Hi

I've never written a short story before, but agreed to have a go at my writers group.

I've written in first-person POV but then noticed that no one else seems to write commercial short stories in first person (well, not in the magazines I've been wading through).

Is this a preference on the part of the author? Or are commercial short stories generally written in third-person or omniscient?

Apologies if this is a 'thick' question and the answer is you can write and be accepted in absolutely any POV, but there may be a reason why all the ones I've seen are in third person.

Thank you

We had this discussion recently, Sharley, in one of the short story groups or on FB. I felt sure i'd read somewhere that editors prefer 3rd person, but then other writers waded in and said they'd sold stories in the 1st...

I guess if the story is good, it doesn't matter, but personally, i tend to stick to the 3rd person for mine.

To be honest, seeing as it's your first ever one, i wouldn't worry too much and i'd just do what comes naturally to you.

Have fun!

Thanks Petal

I'm not aiming for publication, but I am thinking of possibly entering a local competition in the future and I want to check I don't fall at the first hurdle (the word 'I'.

Alice Munro writes in both first and third and I dare anyone to argue with her status as a short story writer

<Added>

oh although sorry I should have read the q more carefully as I see you're specifically talking about commercial short stories.

But I don't see why commercial writers shouldn't have the same freedom?

I've no idea, but if it's true I do wonder if, like a lot of things, editors have come to be wary of it because it's something that beginners do, and then don't cope well with the practical demands of 1st person... One of those unfair things where a perfectly good technique will start your MS off on the back foot.

But if it's true of commercial women's fic I'm surprised, in the sense that the very voice-y, up-close-and-personal nature of good 1st person stories ought to be just the job for that market, you'd have thought.

Emma