Fishwings

This poem is awesome. I can't say I understood the last verse but the middle one I interpreted as the protagonist fading away into schizophrenia. Great stuff! I love these types of poems that you write. Also, "darcy?" What an interesting collection of words!

That was bold :0 I read it in one long breath. Great work JC!

What a beautiful and insightful poem Bill. It was really to the point and underlies the greatest questions of humanity and how they have been blurred by the voices of culture. What if money were no object? What is our worth? Who do we compare it to? What is happiness, and where do we derive it from? What is our meaning? I particularly loved the last verse with the Pharaohs. Wonderful work Bill.

This is a good start Renee, and I think you do first person POV very well, as you do third person very well too. Great description/inner voice and cute son!

I totally agree -- hard to maintain the 1st person voice with regards to both the author and reader, and i find a lot of the protagonists that I read that are in 1st person are ind of annoying. Also with 1st person I find it super hard to switch POVs (i havent seen it done right even in published novels).

I have been playing close attention to the ratio and how POVs (point-of-views) correlate to the stories on GA as well as other websites, and I have been quite interested in what people here prefer to read or write. If you guys don't know what first-person, close third-person, and omniscient third-person is I'll just give you a very brief n' bare overview of what they are and the advantages/disadvantages of each POV are based on research and personal experience. Before I start, I'll touch on the topic of subjectivity + objectivity with regards to POV. The not tl;dr version the more subjective a point of view is, the more it is coloured by human perception, reactions, and opinions. The more objective a point of view is, the less it encompasses these human sensations -- the reader will only see what a camera will see. First-person, Close Third-person, and Omniscient Third-person, the way I see it is on a scale of subjectivity. First-person is on one end of the spectrum -- it is the most subjective, thus the most "hottest" with regards to human sensations. Omniscient Third-person is on the other end -- it is the most objective, and thus the "coldest." 1) First-Person POV (Yes, James Savik, yes you do). First-Person is the most subjective POV you can choose from. It tells the story directly from the protagonist's point of view, using "I," "we," and "me." Despite the conception that many fresh writers think that it's the easiest POV to write in, it's been long argued that it's actually the hardest POV to write in, because you need to make sure your voice isn't annoying or self-absorbed, but at the same time you can't have the voice sound too distant. As a result the number of published First-person POVs are significantly lower across genres. Example: Take KingdomByTheSea's short vignette-like story, "Dare," for instance. She's a great author and from what I remember most of her stories are from this POV. I think she strikes a decent balance between the "hot" and "coldness" of first-person POV, and in addition creates a very endearing character. But that's totally just my opinion. Advantages: - Easy POV to pick up writing - Intimacy of emotions is the "hottest" so readers can identify themselves with protagonists the strongest - Most direct format to show characterization/character development to reader Disadvantages: - Intimacy/intensity of voice can wear reader out (voice may sound annoying, contrived, self-absorbed) - It is the smallest "box" to write in -- you can only show what the protagonist perceives (this also means you can't use words or descriptions that your character wouldn't normally say/think) - Switching viewpoints is extremely hard to do effectively, and one view point can easily bore reader 2) Omniscient Third-Person POV (Omniscience kitty knows ALL YOUR SECRETS) Omniscient means "all-seeing." This is the most objective of all viewpoints because you can get into any character's heads or write about any inanimate objects that may or may not relate to the characters, at any given time. I won't go into too much detail with this point of view because i) I have never used it (and when I do it's by accident), ii) it's just way too difficult for most writers to pull of successfully. Often times, a new Close Third-Person writer will accidentally slip into another person's head, making it omniscient. Example: Here is an amazing omniscient third-person perspective passage written by Ann-Marie MacDonald in "Fall on Your Knees." Advantages: - Gives you the most "freedom" with story telling -- you are not limited by a single character's viewpoints Disadvantages: - Bouncing from point of view to point of view will sacrifice depth of characterization as well as development 3) Close Third-Person POV (These cats are "close" to each other.) Close Third-Person is the middle ground between omniscient and first-person POVs. Like omniscient, it uses pronouns "he," "she," "they," whatever, but unlike omniscient you are limited in the head of the protagonist. However, it offers a happy medium between the intensity and limitations of first person while eliminating the boundary-less, coldness of omniscient Third. It is the most often used viewpoint I have encountered in the published world but I am not too sure if this is the same for online writing communities. Example: This is a passage from "The Other Side of Me," written by our talented hosted (missing) author Domluka. As you can see, the passage is of Frank's POV but there is a distance achieved and an awareness that Frank is an observable entity by the usage of pronouns. Advantages: - Good balance between the intensity of the "voice" of first person, making it relatable to readers, and the "coldness" of omniscient third - Allows for easier switching of viewpoints - Greater freedom in choosing the complexity of prose -- it doesn't have to exactly fit the vocabulary of the protagonist Disadvantages: - Authors may neglect development of a voice, contributing to weak emotion and decrease of dramatic intensity (easier to avoid in first person) - May be easier to accidentally jump into another character's head, making for awkward episodes of omniscience With that being said: Which view point do you like to read/write in? Why?

Hello authors, readers, unregistered users and the like, April 15th the deadline for "Whispers in the Dark" is fast approaching, so if you're interested in sending in a poetry submission refer to this link: Click me. With that being said, here is the banner that I have designed in Photoshop this time around: I encourage you all to copy the url of this image/save it and share this poster on your Facebook or website or whatever you use so not only the anthology gets read but GA as a whole gets more exposure. Make sure to include the link to the antho/GA or hyperlink the image if you use it (you could even hyperlink it to your anthology submission itself!). If you would like to use it in your signature or in your submission, here are some resized colour variations that will fit snugly:

Cold gay ass?

Btw no votes for 1st person? SO INTERESTING I expected that to be the majority

Yes. That is one of the main problems with first POV actually. I have written stories in that but I find it very hard to maintain a good voice. Likewise I find reading first person POVs in online fiction to be a tiresome business too but there seems to be a lot of them online! Thanks for voting :3 I'm truly interested in seeing who likes what kind of POV. Experimentation is important in order to decide what works best. Your alternation between POVs sounds good -- I think switching between viewpoints of different characters is a way to keep the reader (and author -- I get bored of writing in the same POV a lot hehe) interested in the story. As for omniscient, I have noticed a definite decrease in omniscient as well. That is probably because most stories nowadays are character driven. Omniscient doesn't work well in character driven stories whatsoever. That's interesting!! Hey I have noticed that Brotherly Love is definitely omniscient third POV though. I didn't notice it when I first read it because through my first reads I always gobble up stories really fast. I do have to admit that you did pull it off for me but idk what other people will think. And that's very nice :0 often times I have trouble deciding whether I wanna write a story in 1st POV or 3rd POV. Usually it's 3rd. 1st is a lot of work for me because I find it hard to develop the protagonist. Thanks for voting! And yes. Third person has been shown to be the "default" POV in published novels for that very reason but I have read a lot of excellent 1st person POVs in books, particularly YA novels -- like "the uglies," "Feed," "the lottery," ones by kenneth oppel, etc. And they're GREAT! Yes I do notice that with 1st person POVs as well. Often times I'll feel like I don't agree with the protagonist and I feel like my disagreements are very whole hearted because of how close I am as a reader to the protagonist. I have read some Direct Observer POVs but I find that they're usually limited to plot devices in the beginning or in the end of a story with another viewpoint taking place in the middle. I think "Garden of the Forking Paths" is one example, idk, i havent done much research with regards to that. I shall definitely look up "the last question"!! I'm getting a kindle so I will be tearing through ebooks like a badass motherfucker : D

Wise advice here. I agree -- if you let something ruin your day or your mood you are letting them become a presence over your life.

This is cute! I love the image of the two dancing along a beach at night. I also liked how you broke up the sentences so the reader's eyes are urged onto the next line (there was a poetry term for that that I learned.......... but i don't remember what it was called)

Romantic, clear, and clever. I loved the ending line and how blatantly beautiful the emotions of the protagonist come out in the verses. Great work Krista!

Layla this was absolutely beautiful. I felt transported through the different times, the surfing, the drives, the rooms filled with darkness and guitar music, and the ending was really heart-wrenching. I felt that you really did a fine job of building up the desperation in this piece in each succeeding verse, with the protagonist almost seemingly going crazy in the end, blinded by all the memories of the lost significant other. What a stunning variant on the theme.

Of course we should care in order to determine the causation of their actions.

This was visceral and to the point. I agree, we shall not yield to evil and to pain until the end. Great work.

This was interesting and different, although I can't say I fully got it. Good job nonetheless.

Omg. WOW. I loved this!! The beginning was a hook, and the repetitions of "that night" really urged the reader to read on and on and on until BANG! A heartfelt, sickening impact at the end. There was no angst, but an implied melancholy and loneliness that was done well with the short isolated last few lines. Amazing job, again, JJG.

I found this poem very lyrical and beautiful, and my favourite out of the three. I loved the contrasts between the characters that visited the sleeper and all the metaphor/similes that you used for them ("like a viper"). They were ethereal yet real and I felt a chill down my spine as I read each one of them! Great job. I especially liked the ending: "Reminding me of all that can yet be at the break of day As all fade away from the waking sleeper" Wraps up the whole thing very nicely, like a fade-to-black at the end of a film.

This was a very honest poem; I liked how well you translated your pain onto paper, and I liked the rhyming too. I hope writing it has helped you cope a little better.

Oh whuuut already, I thought it was going to be released on May LOLOL. Time to get reading!

This makes me really sad to hear. I'm so sorry you and the people of Boston have to go through this, but I am also glad to hear of all the kindness of strangers towards each other in a hard time like this.

NO I hate lautner >:C But... much more attractive!

and he said "now bend" LOL?

I love Nerimon! He has great literary insight. In particular he found out Harry Potter was gay. BRILLIANT