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- This topic has 326 replies, 18 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 10 months ago by Kate Flournoy.
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November 12, 2016 at 12:48 pm #21049
@anne-of-lothlorien
I find that first person works better if I want a deeper connection with my character and their emotions. Not being an overly emotional person myself, it forces me to be more in tune with what’s going on in their heads. Nevertheless, for some reason I almost always write in third person. Don’t ask me why.And you can call me Ehtryndal if you want. 🙂
INTJ ➸Your friendly neighborhood mastermind. ➸https://thesarcasticelf.wordpress.com/
November 12, 2016 at 4:04 pm #21055@anne-of-lothlorien
I wrote my first few novels (if you can call them such– they were short) in first person, because I was writing about an imaginary perfected version about myself (I was nine, and that was pretty much all I wanted to write about), but then I switched to third person for a really long time. Finally, recently, I tried first person again, and it is now my favorite, because in first person, I can narrate the way I want to narrate. The character’s thoughts are my thoughts. If I have a quirky thought about something, I throw it in, and it becomes the character’s quirky perspective, and no one judges. 🙂 It allows for more humor, which I love to write. Although I did write a very serious novella in first person over the summer. In the case of serious stories, I still prefer first person because I feel an emotional connection with the narrator. It forces the writer to tap more deeply into his/her own feelings and emotions to write an emotional scene. It makes one think, “How would I really react in this situation?” I feel like first person can make a story more believable sometimes, because it is more personal. I prefer reading first person over third person, because then I, the reader, identify more with the narrator.
But I still use third person, too. It all depends on what I want to do with a story. If I want to be omniscient and follow several different characters, which is cool too, third person is my way to go. (By the way, if you want a cape, it’s pretty easy to make one out of an old shower curtain or sheet. I’ve made three capes– a black one out of sewing fabric, a white one with a hood out of a shower curtain, and a white one without a hood out of a sheet. If you have a sewing machine, you can do it in about an hour. Let me know if you want to try, and I can give you some tips on how to make one out of a sheet pretty easily.)
Second person has always sounded interesting. I really want to read a novel in second person now, although I don’t think I could write one. @sleepwalkingmk, I have read those historical fiction pick-a-path stories, but I was always frustrated by the fact that the choice I REALLY would’ve taken wasn’t an option. The choices were things like, “You broke your mother’s vase. Do you: 1) sweep the pieces under a rug so no one will find them (turn to page 178) or 2) put them in your handbag and take them with you (turn to page 140)?” And then, I always wanted to know what would have happened if I chose one of the other options. Or they would have two stupid decisions for you to choose from– “Do you jump out the window on the left, or the window on the right?” You know.YA Fantasy Writer
Obsessive Character Namer
Find me at hisinstrumentblog.wordpress.comNovember 13, 2016 at 7:53 am #21064@his-instrument Yeah, I know. I’ve only read one or two, and I always die really quickly -_- I’d love to read a novel in 2nd person done well, too. Sometimes authors talk to the readers (C.S. Lewis in the Chronicles of Narnia, Death in The Book Thief movie–not sure if it’s like that in the book though), but it’s not quite the same. 😛
- This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by SleepwalkingMK.
Read to explore worlds, write to create them.
November 13, 2016 at 5:48 pm #21072@his-instrument- Oooh boy, persons of writing. Fun topic. *rubs hands*
I prefer to write in first person, for the moment. But as far as reading… it’s a bit more complicated? Like… for first person, I’m a bit more picky. If I don’t like the main character or find him/her interesting, that book isn’t getting finished. And if I like the main character, it’s going to be one of my favorite books. I’m less picky with my third-persons, because they can character jump.
So on a scale of best to worst… A good first person book. A good third person book. A bad third person book. A bad first person book.
- This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by Rosey Mucklestone.
November 14, 2016 at 11:27 am #21084@Daeus Now you have to write the rest of that story. Interesting. I’ve never written second person, but maybe I’ll try sometime. AFter NANOWRIMO.
@Ethryndal I can’t call you Ehtryndal on your tags or it won’t tag you. But I might otherwise. Ehtryndal. Ehtryndal. Ehtryndal.
@sleepwalkingmk We’re all insane here, so we could understand an insane villain easily. *refrains from chesire cat quote that i use all the time even though I despise that movie* I’ve read those choose-your-choice books. I die quick, or break friendships, or ruin the world because I’m pretty blunt. And those ‘I wouldn’t do either one choices’. Yes. Like personality tests; “If you were at a camp, would you be (a) Riding a horse (b) making a craft, or (c) taking a hike?” Well, neither, I’d be swimming!
@his-instrument I know what you mean about quirky thoughts in first person, but I have little thoughts like that in my book Dawn, which is written third person, but it actually works, because most of the time, I’m focused on Gwen, the MC. Yes, please tell me how to make a cape! @hope seems to have all the luck after Halloween, while I don’t even find one teeny weeny half cape.
@Daeus @kate-flournoy I love Ben too.
@emma-flournoy Where? Where, where where where? WHERE!!!!! *grabs you by the collar and shakes you even though I probably couldn’t cause I’m so short and weak* Where? Tell me, or you shall encounter my flame-dagger.ENFP - "One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane."
November 14, 2016 at 12:56 pm #21121@Anne-of-Lothlorien Lessee… *goes back to find topic in my posting history*
Here it is. Blank Mastermind
November 14, 2016 at 9:10 pm #21142@anne-of-lothlorien @writefury @sleepwalkingMK @his-instrument @ethryndal Oh, first person. For some reason, my writing really only seems successful when I write in that person. Third person is another thing altogether. I find it insanely difficult. I can’t believe I’m asking this but, any tips???
☀ ☀ ☀ ENFP ☀ ☀ ☀
November 17, 2016 at 3:56 pm #21233@dragon-snapper Check out this link on 3rd person… it really sums it all up well: https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/third-person-pov/
Hope that helps! 🙂Read to explore worlds, write to create them.
November 19, 2016 at 1:33 pm #21266Anyone ever noticed how events in their life somehow end up in their writing? Like a couple months ago, I went through a minor depression, due to my INTJ tendencies to suppress my emotions, and rereading some of the things I’d written then, I noticed they all had a darker atmosphere than most of my other writing. I also had a character who ended up as an emotional wreck because I was using her to funnel all my access emotions out of me without necessarily having to make myself “vulnerable” by telling them to a living person. I wouldn’t exactly recommend doing that, but my point is, I was subconsciously using my writing as a way to help me cope with life.
Anyone done that before?INTJ ➸Your friendly neighborhood mastermind. ➸https://thesarcasticelf.wordpress.com/
November 19, 2016 at 2:18 pm #21267@Ethryndal first of all just let me say this is really weird, because INTJ females are supposed to be as rare as unicorns, but we have at least three on this site— you, @Hope, and @Jess. KP must be a magnet for all things rare and fascinating. 😛
And second of all, I honestly don’t know. If I’m going through an intense emotional phase (of any kind) I like to express it through poetry, but I do it on purpose, not unconsciously. I can definitely see how that would happen though. It’s an INXX tendency to abhor the thought of vulnerability, I think, so I could definitely see myself doing that. (I’m an INFP.)
November 19, 2016 at 2:33 pm #21268@Ethryndal I like to do that sometimes (though usually on purpose). If I’ve had a rough day, I’m going to write a tenser part in my story because I’m actually feeling something very close to what my character is feeling in the scene. (Does that make sense?) Or I’ll make my sarcastic character say the things I can’t get away with 😉 #confessionsofawriter
I do use my writing to help myself cope with life. I make my characters go through awful things and then my troubles don’t look as bad 😛
@kate-flournoy I’m not exactly an INXX, but I also abhor being vulnerable, though I feel like I am a lot 😛Read to explore worlds, write to create them.
November 19, 2016 at 2:52 pm #21270I am an infp and I do that all the time. I went through this sort of situation, and my writing was used a lot to help me calm down and get rid of some of the pressure building up inside me.
@ethryndalNovember 19, 2016 at 2:57 pm #21272What’s rather interesting is that I’m an intj when I get enough sleep, which isn’t the case right now. I actually took the same test twice, once during vacation (I slept enough) and once during a work month, andcame up with very different results – and very different writing.
November 19, 2016 at 2:59 pm #21273@The-Bean huh. That’s really cool.
November 19, 2016 at 3:03 pm #21274@Ethryndal I don’t generally do that, but sometimes I’ll take what is happening and use it to make a scene more realistic. Like once I was in charge of the house while Mom and Dad were gone overnight, and all the creaking through the night freaked me out, then I used the emotions from that ‘scene’ in a similar scene in a book where a princess is alone in the forest right before being captured.
INTJ - Inhumane. No-feelings. Terrible. Judgment and doom on everyone.
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