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A Story Told in First-Person
Topic Started: Nov 1 2009, 07:57 AM (1,687 Views)
bionic4ever
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What do you think about a story told as a first-person account? Very difficult to have any dialogue at all. Can it hold interest if decently written?
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OJFan
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Well, I've seen three versions of "A Man Alone" by the Lurker, Neesie-pie and Messyhead that were QUITE good. They were ALL written as first person. It's harder to write at first when you aren't used to it, and I found it challenging, as the person speaking isn't omnipotent, and can't describe what is going on inside other people's head.
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bionic4ever
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It'll be fun to see if I can keep it going for 50,000 words...
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messyhead
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You can have dialogue! Is there anything wrong with "I said"? The only thing about it is that you can't omnipotently go around getting inside other people's heads - but you do get to spend a lot of time in the first person's head. I think that allows you to explore them a lot more.

Outside the world of fan fiction, tons of great books have been written in first person! I just read David Copperfield - and that's one right there.
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bionic4ever
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Thanks for the input - and you're right! Am up to 600 words already and only on my second cup of coffee. This is fun!
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melchycat
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I have several Ghost and Mrs. Muir's writting in first person. It is harder but it is I think more fun becasue you get to really devle into the person's mind that you are writing their POV. And yeah you can have dialgoue.
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Elzorro
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I enjoyed the movie "The Ghost andMrs Muir" with Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison, that's a wonderful story !

Elise :D

"So you see, my friends, it is just a matter of opinion, it is between you and me, whether I am real or not, is for you to decide, each of you in your own mind and heart. (Guy Williams aka El Zorro)
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bionic4ever
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It's much harder to write dialogue in first person! Good way to break old habits, though. :)
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Elzorro
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I can imagine because you have to put yourself into Jaime's mind and write as if you were her and you do it wonderfully ! yide

Elise :)

"So you see, my friends, it is just a matter of opinion, it is between you and me, whether I am real or not, is for you to decide, each of you in your own mind and heart. (Guy Williams aka El Zorro)
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messyhead
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bionic4ever
Nov 9 2009, 07:15 AM
It's much harder to write dialogue in first person! Good way to break old habits, though. :)

I don't quite understand why...?
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bionic4ever
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Because I tend to rely too heavily on phrases like "she pleaded with a quiver in her voice".
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messyhead
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But then you can have the character explain (if they need to) "I found myself pleading..."? or "I was a mess..."?
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bionic4ever
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Or 'I heard my voice quivering'. I am learning. It's just something I've never really tried before, other than a couple of very short stories (and they had no dialogue).
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OJFan
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I had the same problem. You could say " I couldn't stop my voice from quivering" - something like that. What I had trouble with was that if she was talking to Steve and he's having conflicting emotions - she can't SEE that - she can't KNOW it - and it sounds funny to have her comment on it - so all you here from him is his words. Words without intonation can definitely give the wrong impression. When I wrote mine, I had a hard time when Oscar wasn't being totally honest with Jaime other about his feelings - she could only hear him SAY the words - the author didn't get to say "He was torn inside, wanting to tell her how he felt, but he couldn't..." etc... That made him seem "harder" I thought.
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bionic4ever
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Yes - thank you! You have just put your finger on the part I was having trouble putting into words! What you described is a huge part of what makes first person writing so difficult.
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