First person narration, but what about the other person?

[AG31]

Now that I understand that you were not asking the question from the perspective of an author who does write opposite gender first person narratives, I'll answer again. F

We've often talked about this as writers, but where does the reader fit? How does a woman relate to the male me in a first person male narrative? And to stretch the discussion, what happens in the reader's mind when a male writer writes as a first person female character

For me the grammatical person of the story doesn't make any difference. I'm not the MC in a first person narrative. I'm just listening to them think, the same way I do with a third person narrative.

(which I've done a few times).

Further down the thread you seem to say you've only written one such story. Did I misunderstand?

 

[ElectricBlue]

That wasn't directed at you. It was a general statement.

Thank you for that clarification. As the OP of this thread, that's appreciated.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Further down the thread you seem to say you've only written one such story. Did I misunderstand?

I write close third person a lot, which for me is getting in just as close to a character as first person does - in the context of this discussion, into the minds of the women in my stories. I suspect I use close third as a way of getting around whatever it is I'm puzzling at, and it was those stories I was thinking off.

You're right, I think Seventy Thirty is the only first person story I've written where "I" is a woman.

I also suspect, for me, that this literary intrigue has more to do with the Jungian idea of anima and animus, an expression of a feminine self, than anything else. I know that's an undercurrent in many of my stories, even more so in private writing (that occasionally sees the light of day).

I'd like to thank everyone who's contributed to this thread - there's been some thoughtful commentary and it's all been remarkably civilised.

 

[ZenCricket]

I guess there is a difference between writing a first person story and reading one. When I read a first person story, I imagine I am being told a story by the person involved from their point of view. When writing a first person story, I imagine that I am the person telling the story. When I read one the gender or experience of the narrator does not get internalized any differently than a third person story; I receive it as told. In either case, the story comes from outside my own point of view. Not the case when trying to imagine the point of view of a character that I am creating. Then it comes from an internal point of view as I 'become' my character. That brings in all kinds of imagined experience because I am not female nor a cowboy nor an elf nor an alien11111...

 

[Rob_Royale]

I did a trilogy in switch-first person. Which I think is self explanatory and over all it worked rather well, I thought. I got very few complaints.