Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [grammatical-person]

Questions about the point of view of the narrator of a work.

Questions about the point of view of the narrator of a work. First person means the narrator is speaking about him-/herself (I made this, we ran away). Third person is speaking about other people (He did this, she went there, they called back). It is possible to write in second person (You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door.), but this is rare in fiction.

117 questions
33
votes
5 answers

Pitfalls of writing a main character of different gender to the author, specifically first-person perspective?

This is my first question on here, so bear with me, if you will. My question is in two-parts: a) When writing in first-person, is it wise to choose a main character of a different gender to yourself (the author)? b) What are certain pitfalls to…
DeVil
  • 433
  • 5
  • 8
31
votes
16 answers

How do I portray irrational anger in first person?

Characters (and people) get angry at all sorts of things that might not make sense to the outside observer: Marty McFly and the word "chicken," words that are terrible slurs to one population but totally normal to others, overreactions due to mental…
TMuffin
  • 2,058
  • 1
  • 15
  • 16
24
votes
7 answers

What is the difference between writing in the first and the third person?

What kind of story is better suited for each point of view? Are there advantages or disadvantages inherent to them? For example, writing in the first person you are always following a character, while in the third person you can "jump" between story…
juan
  • 1,423
  • 3
  • 17
  • 22
24
votes
5 answers

How to describe the point-of-view character without using mirrors

In fiction, the main character is often the first person we meet in the story. Given that the story is written from his/her point of view, how would you describe what they look like? The classical tricks (they look in a mirror or see their…
Koen Van Damme
  • 960
  • 1
  • 6
  • 11
22
votes
7 answers

Is head-hopping always bad?

The general consensus nowadays seems to be that being in the head of more than one character is bad. We should be "on the shoulders" or "in the head" of one character, and one character only, if not throughout the novel, then at least throughout a…
Galastel supports GoFundMonica
  • 58,107
  • 12
  • 176
  • 303
16
votes
6 answers

Is using first person in academic/technical essays always bad?

For as long as I can remember, my teachers have taught me never to use first person in an essay. Yet, some of the examples we read in classes, or older writings we have to annotate, are written in first person. So what is the actual rule here? …
user34214
15
votes
13 answers

How can I portray a character with no fear of death, without them sounding utterly bored?

Imagine a fantasy hero with a 'time reset' ability like the protagonists of Groundhog Day or Edge of Tomorrow: they can 'rewind time' up to a few hours, resetting their own physical state and the rest of reality to whatever it/they were doing…
Stephen
  • 251
  • 3
  • 7
14
votes
8 answers

1st person story, but the main character will die in the end and some of the story needs to be told after his death. How to solve this problem?

I personally like to read stories told by the the main character, it's more "alive" to me. But the problem is that my character will die and some of the story will need to be told afterwards. Maybe 1 or 2 pages max. How to solve this problem?
Derfder
  • 395
  • 1
  • 3
  • 12
14
votes
3 answers

How to replace overuse of "I" in a short story, fiction, written in the first person

I am trying to edit a short story, written in the first person. I have used "I" way too many times, it stands out too much at the beginning of a sentence, but I can't seen to change it without losing the meaning/tone of the sentence.
Deirdre Ní Laochdha
  • 141
  • 1
  • 1
  • 3
11
votes
13 answers

First person pov with more than one main chars

I really love -- and most of time write in -- first person point of view. The novel I'm writing is somewhat different from what I'm used to. I have four main characters -- I don't see any of them as more important than the others -- each one of them…
Psicofrenia
  • 2,483
  • 1
  • 18
  • 22
11
votes
2 answers

Should I write in a style that is more conducive to a situation I am describing or write it the way I normally write?

I am writing a short story that describes a dream that I had as a child. I wrote a first rough draft and had my girlfriend read it to give me some feedback. One thing she criticized is my writing style, saying that I type too formally, which she…
user3661841
  • 211
  • 1
  • 3
11
votes
6 answers

The opposite sex in first person?

I have been writing about not just one, but two females; sisters. I've toyed with different methods/persons in this, but it seems I've come to an obvious roadblock. I wouldn't call it "writer's block" because I haven't stopped writing. But I've been…
Matthew Paul Chapdelaine
  • 667
  • 1
  • 6
  • 12
10
votes
6 answers

Can a scene be written to be disorienting and not be too confusing to readers?

I've written a scene in a short story where the character and her party are suddenly attacked in the night. It's written in first-person and the character had just been shaken awake from a nightmare; so I had purposefully written it to be…
Trynda E. Adair
  • 711
  • 5
  • 20
9
votes
6 answers

What is the proper way to use the pronoun "I" without too much repetition?

I found a new job in London and while emailing with my soon-to-be boss, I noticed something that drove me off: the constant repetition of the pronoun I. This is very different from my native language (Italian) and most of the time, sounds and reads…
Samuele Mattiuzzo
  • 201
  • 1
  • 5
9
votes
2 answers

How do you convey that an action is subconscious when writing in first person?

My protagonist had a traumatic experience that means she keeps her distance from men. Sometimes, if she genuinely feels in danger, all her actions will be calculated and thought-through. However, most of the time she subconsciously makes herself…
BubbleQueen
  • 902
  • 1
  • 15
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8