McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Using it as a pronoun...
arianne:
The shapeshifter isn't the main character, but it is a quite important-ish supporting character. The story is told from the viewpoint of the main character (“I”) who is well aware of the genderlessness of the shapeshifter.
I was just thinking if it reads weird when he says, I raised its arm. It didn't seem to mind. Selene (tentative name of shapeshifter) said it was tired.
Particularly worried about that last one. It doesn't sound like the shapeshifter is talking about itself at all....
Paynesgrey:
I recall that Peter David used "Hir" as the pronoun for a species that identified with both genders, you could go that route if it considers itself "all of the above" rather than "none of the above." If the latter, then simplist to stick with "It."
Gruud:
One way to possibly get beyond the unremitting dullness of continually typing "it" would be to instead use the pronoun "they".
Sure, it's only two more letters, but look how much more mysterious it seems.
Why is the author (or character) calling a singular creature they? Is there something we (the readers) don't know?
Is it because it hides a multiitude of "others" inside? Are there more than one of them skulking about?
;D
SunshineDuk:
Singular they is great. You do have a precedent of "it," though. In Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga, there's a bigendered character who uses it as its primary pronoun. It takes a page or two to get used to, but then you're fine.
If you do want to use gender-neutral pronouns, I recommend Spivak pronouns (e/em/eir).
~Duk
Shecky:
--- Quote from: SunshineDuk on December 20, 2011, 07:07:31 PM ---Singular they is great. You do have a precedent of "it," though. In Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga, there's a bigendered character who uses it as its primary pronoun. It takes a page or two to get used to, but then you're fine.
If you do want to use gender-neutral pronouns, I recommend Spivak pronouns (e/em/eir).
~Duk
--- End quote ---
I'm still not a big fan of made-up pronouns (see above re: The Forever War); as a contemporary reader, I find myself taken a bit outside the story because it feels artificially imposed. And while some people say "they" works well because Shakespeare used it, it's an insufficient reason - there are a lot of usages in Shakespeare that have fallen out of the language... and "they" still feels plural to me, which is counter to the bigendered-but-single-self concept.
The real key is making it feel natural in the context, and that's purely a situational thing that depends on the writer, the text and the audience.
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