First & Third

T T T

First & Third

By: lucyr

I write much better in first person singular. For some reason

talking about myself is easier; the words never stop coming.

Either I love talking about myself or I love channeling the

pretend consciousness of a new character.

The problem: right now I'm working on a novel that

must be written in third person. There must be an all-seeing

narrator who understands many perspectives, time and space

shifts, and activities -- which slows down my writing. The

words just don't flow as well.

Solution: I continue to write in my own natural way, that

is, in the first person singular. The words flow as usual and

the pages keep filling up. On a few experiments, then, I go

back and change all the first person stuff into third person.

I simply change all the "I"s into "his" or "hers"; and the

"my's" into "theirs'". And you know what?

It's working.

At some point I read the new stuff back and I can get a

pretty good feel for its rhythms. In fact, I'm starting

to forgo the first person writing altogether, in order to save

time, and just write from the beginning in third-person.

It's coming more naturally to me now and I'm

guessing that if I keep up this practice, I will have taught

myself a new skill.

If you have the same problem that I do, try this.

You'll be surprised at how well it works.

Good luck, and happy writing!

Will

you suck