In the first Part of this blog on writing fantasy fiction in the first person, I looked at how a first-person narrator lends itself to more intimate and more immediate story-telling than the more grandiose scope and scale common to fantasy as a genre.
In this part, I’ll look a bit more at why the subjectivity of first-person narration is what makes this approach sing.
Through the Lens
Maybe what I love most about first-person narrators is that they give character to the act of story-telling itself. The story itself has a voice, a style, a vibe. To really take advantage of first person, the narrative voice needs to be distinct, to sound - not just read - like a real person. Some first-person authors don't make use of this. Their narrators feel as detached as a third-person narrator would - which defeats the purpose. Make your narrative voice the voice of a person, with all their idiosyncrasies and oddities coming through.
This is one of the most important elements of first-person writing - what we might call the 'lens' approach. Regardless of whether it’s first of third person, your narrator is the lens through which the reader sees the world. Even if they’re not always in the action, develop the character of your narrator in the same way as you'd develop any other major character. What are their ambitions, their fears, their immediate and long-term needs? What makes them happy, makes them laugh, makes them despair, makes them get out of bed in the morning? What do they know of the world? What do they accept and what do they reject?
Answer all these questions then use these answers to form the lens through which your narrator views and experiences their adventures. This is not omniscient third-person stuff, no god's-eye view, but events seen through the eyes of a fallible, imperfect, human being. Make sure the reader knows this and have fun playing with it. If the voice is strong enough, your reader will understand everything is filtered and will enjoy this subjectivity. They know your story-teller hates spiders, fears magic, loves cake, and so on. So when the narrator is confronted with the magic spider cake, the reader is right there with them.
At the same time, having a strong character for your first-person voice helps the reader grow with the narrator. It's a lot of fun for the reader to know the narrator is scared to death of spiders, but it's even better for the reader to have been there in Book One when the narrator first got that fear and then to see the looming horror of the spider-devil in Book Three. This comes back to the idea that first-person really helps the connection between story and reader. And don’t forget how well first-person works with your narrator’s own motivations and fears, not just of spiders but of making mistakes, of choosing between what is right and what is necessary, of facing the danger and running away.
By letting the reader into their world in this way, the narrator should be like a familar friend, a confidante. We enjoy their story because we know them, have expectations about how they will react, when they will run and when they'll be brave. I’m not saying all of of this isn’t done in traditional third-person stories too, but combining the intimacy, immediacy and distinct character of the first-person makes the reader more complicit, more a part of the action and its consequences.
Taking control
Be warned: first-person narratives often fall into passivity. It’s all too easy to forever be doing stuff to the narrator, making them the constant victim, pushed here and there by the plot, and simply telling the reader what was done to them. In stories like this, the narrator has no agency and so no real effect on the outcome. This is fine as far as it goes, but not only does it become tedious for the reader but it doesn't take advantage of the power of first-person story-telling. It's something you have to consider when putting together your story - will your narrator be part of the plot or just a witness to it? If it's the second of these, then you have to ask why first-person is the right voice. Only use the first-person narrative voice when there are clear story-telling advantages to doing so.
The best way to do this is to make your narrator a protagonist. Their decisions and their actions - as well as their personality, their hopes and ambitions - should directly push the plot along, should always be part of the drive of the story. Their actions and their attitudes have to matter. The switch from passivity to agency is itself a hugely effective story beat. The moment when your narrator goes from being pushed around, unable to change anything, to making choices and taking actions that actually move the plot along is immensely powerful.
This works really well for narrators who have seen something of the world. I've already touched on how well first-person can work for the innocent in a big, bad world but a more experienced narrator can be just as effective as they enter the world of the story more fully-formed. They know how they'll react to pressures, to danger, to opportunities - or they think they do - and they have knowledge of the world they can share with the reader and *use* to move the plot along. Consider the difference between the events of Star Wars Episode IV as told by Luke and then by Han or Leia. Each story would have a very different subjectivity, view the galaxy and those adventures from a very different but no less enlightening perspective. The hero and narrator of my stories, Will, has seen a good deal of the world and thinks he knows it all, but is constantly getting himself in trouble and learning new stuff. It's important to me that Will is always being challenged, not just in terms of danger or mystery, but challenges that force him to ask questions about himself.
You can go the other way of course, and give your narrator too much control. In other words, avoid wish-fulfillment. It's all too easy to Mary-Sue the hell out of your first-person narrator, giving them all the big speeches, the most heroic moments, and the wittiest one-liners, because you want revenge on the world for not recognising your genius. I feel your pain, but make sure you share the glory across your characters and remember - all these achievements are filtered through the lens of your narrator, so they're never away from the action, they're always present in some way. Just don't try to make them the hero of every single moment.
What do you think?
I hope this has been helpful or at least interesting. It’s just a few thoughts put down, hopefully with something that you maybe hadn’t thought of before. So what’s been your experience as a reader or as a writer? Where did I get it wrong (or right)? And who are the best exponents of first-person fantasy? Let me know.
Links
Problems and Promises of First-Person Fantasy