First Person (Sigh)

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Gauderbock
Posts: 117
Joined: Tue Sep 29, 2015 8:26 am

First Person (Sigh)

Post by Gauderbock »

I'm well aware of the rule concerning first person narratives. However, the extended writer guidelines explicitly state the following:
Using “we” when it refers to the reader and writer, or humanity in general, is acceptable.
So I used something like "We're all aware of..." once in an article, referring to how humanity in general is aware of the thing it's aware of.

I pretty much expected a rejection, and wasn't disappointed.

I resubmitted with a note to the editor pointing out the extended guidelines, and asking for clarification, and it was rejected again without clarification.

So, it's easy enough to work around, but sometimes "we" is just the right thing to use in this situation.

Have I just got an obstinate editor? Or do the guidelines need a change?

Any thoughts anyone? :)
GailF
Posts: 45
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2015 12:32 am

Re: First Person (Sigh)

Post by GailF »

I also had the same experience with this. Just changed the article
Last edited by GailF on Fri Sep 21, 2018 11:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
Lysis
Posts: 1529
Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2009 2:08 pm
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Re: First Person (Sigh)

Post by Lysis »

yeah, I was getting away with "let's" for a while and not anymore. It's kinda annoy.
KinsleyRoyale
Posts: 82
Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2010 6:23 pm

Re: First Person (Sigh)

Post by KinsleyRoyale »

I was also nabbed saying something like "We've all seen..."
MrSteve51
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2018 8:20 am

Re: First Person (Sigh)

Post by MrSteve51 »

Oh yeah. I've got used to writing "Everyone knows..." instead of "We all know..." but when I'm editing I still find the odd "Let's say..." when I'm introducing an example of something. It's so much less formal that "For example...", while "Imagine that..." makes the example seem far-fetched and unlikely.

I get that the guidelines are there to prevent first-person narratives and opinion pieces, but when following the guidelines leads to awkward phrasing rather than natural flow, it doesn't feel like they're doing a good job.
KinsleyRoyale
Posts: 82
Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2010 6:23 pm

Re: First Person (Sigh)

Post by KinsleyRoyale »

I wonder what they'd say if you just put "Say..." instead of "Let's say"

I never before thought "we" was first person and had to google it to see if that was true lol, I guess because I think of we as collective.
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