Cece September 13th, 2005 at 5:48 pmIf the beginning doesn’t get me, I leap to the middle. If the middle still doesn’t do it, I read the end. If the end works, I’ll try to start from the beginning, knowing the payoff is worth it. If the end sucks (and this happens more than it should) I give it away.
by Sylvia Day September 13th, 2005 at 5:48 pmCece, That’s interesting that you leave the books at whatever page you stop. If I made it that far, I’d probably just read the end and then get rid of it. You’re right that it takes skill to make first person look effortless.
by Jordan September 13th, 2005 at 6:03 pmSyl, I never thought about skipping to the middle, but I have read the end of books I can’t finish just so I know what happens. I recently read the end of a book in the bookstore and decided against purchasing it because of how the author closed the novel. I normally don’t do that, but I was so undecided I made an exception. I could tell by the ending that I wouldn’t be happy with the book.
by Jordan September 13th, 2005 at 6:06 pmI may go 20 pgs or so, tops, from the beginning.
If it doesn’t grab me, I’ll skim a bit.
If it still doesn’t grab me, I don’t read it. Life is too short.
by raine September 13th, 2005 at 7:18 pmI used to read the whole thing, bad or not. Now…I don’t really have a page limit, but I try to give it at least 3 chapters. Who has time to read bad books?
by Amy September 13th, 2005 at 8:41 pmHmm…
I don’t usually like do read first person, and as a writer, writing in first is like…I guess, for me, it’d be second only to writer’s block in the writer’s hell sweepstakes.
I used to read to the end, but I just don’t have that kind of free time any more.
by May September 13th, 2005 at 9:25 pmMost of the time I’ll finish a book regardless. But, and you knew there’d be a but, lately there have been several that I didnt get past the first 30 or so pages. I’m not sure why so many in the last 6 months. I don’t think my criteria has changed, but I have gotten more “bad” stories lately
by Sharon September 14th, 2005 at 6:08 amI don’t skip but I do skim. Interesting sidenote…both the books I didn’t finish had lots of the writer sorta writing in circles…Neither story was terribly linear. Hmmmmmm
by Cece September 14th, 2005 at 6:42 amI’m pretty brutal when it comes to finishing books. I don’t care whether it’s first or third at all. If I’ve already figured out what’s going to happen when I’m a few chapters in, the book is gone. If the characters don’t grab me right away, out it goes. The longer I write, the more critical I am.
by Jo Leigh September 14th, 2005 at 7:23 amRaine, I’ll have to try skimming to see if that works. I read so incredibly slow that I can’t invest the time into a bad book.
by Jordan September 14th, 2005 at 10:38 amAmy, At least you give the book 50 or 60 pages before you stop reading. I suppose chapter three is about what I give them too.
by Jordan September 14th, 2005 at 10:40 amMay, I used to be like that too. Lately, some of the story ideas I’ve come up with have been in first person. That’s not to say I won’t change it later. I’m just going with what the characters give me.
It takes a strong voice to keep me reading a first person book.
by Jordan September 14th, 2005 at 10:41 amSharon, I’ve been feeling the same way. It’s been incredibly hard to sit down with a new book and make it past the third chapter. Not sure what’s up with that. I know it’s frustrating. I find myself reading old favorites instead of finishing the new books in my TBR pile.
by Jordan September 14th, 2005 at 10:43 amCece, Sounds like a style issue.
by Jordan September 14th, 2005 at 10:44 amJo, I’m definitely getting more critical of the stuff I read. I think my biggest problem with not being able to finish the books is the waste of money. It makes me feel horrible that I’ve spent cash on stuff I’m not going to be able to use.
by Jordan September 14th, 2005 at 10:47 amI think the way I decide upon finishing a book, or giving it a chance is this: HOW MANY PAGES I READ with my first “sitting” with the book will usually tell me if it’s gonna work for me. If it works, I can’t stop reading and usually devour 100 pages!!!!!!!! If I am “trying” to “give the book a chance” I will pick it up, read 20 pages, toss it aside, pick it up, do the same thing over, by then, if I am not devouring pages, I am not gonna finish the book and it has lost me..
I tend to be a quick reader, I olose the thread if I do too many sittings with one book..
MADDIE
by Maddie September 14th, 2005 at 12:26 pmHmmm. Not any set number of pages. When I realize I haven’t picked the book up in days, I know it isn’t holding my interest, whether that’s 20 pages in or 100.
by Suzanne September 14th, 2005 at 12:54 pmMaddie, It sounds like you’re willing to give the book multiple tries. I think I probably would too IF I read faster.
by Jordan September 14th, 2005 at 2:34 pmSuzanne, Good point. I have A LOT of those type of books lying around. :-/
by Jordan September 14th, 2005 at 2:35 pmSuzanne said that so much better than I did but that’s what I was trying to say LOL
by Cece September 14th, 2005 at 5:53 pmThat’s funny. I’m most comfortable writing in first person. I find third person much trickier, for myself.
Voice is important to me in a book. I need to be hooked and stay hooked, because I get bored very easily.
by Trace September 15th, 2005 at 9:30 amTrace, A gnat has a longer attention span than I do. LOL! It’s great that we’re all different when it comes to the writing.
I agree that the voice has to grab you and keep you reading. That’s why these books have disappointed me so.
by Jordan September 15th, 2005 at 11:53 amI’m as bad as agents, I give a book only a few pages to hook me with something. That will say, I must not love the thing to pieces with the first paragraphs, but there must be an element, a character, setting, language, whatever that piques my interest to read further. Sometimes, if the element that kept me going isn’t strong enough to carry me through, or to outweigh the negative stuff, the book will still end back on the shelves.
Kushiel’s Dart, my current read, is one of these. I didn’t care about Phdre and I still don’t, but I love the language, the world and the intrigues. Halfway through the book I decided to buy the other two as well. I don’t love the book (like I fe. love Lord of the Rings or Rosemary Sutcliff’s historical novels) but I find it interesting. And it’s written in first person, btw.
by Gabriele September 15th, 2005 at 2:06 pmOuch, somehow a few words got lost there:
Kushiel’s Dart, my current read, is one of those that made it through the test.
by Gabriele September 15th, 2005 at 2:08 pmI keep reading them, hoping they will improve. Though since this latest book I’m reading is boring me to tears, I just may have to put it down. Tired of giving up my valuable reading time for books that just aren’t worth it.
I generally like first person books (tho third is my fav). Recently I read a book where she flipped between first (heroine) and third (hero), and I enjoyed the story more when it was told from third person. Not only that, I think it must have been her first attempt at first. It felt like a broken record, “I this and I that”, drove me insane!
by Peggy September 15th, 2005 at 2:23 pmGabriele, It’s interesting that you kept reading even though you’re not fond of the character. It says a lot about the author’s writing.
by Jordan September 15th, 2005 at 5:41 pmPeggy, I used to do that too, but I don’t anymore. I’m not going to force myself to finish a book when there are so many good books out there waiting to be read.
I’ll say it again, good first person writing takes serious skill. *g*
by Jordan September 15th, 2005 at 5:43 pmPeggy, was that Talyn by Holly Lisle? Because I’ve have heard others saying they had problems with the shifts, too.
by Gabriele September 16th, 2005 at 10:40 amPeggy you’re scaring me LOL I just sold a book written in first and third
by Cece September 17th, 2005 at 8:22 am