Thank you Iago. :D

nomad1328's A Brutal Precadent is an incredible fic where the first person POV is essential. In the story, House has a concussion so you can't totally trust the events as he sees them because you only have as much information as House remembers (which is hardly anything at first). It illustrates that for a first person POV to work, there has to be something inherent to the story that requires knowing the character's exact thoughts.

Never let it be said that we don't know our literary refs here, & not just bookish theoric either. ;D Okay, I'll have to try nomad's fic again, that's one of the recent ones that I found troublesome to read because of my discomfort with the POV. The intimacy issue is one I find interesting - House isn't the kind of character I associate with being that open, Wilson & Chase either. Probably the only House character I think I can envision in this POV is Cameron & not because she's telling things about herself, but if she's speaking to what she's telling others off about (I think that makes sense; Foreman might also fit that mold). Meredith's a good counter example, the way GA works sets up an automatic POV for her that's going to seem the norm.

I have read one Cuddy fic in first person POV and one Cameron fic (quite recently - I think it was hi_falootin's). Cameron I could maybe read again, and I love Cuddy enough to at least try another good one, but if it's House? I backbutton faster than anything. Concussion or not. I believe there are ways to demonstrate the unreliability of a character's narration whether it's in first person or not.

Okay, I'll have to try nomad's fic again, that's one of the recent ones that I found troublesome to read because of my discomfort with the POV. At first it takes getting used to, but after a couple of minutes I got into it. It was one of the few fics where I can say that I was completely immersed in each chapter: even the best fics I've read I find I can easily pick up and leave off in the middle of a chapter, but this one was the definition of "sucked in." I believe there are ways to demonstrate the unreliability of a character's narration whether it's in first person or not. I agree but my question would be, "Why?" If you can write first person POV well and the story depends on it, why use the extra buffer between the reader and character that a second or third POV would provide? The advantage of first person is to get that intimacy, and it's an intimacy that can't be wholly replicated in third person POV. I would argue that just as some stories work best with a third person narrative, there are times when it's essential that you're thrown into a story from a character's perspective. Each author has to decide what tool is best on an individual basis, but I can't get behind ruling out one or the other wholesale.

Hahaha, that's true.

nomad1328's A Brutal Precadent is an incredible fic where the first person POV is essential There's a misunderstanding here somewhere, because I just skimmed through "A Brutal Precedent" and it's written entirely in third person, not first. Here is a great breakdown of different POVs, their advantages and disadvantages; and here's a link to a discussion about different person POVS from housefic_pens, with some interesting stuff and examples in the comments. I agree that House doesn't lend itself to first person well, although it's not an automatic backbutton to me; I'll read a few paragraphs and see if I can get into the fic anyway. (And on the other end of the spectrum, I have Scrubs, where I can't read a JD POV if it isn't in first person...)

My gosh there are a lot of persons in that list. I sat at my desk and brooded. I knew I shouldn't have told Wilson about that one night with Cuddy. That to me is first. House sat at his desk. He knew he never should have told Wilson. That to me is third, but from a first person perspective. Does that make sense?

House sat at his desk. He knew he never should have told Wilson. That to me is third, but from a first person perspective. Does that make sense? It does, if you explain it to people that way all over again every time you want to discuss it. But if you want everyone to understand what you mean, you'd do better to stick with the accepted literary terms: what you've described is third person limited, ie, third person that we're seeing through House's head. Which is opposed to third person omniscient, which is third person that we're seeing through a know-it-all godlike narrator who knows what all the characters are thinking. And yeah, the first link was a particularly detailed breakdown of POVs; the interesting part for me was the advantages/disadvantages further down in the post, and the "how does this help me?" bit.

In the House fandom, I've always written in first person limited. Second person works well in this fandom, but it's tricky - it has to have been done right. I agree that first person in the House fandom is strange - it doesn't really suit the characters or the world. I've read a couple of first person fics by writers I like, but I always tend to prefer their other fics. I don't know - I guess it is a distance thing. The House characters are all so damn secretive - mysterious, even - that you really need the distance that second and third person fics provide you with. It's so hard to get right - there's a reason that it's the technique so often used in bad!fics. Constant POV changes can be very distracting.

Quote: House sat at his desk. He knew he never should have told Wilson. That to me is third, but from a first person perspective. Does that make sense? It does, if you explain it to people that way all over again every time you want to discuss it. But if you want everyone to understand what you mean, you'd do better to stick with the accepted literary terms: what you've described is third person limited, ie, third person that we're seeing through House's head. Which is opposed to third person omniscient, which is third person that we're seeing through a know-it-all godlike narrator who knows what all the characters are thinking. Ahh - I understand now - thanks. But with third person omniscient - that sounds like it would be harder to write because you'd be switching perspectives all the time. Can anyone think of an example of this? All this talk of perspectives is making me think of Vernon God Little by DB Pierre - talk about going out on a limb with that one. Maybe we should have a House festival - but everyone has to write in different formats and styles and genres - or pick an author and use their style. House a la ee cummings, Shakespeare, a haiku, etc

Someone beat me to the punch here. Thanks for the props on A Brutal Precedent- but it is entirely 3rd person. No "I" use... unless I went off on a tangent somewhere, which is probable. It's from the pov of House's brain and tries to be stream of consciousness, but I used "House" or "he" to refer to events- never "I." The thought of 1st person House fanfic makes me cringe. I just can't bring myself to do it.

To me third-person limited is a great way to get into the character's head. I believe (although I may be wrong because I'm sleepy today), but my latest one-shot is told with from that POV. I often use that POV when I'm writing introspective pieces. I agree that first person doesn't fit very easily with (especially) House, who almost never expresses emotion through language. He is the most reticent of characters when it comes to his feeling or his deepest thoughts. He would not narrate his own story (if that makes any sense)