Tips For Writing In 1st Person?

[SilvCrimBlac]

I have always written in 3rd due to my preference of having multiple MC's. I likely will continue to do so. But, if I wanted to use first, is there any worthwhile tips someone could give me to make the transition to a new style easier?

 

[Agentt]

Oh my, I'm the polar opposite of you, I always write in 1st POV.

Well, it is pretty much like 3rd person, there is absolutely no difference, other than
1. Replacing 'he' or 'she' with I
2. Not revealing extra information to the audience.

The second step might be difficult for you, if you are used to it, so for thst we have the main character guess what is happening

 

[Deeprotsorcerer]

Write as though the character is describing the story in their own words and be sure to leverage all the advantages of a limited perspective while you do it.

For example, if the MC is the military type don't say everything was in order, say it was all squared away, and have the narrative be clearly opinionated on certain events, even if it leads to reductionism or straight out lies. It's up to (and oftentimes fun for) the reader to decipher what's really happening rather than having all the details handed to them by an objective, reliable narrator.

 

[SilvCrimBlac]

It's up to (and oftentimes fun for) the reader to decipher what's really happening rather than having all the details handed to them by an objective, reliable narrator.

Have MC personally talk out of his ass and force my readers to take it and like it? Huh...1st person might be funner than I thought.

It's like abuse....but people find it entertaining!!

 

[LunaSoltaer]

First person is amazing!

Some rules that have been touched up on, though: In first person, you are essentially becoming that guy who talks about what they did at the party (your setting) last night (in the work):

You DO NOT KNOW what the other characters were thinking (read: if you write what a non first person char is thinking in first person, you're writing a character who assumes what other people are thinking, and is therefore very likely a jackass).

You ABSOLUTELY DO NOT KNOW anything you didn't see (If some story event happened outside your viewpoint char's viewpoint, it doesn't go on the page. If this is absolutely unacceptable, consider whether first person is right for you, or consider changing the viewpoint for that snippet. In my current work, I have, every chapter, a viewpoint indicator saying who my viewpoint character is. It's the same character every time, but it's there.

You know, for certain, how you felt about things. If you don't know how you felt about something, you do and the thing you felt was confusion.

Your beliefs do not feel like beliefs. They feel like reality. (Talk to a trans activist, and they will say trans women/men are women/men, NOT that they believe that. Talk to a follower of Christ, and they will speak about God being everywhere as if it were the most obvious thing on the planet. Talk to a gender abolitionist about why your gender is super important and they'll internally roll their eyes at yet another invocation of a worse-than-useless social construct. See the pattern? Your beliefs, your true beliefs? You won't think of them as beliefs. Your true beliefs will you find by trying to describe The Way Things Are. The things that you say you believe? You want to believe those. You believe that you believe them. But you don't. Because it's not a thing doing a thing, it's believing the thing does the thing.)

You do not in fact have all the answers! (You are allowed to lie about your setting! If your character doesn't know some little-known trick in the magic system, it doesn't exist until that critical moment of protagonist pwnage where you throw a lightning bolt at a guy coated in an armor of magicked water thinking you'll oneshot 'em but it ends up doing nothing because WATER INSULATES! Then they shoot you in the chest with a flintlock while you're staring in disbelief. If your character was lied to by their deepest trust, that lie is true. To them. But you do not lie about your viewpoint character.... Or you do and then you have an interesting dynamic.)

You think to yourself a lot! (First person lets you literally get in your character's head, use it! Showcase their thinking, their beliefs, what makes them tick. You can shift the narrative weight around because it's no longer about the cosmic narrative weight.... it's personal)



As for transitioning from 3rd to 1st, I'm assuming you're used to writing in Third Person Omniscient, where the narrator knows everything about everyone and can just pull things freely. If jumping from that to first person is too daunting, you can try out something called Third Person Limited (Some will say Limited Omniscient, but I have never seen anyone describe a difference between L and LO). The thing with Third Person Limited is, it's still third person, and you may still technically be omniscient- (Oh, that's the difference), but you Stick Very Closely To One Character. For Third Person Limited, you pull on all the thoughts emotions etc of your target character, but you only narrate actions from the others. You know, kinda limiting your scope a bit. And from there, it's a much lesser leap into First Person.

I hope any of this helps, truly I do.

OH! A possible way to think about first vs third person! Third Person, you see the round globe, and everything. First person, you see the flat terrain in immediate eyesight. Let those differences vibe through you while you think a moment, and that might help things.

 

[SilvCrimBlac]

if you write what a non first person char is thinking in first person, you're writing a character who assumes what other people are thinking, and is therefore very likely a jackass

XDD I'm definitely going to abuse this somehow.

 

[Cipiteca396]

There's an interesting tip I just found.

The words ‘I saw’, ‘I heard’ and ‘I thought’ all place the reader at one remove to the unfolding events. The reader isn’t seeing, hearing or thinking these things through the narrator. The reader is being told about the narrator’s experiences. The scene could be more vivid if the narrator didn’t ‘report’ her or his experience.

Basically, that just means you need to describe what you're seeing instead of saying you saw it. That should be an important change from 3rd.

There's a fluffy dog here.
I saw a fluffy dog.

 

[BigHoodieBoy]

Not really a tip, but if you want a really good example of first person, I recommend trying regressor instruction manual, as it is an incredible example and I hope one day both you get to that level, so I can hopefully read your first person masterpiece when you make it.

 

[Love4NovelGuy]

I have always written in 3rd due to my preference of having multiple MC's. I likely will continue to do so. But, if I wanted to use first, is there any worthwhile tips someone could give me to make the transition to a new style easier?

First, make sure you have a focus character that the events are focused around. Even if you have multiple MCs, it’d be easier if one overall narrative if being told. Like Baccano.

Second, don’t overuse sentence structures that start with ‘I’ and other terms for oneself.
HelloFutureMe has a more in-depth video on that. And other related topics.

The first advice is harder to remember since characters are made with different thoughts in mind. Drip feeding information about them when you have a lot to say takes a lot of patience.

But I’m sure things will go well when you’re used to it.

 

[LordJoyde]

Basically put; focus yourself on the 'point of view' of the character and don't mention things they wouldn't/aren't supposed to know just because you want the audience to know it and you should be fine.

If something needs to be spoken that the character can't know yet, just add a little extra cameo that heavily hints at it.

 

[Horizon42]

I have always written in 3rd due to my preference of having multiple MC's. I likely will continue to do so. But, if I wanted to use first, is there any worthwhile tips someone could give me to make the transition to a new style easier?

Be prepared for writing in multiple POVs. The problem with first person POVs is that you tend to leave out a lot of information. If a character doesn't notice something, it's hard to write it so the audience does. If a character knows a lot or is really smart, then everything is telegraphed too much, too often. You'll have to get creative with scenes to suprise your readers in a satisfying manner or show more of the world. And eventually it gets boring, no matter how creative you get. Alternative POVs are must.

Battle scenes or moments with antagonists do really well with alternative POVs since you can highlight aspects of your MC that they themselves can't be or aren't aware of. Things like biases, morals, etc.

 

[RedHunter2296]

In the novel that I am writing it is almost completely in the first person, although it is the first time that I am writing, I am going to say a couple of things that I noticed while writing.

First, the protagonist is the central point of view, the readers only know what the protagonist is living.If the protagonist does not know something, the readers therefore too. If something happened in the background and the protagonist was not present, then the readers, like him, do not know what happened, so it is important that the protagonist reacts to how the reader thinks he would take the news.

If batman realized that the joker was the one who killed his parents and he is happy about it and thanking him, the readers will be confused and betrayed.

Second, although the protagonist is the central axis of the story, that does not mean that the only perspective that there will be in the whole story. Occasionally I write a chapter from the point of view of another character, but also in the first person. In this way you can know how this character interprets or thinks, how he behaves when the protagonist is not there. Maybe this character can give details of something that the protagonist will have to do and maybe he will not have time to explain.

If Alfred, batman's butler was kidnapped by the joker in children's hospital, what would he do? Would he consider protecting children at the expense of his own safety? And if Alfred sees how the joker plants a bomb that batman probably wouldn't see coming? Would Alfred try to warn batman about the bomb somehow?

Sometimes there is a chapter that I do write in the third person, but it is to show a mysterious character, with hidden motivations, but you need to see what he does during the moment. Or also look for creative ways to give information to the reader that could supplant the omniscient narrator.

For example, in a scene where Inspector Gordon is attending the kidnapping of Alfred in the hospital. Still narrating in the first person, He is as he is with a map of the place, he counts where he thinks the hostages could be, the entrances, the best place to enter the police, key places, because it would not be strange for him to have this information. That way by the time the first person returns with Batman, the reader already has an idea of what's out there and what to expect, maybe even before Batman.

But remember that the protagonist is the central point of the story, so it should be the one that is present most of the time. Chapters from the point of view of other characters should be the exception and not the rule!

Another important thing is to say exactly what resources the protagonist has at his disposal and how he could use them. For example, what kind of gadgets does Batman have on his belt, exactly which ones, because readers like to find their way to solve the situation with the same tools as the protagonist.

If the reader knows that batman has 5 boomerangs, will the readers imagine how he would use these, throw one at the joker? It could be, but what if it fails? There would only be 4 left, maybe 2 would be enough to deactivate the bomb, but what about the bomb that Batman doesn't know is there? Hey the joker could escape by this route that inspector Gordon said while the cops enter those other stairs!

 

[icey6]

I have always written in 3rd due to my preference of having multiple MC's. I likely will continue to do so. But, if I wanted to use first, is there any worthwhile tips someone could give me to make the transition to a new style easier?

read first person stories that are you think are well written and structured and pick stuff up from it. That’s how i made the switch and it worked out really well for me and my stories

 

[K5Rakitan]

Have you ever written in a diary? Imagine you are the character and try that.

 

[Amok]

Have you ever written in a diary? Imagine you are the character and try that.

One of my favorite first person series, the five novels of 'Book of the New Sun' by Gene Wolfe are written sorta like this, with the MC reflecting back on past events through the medium of writing a final journal, giving more scope for introspection and analysis, while also placing the reader in two timeframes at once until events flow to a certain point.

 

[MyukiMruieast]

I just wrote what I think I should write. And, writing first POV is a bit easier, I guess? Dum, I dunno.

...

She just wrote what she thought she should write. Writing first POV is a bit easier, she guess so? Dum, she don't know.

 

[Deleted member 57675]

1st person is easier in that - you think of what if and put yourself in the character shoes.
- What if a dinosaur came and just bit your arm and threw you into a intergalactic void dimension that's known for space piranhas?
- What if you just realized your gf/bf walked away with another man in their arms, and you just realized you got NTR?
- What if something you feared just happened and its as shit real as it gets and you can't seem to see yourself out of this mess?
Describe how you feel now.

If you always think worst case scenarios, well that's a big boost in creating first POVs. jk lol. On the bright side, it be like all those scenarios you daydreamed that your crush actually likes you back like some YA novels. Now you just describe it lol.

The second part is blurring other voices that are not your main op's voice. Irl, you know your thoughts, but you can't read others thoughts. Similarly, character in 1st POV can narrate/speak/understand their thoughts, but may not understand every action/thought of another character. Unless its purposely wired into the story in some way, like ex: special mind-reading ability or genius. Just don't go too overboard with those abilities though.
- A dino just attacked a group of shoppers. You aren't really focusing on them though, you worry about getting trampled yourself in the chaos.
- Your character is expressing how it feels to see them walking away. Not thinking from the pov of those darn two who plan on a little evening fun.
- Your character just been through some shit/got some shit news. People and their voices blur in the background as character focuses on the shit.

 

[Ai-chan]

I have always written in 3rd due to my preference of having multiple MC's. I likely will continue to do so. But, if I wanted to use first, is there any worthwhile tips someone could give me to make the transition to a new style easier?

1st person is more personal. It's you, you, you and you. All the focus is on you, your thoughts and your feelings. It is not an omniscient pov like what 3rd person can be. It is very narrow and very strict in regard to omniscience and omnipresence. 1st person strictly makes use of the philosophy, "If I don't see it, I can't perceive it. If I can't perceive it, it doesn't exist". Sure it can exist outside of your perception, but you won't know anything about it.

So writing in 1st person involves only knowledge that the character can know directly. On the other other hand, 1st person pov is often more emotional as you trade off the power of omniscience for the power of emotions. The character's feelings and thoughts are more direct, stronger and more relatable compared to 3rd person, where the character is written as 'that guy' instead of 'me' in 1st person.

 

[SilvCrimBlac]

- What if a dinosaur came and just bit you arm and threw you into a intergalactic void dimension that's known for space piranhas?

That's a very good question and I wish I had an answer!!

 

[AliceShiki]

I think the main thing you should focus on when writing on 1st person, are the personal feelings and thoughts of the main character.

Because like, the narrator is the main character, everything they are going through is what the reader is seeing... If the character is crying, you should show how much the current situation pains the main character and stuff... The events itself matter less than their impact on the MC. It's far more important to know how much the MC loved their kitty, and how much they miss said kitty, than the burial of the kitty in itself.