When I had the idea for my new novel, Life
and Death in Venice, it was inspired by a short story that I wrote 20 years
ago based on my first experience in Venice. That story – about the Grim Reaper
stalking gondola riders – was in third person. None of that story appears in my
new book, although the Grim Reaper does pop into the narrative here and there.
I began wondering what point of view I was going to
use. Most readers may not even think about POV when reading a book, but it
is something that nags at writers like me. It is an enormously important choice
because it will make the difference in how the story is accepted and enjoyed by
readers.
Third Person
As I began writing the first chapter, I started off in
third person. There were going to be many characters in the book, so I figured
it would be good for me to be able to delve into the thoughts of numerous people
– this is called omniscient third person. Let’s look at the first paragraph of
the novel in third person.
Bobby was a writer. He loved writing,
and that was why he hated it. Now, he was living in Venice, Italy. Bobby hated
Venice, and that was why he loved it. There was something for a writer there
that was palpable as the murky waters of the canals. At night there was a
shroud around every lamppost and a specter on every bridge over the canals as
life passed by in the gondolas below. Working to alert the Grim Reaper, they
waited patiently to collect those whose time will eventually come.
After writing the first chapter, I
sat back and read it over repeatedly. Something bothered me about it. Yes, I
wanted the book to be written in omniscient third person, but something felt
off to me. The whole story was not going to work this way. Then I had I little
flash of what I thought was a brilliant idea.
Second Person
I remembered reading short stories by Edgar Allan Poe (“The
Tell Tale Heart”) and Jamaica Kincaid (“Girl”). Poe’s story went back and forth
from first to second person, while Kincaid’s piece was totally in second
person. I really liked both stories, so I figured I would try it and hope that
I would feel better about how it worked.
You are a writer. You love writing,
and that is why you hate it. Now, you are living in Venice, Italy. You hate
Venice, and that is why you love it. There is something for you here that is
palpable as the murky waters of the canals. At night there is a shroud around
every lamppost and a specter on every bridge over the canals as life passes by
in the gondolas below. Working to alert the Grim Reaper, they wait patiently to
collect those whose time will eventually come.
I changed the pronouns in the first
chapter and read it over. I wanted to like it; I wanted it to feel different
and wonderful and breathtakingly unique but, as with other things in my writing
life, I was not happy with it. The prose seemed forced or even an attempt to be
different just for the sake of being different. I honestly could not imagine having
to read an entire book in that POV, and if I could not how could I expect the
reader to want to read it?
First Person
In my last novel, Unicorn:
A Love Story, I wrote in third person POV. In that case it worked well
for me because there were three main characters. Their lives go in unique
trajectories, with them living on different continents, and it felt right to
use the third person omniscient narrator because it worked for me. I had toyed
with the three main characters telling their chapters in first person, but it
did not feel right.
I have written books in first person
POV before, so that was not an issue, but when I started this book, I was
concerned about all the other characters’ points of view, but I figured I would
try it in the first chapter and see how it felt.
I am a writer. I love writing, and that
is why I hate it. Now, I am living in Venice, Italy. I hate Venice, and that is
why I love it. There is something for a writer here that is palpable as the
murky waters of the canals. At night there is a shroud around every lamppost
and a specter on every bridge over the canals as life passes by in the gondolas
below. Working to alert the Grim Reaper, they wait patiently to collect those
whose time will eventually come.
When I read it over a few times, it
felt right to me. Despite all the other characters, the book is really Bobby’s
story. Because of what happens in his life, he has no choice but to tell this
story. He must get it out because if he kept it all inside of him it would
eventually explode and harm him emotionally.
First person POV allows the writer to
make the story more personal, which I tried to do in this book. Even during conversations,
Bobby will let the reader know how he feels about the people involved. His
honest reactions to people and events make the story more intimate, and I hope this
enhances his personality.
Hesitancy to Use First Person
Why, you may ask, was I hesitant to
use the first person POV? Well, the answer goes back to Poe again. In that
amazing story “The Tell Tale Heart,” the first person narrator is very
unreliable. He talks about hearing things in hell and the sound of an old man’s
heart from across a room. He also describes how he killed the man, dismembered
his body, and did all of this in a few hours before the police came. None of this
seems remotely plausible. If you cannot trust the narrator, how can you accept
the story?
Like a Camera
My decision to go forward with the first
person POV in the novel was reached when I realized that I would make Bobby
like a camera. He would record everything that he saw with accuracy. He would
comment on the people in each scene, describe them, and relate dialogue
accurately. I wanted Bobby’s narration to be brutally honest – especially when
it came to himself.
Bobby disparages himself throughout
the novel, even causing Paula to tell him to lighten up. He cannot help himself
because he takes full blame for the mistakes that he has made, and he makes
many of them. In accepting his failures, I wanted him to look in the mirror and
be honest about himself.
Final Thoughts
When I finished writing the book, I sat
back and took a deep breath. I read it over again and believed that Bobby’s
story was told the right way. He became so real in my mind that at times he would
push back at me. I heard him saying, “I would never say that” or “I would never
do that.” I had no choice but to listen to him.
So, I believe the story is the way
it should be because Bobby told it in his first person POV. I was just the one
who wrote down the words.
