Why it's hard to like stories written in first person

[BrokenQuill92]

....it's rather wearing on me because the "I" perspective that's used tries to force me into the character's body; make me "i" the reader become "i" character, when "I" reader and "I" character may have clashing personalities or world views. Does anyone else have this problem with first person narratives?

[My imaginary friend is GOD]

I like YA/teen books in general.

Whenever a YA/teen book is in first person I'm like: "Fuck THAT! The author of this book is trying way too hard to be 'cool'."

[Rev. Rye]

Not really. Are you sure you haven't picked up a copy of "Bright Lights, Big City," by mistake? Because Second person stories give me this problem. For me, first person is like listening to someone else you know talking about their experiences.

[BrokenQuill92]

Not really. Are you sure you haven't picked up a copy of "Bright Lights, Big City," by mistake? Because Second person stories give me this problem. For me, first person is like listening to someone else you know talking about their experiences.

I've always had a preference for omniscient third person. That way I feel more like an invisible person walking alongside the characters.

[Esquilax]

Though I generally prefer third person omniscient narration as a writer for all the flexibility it affords me, I have to admit that my forays into first person have been rather nice too. I don't know why, but occasionally the shift in perspective inspires me to cut out a lot of the poetry and descriptive stuff I usually put in and write in-character more immersively.

That said, first person is only a vacation style; I'll always come home to third.

[One Above All]

I started writing in first person. It limited my storytelling abilities, making it impossible to show readers events I considered important. I later realized there were things I could have done to lessen the restrictions it imposed, but when I changed to third person omniscient narration (like every book I remember reading did), the freedom it granted me was breathtaking. I could jump from one area to the next, showing readers everything I wanted, important or unimportant. However, there's one story I thought about writing in first person, and even started writing it as such, if I'm not mistaken, but I came across some events that were simply incompatible with that kind of narration, so I decided against it.

[Paraselene]

I have no problems reading either first or third person perspectives in novels. My only concern in novels is when the writer uses the second person "you" amidst the first or third person view, because that is a grammatical no-no.