Lee Child\'s "Personal" and a question for readers

Grey Colson

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I have almost polished off Lee Child’s recent Jack Reacher offering, “Personal”. Once again, he did not disappoint. Something obvious came to mind as I was reading and if memory serves, Child has written all his work in the “first person”.

I have written both books in the “third person”. One of the difficulties I had to overcome, with a little assistance from my publisher, was to make certain that the perspective in each scene or section was consistent. For obvious reasons it can be confusing to readers if the perspective in an isolated scene switches from one person to another. Those of you who are readers can relate.

Before writing the first book I did a little research about perspective and both sides of the argument. I decided to write in third person because it allows the differing perspectives of other actors in the story. The down side of that decision was that I had to do a LOT of work and be very careful NOT to allow the perspective to change.

I am curious to know if you like the books you read to be written in the third or first person or does it even matter or have you even noticed?

I’m seriously considering writing Mosquito Lagoon – Code 3 in first person
 
I actually like both if done consistently. I agree, it gets confusing when switching back and forth in the same read. I also agree with your idea of changing it for your upcoming Code 3 as it allows you to grow as a Righter writer. It's a gamble but could pay off for you in the long run. It would probably create more work for you though since it would be a completely new perspective but I like the idea.
 
J-man said:
I actually like both if done consistently. I agree, it gets confusing when switching back and forth in the same read. I also agree with your idea of changing it for your upcoming Code 3 as it allows you to grow as a Righter writer. It's a gamble but could pay off for you in the long run. It would probably create more work for you though since it would be a completely new perspective but I like the idea.

Thanks, J-man. I'm going to try it and see if it works for me. :thumbsup
 
I'm also good with either approach.

First person, to me, gets confusing when you have too many characters. Or, there isn't sufficient character development to identify the "person" who is now the focus. Basically if a new chapter opens with the character name, and I can't remember what this character is, then it doesn't work. Or, it it takes a few pages to figure it out.
 
MacDaddy said:
I'm also good with either approach.

First person, to me, gets confusing when you have too many characters. Or, there isn't sufficient character development to identify the "person" who is now the focus. Basically if a new chapter opens with the character name, and I can't remember what this character is, then it doesn't work. Or, it it takes a few pages to figure it out.

I can see where that could happen. Child seems to do it well in the Reacher books, but the stories have to stay pretty linear. There's really no jumping in the next segment to what another character is doing or thinking or plotting. It may not work for me :dunno
 
I like either. Sometimes the plot dictates which writing style works best.

The only book I've read that I have a problem with the way it was written was the third book of the Divergent series, because it is written in first person, but it changes throughout the book from the point of view of both of the main characters. I became confused often about whose perspective I was reading.
 
WAIT...one minute here. Are you saying that people read books?

I always thought they were to make the bookshelf look good.
 
I like both first and third. It really depends on the book. I have read some that I thought the other perspective would have made the novel better.
 
I prefer third person. Unless the internal thoughts of the main character are important to the story, third person is just less distracting to me.

A good first person story really means crawling inside that character's head. Unless that is important to the story, it's just annoying. In the case of a character who dies in the end, it's misleading. Of course, since Mr. Colson will be retiring to Slope County North Dakota, I know he's not going to die yet.

But the beauty of this is it's one squirrel's opinion!
 
I'm Floored said:
I like either. Sometimes the plot dictates which writing style works best.

The only book I've read that I have a problem with the way it was written was the third book of the Divergent series, because it is written in first person, but it changes throughout the book from the point of view of both of the main characters. I became confused often about whose perspective I was reading.
I flew through the first book in that series -found it entertaining. But book two was a struggle and I gave up. I got about 1/4 way through. It was a struggle.

Sorry about the hijack.


I like either perspective, really, provided it's done well.
 
Waski_the_Squirrel said:
I prefer third person. Unless the internal thoughts of the main character are important to the story, third person is just less distracting to me.

A good first person story really means crawling inside that character's head. Unless that is important to the story, it's just annoying. In the case of a character who dies in the end, it's misleading. Of course, since Mr. Colson will be retiring to Slope County North Dakota, I know he's not going to die yet.

But the beauty of this is it's one squirrel's opinion!

It was 70 dgrees yesterday and Mrs. Colson was sitting in her living room chair with a blanket across her lap. I'm certain you are thinking about a different Mrs. Colson :whistle :laugh
 
ShoeDiva said:
I like both first and third. It really depends on the book. I have read some that I thought the other perspective would have made the novel better.

I suspect it does depend a lot on the story. I know you read the Reacher series and like it like I do. It works for Child, but I think I'm close to talking myself out of trying with the Colson stuff. I guess if it's not broken, I reckon I shouldn't fix it. 8)
 
It's not that confusing, here is a perfect example: "When he was a child, my best friend was his puppy, Spot. He would greet him at the bus stop everyday as I stepped off his bus. What a great friend I had."

:coffeespit
 
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