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Topic : Re: What makes first person plural a tricky narrative voice? I absolutely loved Joshua Ferris's debut novel Then We Came to the End. Critics highly praised his use for the first person plural - selfpublishingguru.com

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Personally, I'd never break out of it, since that would probably jolt the reader the most.

Individual thought would have to be avoided, or self-interest, or anything that would separate an individual out of that group.

The biggest problem is the same as with first-person singular: just as you can't have scenes in which the first-person singular character is not present, you can't have scenes where the whole group, or at least most of it is not present. Which could be rather tricky and limiting to the plot.

Of course it's harder writing in first-person plural, just as it's hard writing in second-person, but that doesn't mean it should be avoided at all cost. I've read some pretty good stories in second-person (stories that won Nebulas and similar prizes). It's much easier to mess it up though, you really need to know what you are doing. I'd recommend not attempting it before you can do first-person singular well.


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