I, Me, You, He & She
February 21st, 2008
Well, been writing all night now. I’m a very happy camper as far as that’s concerned but I find myself with a question. A couple of hours ago I was typing along, rewriting my first, second, and third chapters when I had a sudden bout of inspiration. I found myself getting so far into my characters that I would end up writing a paragraph or two entirely in first person POV.
For a bit I kept trying to correct myself. I blame blogger for my resurfacing habit of journal like writing. ;) Anyway, so after a bit I said what the heck and decided it might be fun to try to write a whole chapter in first person POV. It was.
For the first few paragraphs.
I found myself stumbling a lot here and there. It wasn’t that I couldn’t get in the character’s head but I had a lot of trouble staying in present tense. Show don’t tell became much easier in many parts because I just had to write it in the character’s voice as if I was walking with them and they were telling me their story, similar to what I do via MSN for some of my personal stories.
My biggest problem is- even on MSN those stories have happened and are done with. This story is present tense that much is clear and I can write in present tense but I too easily slip back into past tense every couple of sentences without even noticing till the edit.
I’ve started reading books in first person, all are in present tense as far as my perception goes and I’ve read half a dozen sites on the topic of first person but I have yet to come across something new AND helpful. I pretty much know the other stuff in one form or another and though I did get a lot of helpful tips as well as a lot of pro and con (most con) sites on the subject- I’m still seeking something.
Help? Please? Tips? Exercises? Something else?
I don’t want to abandon the idea altogether. That just sounds like quitting and I’m fairly certain this is working out rather nicely, better than I could have imagined, for this story. I’m really liking this whole first person thing and I love having to need to go even further into my character’s psyche than I already am.
weird. i would have guessed that the majority of books/stories were written in the past tense. i’ve certainly written most in the past. well, i’ve written in the present, obviously, but my words/story have been in the past. ;-)
try to keep the slips in check, but don’t worry so much: it can all be fixed in the rewrite. :-)
J1M: Could be my perception of past and present, how I see things happening when I read or write. I’m kind of weird. ;)
Very true. God/dess(e/s) bless rewrites. :) This is hopefully the same story I’ll have a bit to send you soon.