1. ShortBus

    ShortBus Member

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    1st person view

    Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by ShortBus, Feb 18, 2011.

    I attempted to write a story in 1st person view. The bad thing about it is that almost every other sentence starts with "I". When I revised a little bit I did change around the sentences so that it wouldn't start with I but it is really hard to stop using I.

    Is there any tips on writing stories in the 1st person view?
     
  2. w176

    w176 Contributor Contributor

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    Reading, and listing to a lot of audio books in first person view.
     
  3. Elgaisma

    Elgaisma Contributor Contributor

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    Remembering to include plenty of description, dialogue, thoughts and obeservation.

    Dialogue, description and observation don't need to include a lot of Is. Whereever possible using show instead of tell etc There will be a lot of Is though - remember they often are replacing He/she so wherever you would use those pronouns there will be an I.
     
  4. w176

    w176 Contributor Contributor

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    I remember that you can get a lot of "I" explicitly. It not always necessary to state it.

    "I saw him moving closer to me." can just as easily be expressed:

    "He moved closer."

    You understand from context that the point of view character is observing it.
     
  5. Show

    Show Contributor Contributor

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    I don't write in 1st person POV but I imagine that there'd be a considerable amount of "I" and "me" in it.
     
  6. ShortBus

    ShortBus Member

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    yea i guess it just kind of comes with writing. maybe too in the story its basically a man all by himself in most of the 1st chapter. im not sure if i still have it or not but if i do i will post it. if not im going to have to rewrite it anyway. thanks for your help
     
  7. TWErvin2

    TWErvin2 Contributor Contributor

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    As w176 said: Read. Read short stories and novels written in first person. But don't read for pleasure. Study and pay attention as to how other authors successfully told the story in first person POV.

    Take what you learn and modify it to your story and style. There is not short cut.
     

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