In First Person pov and conflict. Having trouble.

[carole gill]

Yes, there are some great books written in first person pov. i accept that. but in my novel which is about a female private detective in the late 1940's, i want a dark, brooding, sexy novel--and I want to show conflict. a lot of it.
i've written it two ways. third person and first. I find it easier to show conflict in third person.
the problem is: i want to go with first person pov, because I think it's better for this particular story with this particular heroine. any suggestions?

[carole gill]

thanks that's so true. I have a lot of conflict in my storyline--it's just in first person, I find I'm hesitant about how to write it up. in other words, it comes out better in third person. but i'm feeling my way around.. and will get there. I love James Patterson's books. thanks so much for your reply.

[Angie]

Jim Thompson's THE KILLER INSIDE ME is full of conflict (and an unreliable narrator).

Bruen's Jack Taylor series are first person (THE GUARDS, PRIEST, etc.)- can't say the protag isn't in conflict about/with much of anything!

[terry bowman]

The Killer Inside Me is an absolute classic.

[carole gill]

sounds like it would be. thanks terry.

[carole gill]

ooh, unrelieable narrator! I love that. thanks. duly noted!

[carole gill]

let's see if I can explain it. It's probably me being nutty. but i'll try. okay, I have this heroine. she's bitter about her past. she's had a lot of trauma happen to her. now if she's telling the story as it were in first person--she's basically moving around along with the current action. and so much of her angst doesn't come out. but if it's all in third person, it does. because when I write third person--i'm writing more about the action and characters. when I'm writing first i'm writing scaled down action. do you see what I mean? i think it's me--being too scared or something, i have to just keep going with it and doing it. first person narrative is bit new to me--me writing that is.

[carole gill]

joyce, thank you! you're right. yesterday i went on a third person tangent and saw it didn't work right. (same scene, same action, today--)--I started with the first person and it's sounding right! i completely agree with you. just under 2,000 words in the chapter today and I like it. I'm not going to marry it or anything or not see it's faults--but i basically like it! thanks again!

[Dana King]

It depends on whether you want to show her angst through internal monolog, or through actions (and dialog). You may have to try a few key scenes both ways and see which works better. First person is good because every word describes the narrator in some way, if only by showing what she notices and thinks is worth mentioning. On the other hand, in first person, the reader can never know anything the narrator doesn't know (and, with rare exceptions, vice versa), so some tension may be harder to build.

Did I come down on both sides firmly enough for you?

[carole gill]

absolutely! I think you're the only one who did. I also don't think my initial question was clear--that is what I was getting at. you hit it on the head thank you so much, Dana. that's what I'll be working on--

[carole gill]

very good. by the way, how's buddy? I think about him a lot. now then, I love role playing! suits the old ham in me. I went to Drama school a hundred years ago when I was young, and enjoy reading stuff out loud. good suggestion. and why not be arrested?! John and the puppies and their mom could always bring me a file! (sp?)

[carole gill]

kisses to Buddy. God, how do you manage lugging him? it must be playing hell with your back!