I just love writing in first person. Makes me feel like I’m the protagonist in my story and I can relate to them. Nothing against third person but I absorb more with first person. Most of my stories are in first person.
I didn't realize how infrequently first-person books I've enjoyed start sentences with "I". I had to re-read some of Red Rising & a few other books to get why the first-person view was done well, while my first-person stories sound off. Instead of saying something like "I heard the police knocking on my door" they'll say something like "the police are knocking on my door." And that's completely changed how my writing sounds.
I use a mixture of both. The action in my novels are approached through multiple characters first person POVs, and occasionally third person narration. Real life people often have their own 'truths' in life; so do my characters. Sometimes those 'truths' turn out to be the REAL STORY, sometimes the TRUTH is not what it actually may seem from a certain character's viewpoint. I use the REAL STORY/TRUTH aspect to develop plot twists - and character development and to sometimes teach a character a 'lesson'. Each character should perceive the world through their own biases and prejudices just like real people do. It makes for a more interesting story when the character (and the reader) actually learns something. It can be harder to write the story using a mixture like this, and you have to make sure to be 'in character' throughout the different scenes because as you so correctly stated each character's voice is different - but in my opinion it makes for a deeper connection for the reader as they are taking in the details of the story itself. What I rarely do is repeat the same 'scene' in multiple first person POVs - I don't like it as a reader and so avoid it as a writer.
I tend to write in first person and I find it stimulating and challenging, but I think it helps me to establish character voice in a more intuitive way. I will use third person in stories that benefit from a zoomed out perspective with a lot going on that the reader needs to be aware of.
I knew I'd see "bury the 'I'" in here. Such a fun exercise to go over things you've written and tweak all the sentences that use "I". It's definitely helped my 1ppov
Always appreciate you Brandon! LIke I said a year ago, I've watched all the other "writing advice" channels-You're the BEST. Thank you for all you do! Love Santa
I'm currently on the second book of my series with two first person POV narrators and one note I got from my editor/beta readers is that they really enjoyed how one POV in present tense while my the speaks in past (frequently past perfect) tense. It not made only the switching between POVs between chapters more recognizable but matched their respective personalities as well. I think playing around with grammar and sentence structure is my favourite part of writing in first person, it really helps ground a character and further build character voice. great video :)
I just found your channel last night I’ve been binging since. Lots of good information I just wanted to comment to thank you. I love the length of your videos and how you break them down. You make it easy to understand without tons of filler like so many other RUclipsrs.
I find the first-person style fits very well with shorter stories and character-driven stories. Military sci-fi for example is good because it's usually short and tends to focus on the struggles of characters in a conflict as opposed to the conflict itself and the larger picture.
Too Much Introspection!😆🤣Just hit 90% of the YA books I've read. This really does seem to be a problem with YA. Though when done well can work great. I had a trilogy written in first person and I loved it for this aspect, but really went way too much on this. Very easy to do this. Looking back I think one of the best ways to prevent this is to have it interrupted in some way. Not just an action they are doing like biting their nail. Maybe have new information that forces them to go What! Or allows them to connect something. I do think First Person needs to have a very unique voice even if you only have one POV. Great Video.
I read an Adult SF novel a few weeks ago that started out GREAT before it completely lost itself in introspection. YA is definitely the most guilty but it pops up everywhere
I think if it works or not also hangs very much at the story itself. I remember reading David Mitchell's Ghostwritten (great book) where a some of the chapters are heavy on introspection. But it works with the story, theme and characters pretty well. A lot of things are just happening in their heads, while the outside world is mundane and almost static. It is used to a specific effect there, which works. But I think this is really heard do archieve ...
In high school, I hated first-person writing and reading, and I even once said that "writing in the first person was lazy." Over ten years later, the first-person POV is my preferred method of writing. My stories are in the first person, but I am a growing writer and always learning ways to improve. This video did help me in some areas I didn't think about. I want to write in the third person, but I'm very hard on myself every time I do. I don't know why. Great video. Thank you for sharing these great tips.
I'm writing a story about a man posing as a preacher. "confession" is a great way to hear other characters lives and backstory, monologues and exposition.
I mostly use third person but sometimes pick certain books to write in first. Third tends to be a little easier to write. When I do first person, I sometimes forget to remove things that the character wasn't actually there for. So, sometimes I put third person sections or spinoff books to switch periodically to do important scenes that the main character didn't experience.
Yes! Exactly the problem... how to introduce information the narrator can't see. If you're writing in past tense, you can step back and say "What I didn't realize at the time, is that as I was in the airport, Tom had already found Mary...."
Interesting video. I used to hate writing first person but tried it for a short story because I thought some of the jokes and descriptions worked better that way. Positive response to that story (including the owners of the rpg it was based on wanting to put it on their website) made me a bit more willing to try first person writing. One thing I struggle with finding a good way to include descriptions of the protagonist in first-person stories.
You can have them look at themselves in the mirror and describe their appearance to the reader. For example: I noticed my reflection in the mirror. I got wavy brown hair, brown eyes, and a serious looking face as my mother says. I’m also kind of skinny. First person is actually my favorite writing style. Was this helpful?
Same, I don't want to do the old mirror trope, cuz it rubs me the wrong way. Plus my story is set in a world that doesn't have a lot of mirrors in the common people's homes. So... makes it difficult. And I want the description to flow well enough it doesn't take the reader out of the action, too.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Bram Stoker's Dracula always impressed me back in the day with the use of clever narrative devices. The artic explorer's letters to his sister in Frankenstein and the doomed ship captain's log in Dracula come to mind.
I'm very fresh to this thanks for the tips. I'm currently working on my first serious writing book and I feel like I will run into pitfalls very easily. Hopefully this will be a good reminder for me whenever I feel stuck.
I'm a screenwriter and have written dozens of them (22 features produced) but am tackling a novel and am doing it in first person, which I've always enjoyed reading. Still, it's very daunting. I enjoyed this video very much. To the point and exposes the problem (and opportunities) of doing it in first person. Thanks. Have to chew on your comments for awhile.
Hi Brandon, thanks for this excellent video and your professional advice. I wonder if you also could make a video of writing in 3rd person deep POV. I watched numerous videos and read various blog posts by writers and came across conflicting information. My main questions are: 1) Was is deep anyway? 2) And is it deep enough? 3) And is it better to use the "deepness" as a thought in italics or also in 3rd person? Here is an example that I read on a blog: "Judy picked up her pace. Footsteps sounded in her ears. Imagination? Maybe, but what if that spooky-looking man at the corner had followed her into the alley? Damn this tight skirt. She could hardly move her knees, let alone run. And these heels! What had possessed her to buy anything this high? Momma warned her about vanity." To me, it sounds pretty deep and if you ask me, the writer is in Judy's head. However, there was a commenter who said that to him or her, "it doesn’t seem that the second example is strictly third person - damn this tight skirt strikes me as a pretty weak display of Deep POV." So, I wonder, how deep should deep POV be to qualify as deep POV?? And I noticed also a confusion between should the deep POV be in italic or in 3rd person. In other words: I or he? 1rst examples: 1) John starred at Karen's diary. Should I take a peek or do the noble thing and respect her privacy? 2) John starred at Karen's diary. Should he take a peek or do the noble thing and respect her privacy? If the 2nd example is better, is it 3rd person deep POV or just 3rd person?? No, hurry, but if you have time, I would appreciate one of your clear videos to the topic. Happy 2023, Brandon, and much success as writer and in your private life.
Thank you for all your great videos. Could you please talk about pitching? I love how you pitch your books. I always go on for too long and don't know what parts of the story to focus on and what it too much of a spoiler.
What if your narrator is reliable and consistent, because all of the events they're describing are real within the context of the story, but in the conclusion, the narrator wakes up from a dream, and none of those events actually took place? I wonder how that would work to create an exciting, emotionally powerful story. That's not what's happening in the story I'm currently working on, but it was just a thought. I'm playing with the possibilities of a two-person POV, written from the perspectives of two characters who are very much in love, but they are afraid of risking the friendship they have formed, and it's an urban fantasy where they need to work together to solve a mystery, and through solving the mystery, they uncover their own trauma that explains their mutual fear of falling in love again. Their mutual pining is intense!
For one of my stories I did an unreliable narrator, which basically tried to tell his story so he didn't seem like a dick. But when you see his actions and shit it really created a disconnect
I’ve written four books in 3rd limited, but my new WIP really demanded 1st person, so here I go. It’s a tricky POV to write because it often *feels* natural to compose in the moment, but is actually much more technically difficult than 3rd. We tend to overlook exigence, the voice has to be strong and interesting enough to support an entire novel. and the time element of perspective on the story is so often not even considered. I’ve often turned away from reading 1st person in the past because the percentage of mediocre handling is high. It’s a very fun challenge to learn and conquer.
Very helpful video for a beginner such as myself. I especially struggle with the introspection bit and really does slow down the pace of the story. Thanks for the great advice
First person is my favorite writing style. I feel like I’m the protagonist in my story and I’m playing them as an actor. I was surprised when I found out a lot of people don’t like first person. Can you see why it’s not popular?
@@huntercoleman460 I completely agree. It's also my favorite and definitely what I've been using in my own writing. It makes it more personal to follow one character 's journey.
@@carinelaberge5352 I don’t like that it gets a lot of hate though. Do you struggle with character descriptions? Here’s how I would write it: I looked in the mirror. I got wavy reddish brown hair, brown eyes, and a serious face as Mother says. Was this helpful?
Thx ! Having difficulty with first person...but yes using journal dream entries...time and space shifts...this helped a lot. Gonna listen again and take notes. Thx ! I really like 1 st person but gosh dang it's so repetitive.
My story is about someone with amnesia. I heard about removing the "I" as much as possible (maybe here). Most of his story was reacting to being in a strange (to them) place. Though I threw in "diary entry," sort of. The character does some online research and related their findings by reading the wiki entries. I enjoyed the perspective and challenges to keep describing the "five senses" as you put it. Great video and good info, as always. Have a great holiday!
First-person pov is not only the more interesting and challenging perspective (not opposed to third), it also can create this illusion of a story's world lived in, even as we the writer are trying to write it (at least, we the writer may become wrapped up as a reader writing the story, and not the other way around by mistake). First person does come with challenges like you've mentioned; it creates this “veil” of suppressed information over the story we try to tell, because if we dive too deep into a story, it can actually begin to lose what the meaning is, and even where it's supposed to go (a challenge of creating voice, and once you have it, is you'll find the narrator only wanting to report certain things to the reader and will portray the story in their own inner world's manner and diction, and we as the writer have to control that voice to some extent, **give it things to do so it doesn't meander thoughts in the narrative as the story e.g. describe a scene using the five senses, and that means picturing you're in their body**). When writing first-person, it's especially important to know the story behind the story, especially if you're writing one with the intention and knowing you'll be limiting all this information behind it as events play out, which means paying especially careful attention to things happening in the background **hidden narrators or secondary narrative**. Even the character narrators themselves may want to suppress their own truths and informations of why they have goals for certain scenes, because they don't want to reveal the inner motive behind what they do what they do (we as people, don't tend to notice why we do what we do-we just do-while others more aware know what they're doing with the intention of lying to either themself or others, which makes writing people a tricky concept because we're all flawed and make mistakes, and have our own quirks and sycophantic idiosyncrasies **e.g. Unreliable narrators**). But all that's part of the fun of writing a first person narrative-it means more discovery of the story and who they are-but it also means playing spending more time with the narrative, unless, of course, you're writing about yourself (which in that case, the I behind ourself is a lot easier). However, and this is my point-trying to write the “I” behind those eyes, you need to know who those “I's” are before you start using those eyes to tell the “I's” story. That's especially true if you're writing a multi-first-person story and having to memorize six different or more voices and how they would react and approach things (it can disillusion you to alter your personality if you play around with them too much, so I'd advice caution with extreme deep first-person povs **Note that present tense involves this more often than not over past tense, where past tense is more reflective and insightful on prior events that shape how they think now: that's the key difference**). Not to exaggerate, but third's only the tip of the iceberg-while first is the bottom, the innermost depths of yourself you'll have to search, if you want to write this kind of narrative-which you do. You have to discover and know yourself before you can start translating that into others that may be like you-because in truth, they aren't like you-and they may want to come out and play. Consider this my little stream-of-consciousness (aka brain download) to approaching first-person, having dabbled with it for a while now (and unlocked that challenging tool for noggin about). Now, Virginia Wolfe and James Joyce might not have been trying to make their narratives clear from the start-that wasn't the point-but, they must've spent a lot of time thinking about themselves because they had the time of luxury to delve into picking the scab at their own thoughts. Their own subconscious. Which, is what makes writing this and discovering that hack tool, as a way to unlock and extract voice (especially when they say, “listen” to your character's voice). Even if you have to whisper out their every word to extract its authenticity from yourself, stream-of-consciousness is the brain hack to unlocking authentic voices not of your own-it's theorized our subconscious hides more than millions, if not billions of thoughts from ourselves-but what you choose to believe is what matters and what you see at the forefront of your noggin as you walk everyday. Your first-person.
Great well-thought-out post. Never heard that theory about all the thoughts our subconscious suppresses, but that’s a great tidbit that can be applied to POV in the right story
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty 👍 I connected my own ideas, practicing writing, regarding the 1st person pov, with information I've seen around. Channels like “the psychology of writing” Abbie Emmons is one great authortuber I've seen as an example of highlighting the topic of stories and the subconscious mind. I looked into it a bit further under the topic of psychology, and there does seem to be a link of these thoughts “floating around in our brain” just waiting to be used; all we have to do, is learn how to unlock it for ourselves. By training our brain in the craft and art that is the wonder of writing.
I like both equally, I'm writing two series (which are no connected to each other on any way, not even the same universe), with one of them being first and the other being third person POV. Plus, both are multi POV. I enjoy both, I don't really have a preference.
I write in 3rd person with multiple POV. I'm also thinking about telling the story from one characters POV in first person and write the scenes where he wasn't present in 3rd person, but based on what he later learned about what happened, or on his assumptions.
I wrote in first person just once and I hated it. It's by far the hardest POV to do right - which also leads to me not necessarily liking it as a reader, yet a lot of my favourite books are in first person, because if it's done well it's great. Especially Fist Person Multi POV.
My book is written with 3 main characters (who won't meet until the end) but only 1 of them is told in 1st person and the hardest part has been concealing the tenses because I don't want the audience to realize he's telling someone his story in the future, until I'm ready for that rug pull. So everything has to sound like it is in the present, but also if re-read it works perfectly if events were in the recent past from the reader and narrator's perspectives. It's not easy, but I think the payoff will be worth it. This video will be helpful in my final edit, thank you. Someday I want to try 2nd person for a prologue or an interlude, but never a full book. I like challenges but I'm not a masochist. 😅
Hi, Very informative vid again, thanks. How do you write dialogue between different characters and switch scenes, using third person POV and an all knowing narrator?
I love first person not as a mean to self-insert, but to know my protagonist better. After all, it is their story, not mine, I am just a passenger in their head - narrating their journey.
The book I’m writing is a high fantasy adventure, where the main character has lost his memory. My main character doesn’t get his name until chapter 3. And yes I am using the Isekai trope.
@@huntercoleman460 Must admit I saw the movie, didn't read the book. It was a good story, centered on a son trying to establish a relationship with an estranged, dying father.
Ouch. I'm definitely guilty of too much introspection. I am working on a book series about 8 "Three Musketeers"ish guys who have sworn blood-brotherhood in order to help the common folks in an anarchic wasteland. ... And it's written from the perspective of the eighth brother who joins them as a freed slave from another culture.
My character doesn’t know who they are, and they’re discovering that. Science fiction, in a post apocalyptic world. There is a big lab basically, that somehow brought the character into consciousness. The character figures that out throughout the story, so it is interesting to write. I’m building the stakes of the characters as I go, originally there is no reason to care about them, because they don’t know anything. Also. The futuristic dialect is different from what the character speaks, so they have a heavy accent of sorts, they’ll be speaking differently than everyone, so they can feel foreign. I think that will help distinguish my character.
At age 66 just learning but a this point (hashing out my first comedy Novel) a story basically about one man on a journey to reach his life dream, I'm thinking first person.
Third person, all the way! While there's nothing wrong with it, I generally don't like the first-person perspective in a written story. I don't know why, but it just doesn't land well with me.
I’m a little confused. When you were taking about “past versus present tense”, did you mean past vs present day? Nearly all narrative fiction is written in the literary past tense where even though we’re using the past tense forms of verbs, within the story itself, events are happening in the present. So, descriptions and narration are past tense, but dialogue is written in the present tense.
8:21: Normally, I love to write in third person as it is easier for me to describe characters and settings. With First person on the other hand, that is more difficult for me as if you get too witty and clever with the descriptions, it will break character most of the time. It doesn't really make much sense for a 10 year old to say 'She was as beautiful as 1'000 stars.' or just more complex words to describe things. It doesn't sound right. For me, I can get away using more descriptive words and techniques (eg smiles, metaphors) for third person then I do with First person. I'm not saying it's impossible to use description in First person, it's just slightly harder for me. But First elrson does have it's benefits. The story I'm writing now is in First person and I chose this because it gives me more of a challenge and First person helps the characters to feel more alive and real then third person. It really depends what POV you chose. You can go First, third, or a pretty good idea, a mixture! I'm sure you get can all of them to work for you.
I was thinking about having each of my narrators vary depending on who the main focus of the chapter was. The main protagonist is immediate first person, everything he describes is as it happens. The second protagonist told through national archives since she's royalty and it going to be "sanitized" and heroic sounding, third protagonist telling her grandchildren her life story as her life is winding down and she ends her story shortly before she passes away. The villain is going to be an unreliable narrator. I want her to be totally unhinged and sure of her delusions.
Tbh I have never read a book written in present tense. It's probably because reading/writing a whole novel that is written in present tense would be so weird in Turkish xD We generally just use it for peoms I guess
I've been looking everywhere trying to find a video about writing a first person present tense scare. I don't want my narrator to think "OMG!" or "AHHHH" lol But just describing something scary happening also doesn't seem to cut it. I can't find anyone talking about it, the closest I've seen so far is you mentioning the car accident in first person. How the narrator can't be calmly describing the event. Can you give me some advice on how to approach this? For context, my story is not a horror one, we're at home with this character when she hears a sudden shriek, but it's just a tea kettle her grandma has put on and forgotten, so it doesn't have to feel too alarming, but I'm having a lot of trouble conveing what a jumpscare this is to her at first.
how would you write a first person narration on an emotional argument scene? I'm confused on whether I should write it focused on narration and the intensity of the situation, or if I should write it focused on lines instead?
So with the bury the I, it goes more with when the paragraph or sentence begins with I, what goes for the I in the middle of the sentence for instance?
Your eighth item, _too much introspection,_ is one I might need to watch. Thanks for that and all the rest. I'll add another reason for writing in first, but it has a flipside as a reason to write in third. Try writing a story with two same-gender protagonists. Consider the classic, _A Separate Peace,_ where the story is told from the first person POV of the narrator, and how different the book would have been in third person. I wrote a story in third that was about two teenage boys, and I struggled to identify a particular boy because the pronouns were the same for both. Much of the time context identified a boy because I wrote it pretty close, but often context wasn't enough and ambiguity reared its ugly head. Had I written the story in first, I could have used I/my for one character and he/him for the other, making it an easier write without having to use the character names excessively. The flipside is I learned a thing or three by pushing through it and making it work.
How much does "bury the I" apply when you're writing from an extremely egotistical character's POV? In the story I'm writing, I occasionally switch from the protagonist's 3rd person POV to the antagonist's 1st person POV, and I want the selfishness of the antagonist to really show in the prose.
First person feels easier to write in, because I basically write in my own voice.. what would I do, or feel, I these things were happening to me? I don't have to worry about "is this guy's reaction reasonable?" ( I am ALWAYS reasonable), "would somebody really say that?" (I would totally say that)
I feel that too. Third person is actually harder for me to write too. I actually put a little of myself into the narrator of my story as well. My reactions are reasonable too. About time someone defends first person.
@@huntercoleman460 I think I could, if the story didn't dwell on uniquely female qualities. I could probably do a female detective or doctor. I wouldn't dare write a story about what it means to be a mother, or a romance from a female point of view
I started to watch a video on RUclips and then I stopped watching it because I had heard it all before. "I'm not sure I got it," he said as he stopped watching and started watching another cat video. Nope, can't write in first person. It's too difficult for him.
First person narrator is inherently unreliable. Can be in small things, things he misinterprets but the reader doesn’t. He can't see that the neighbor has a crush on him, his friend is lying to him, his classmates don't really like him, his parents are jerks, he's not as clever as he thinks he is...
All good stuff. But, haha, I bet you couldn't speak a word if we tied your hands behind your back. You told us about things that are annoyingly distracting. I agree 100% with you. Good video. But hand gestures are another. It's not that different from too many 'I's. Maybe try to bury them as much as possible. Most RUclipsrs have the same issue. The smart ones realize it and course correct. It's even worse when the camera is too close, even if zoomed out properly. This causes an exaggerated, distorted depth of field, and then at moments when their hands get closer to the camera, their hands look twice the size of their head! Moving the camera farther away and zooming back in helps a little, as that telephoto-compresses things. But all that motion still causes seasickness in the viewer. And that's not the real problem. Overuse of hand gestures is an indication of the speaker not having all that much confidence in what they are saying and so they compensate by using gestures to hopefully improve the impact of that beyond the impact they are afraid it doesn't have. It does not subconsciously get us to believe the speaker all that much more. Sadly, it has the opposite effect. It looks phony and manipulative. Not a good look for someone such as yourself, who I know is neither phony nor manipulative. But it kind of can feel like an insult to the viewer's intelligence. I don't think you want that. Don't believe me? Watch a video of minority leader Hakeem Jeffries. He's a brilliant guy saying important things and doing a great job, but when he speaks? It feels like he's trying to put one over on us, simply because of the ubiquitous awkward hand gestures. It detracts from what he actually says. He's shooting himself in the foot. Then watch this video. Just sayin'.
I just love writing in first person. Makes me feel like I’m the protagonist in my story and I can relate to them. Nothing against third person but I absorb more with first person. Most of my stories are in first person.
Yeah it’s super accessible and it eliminates the distance between the character and the writer (or reader)
When I switched to first person, I felt more connected to my character for some reason
I didn't realize how infrequently first-person books I've enjoyed start sentences with "I". I had to re-read some of Red Rising & a few other books to get why the first-person view was done well, while my first-person stories sound off. Instead of saying something like "I heard the police knocking on my door" they'll say something like "the police are knocking on my door." And that's completely changed how my writing sounds.
Do you prefer writing in 1st Person or 3rd Person POV? Let us know!
Third person
@@LaurieLeighArt Same here!
I use a mixture of both. The action in my novels are approached through multiple characters first person POVs, and occasionally third person narration. Real life people often have their own 'truths' in life; so do my characters. Sometimes those 'truths' turn out to be the REAL STORY, sometimes the TRUTH is not what it actually may seem from a certain character's viewpoint. I use the REAL STORY/TRUTH aspect to develop plot twists - and character development and to sometimes teach a character a 'lesson'. Each character should perceive the world through their own biases and prejudices just like real people do. It makes for a more interesting story when the character (and the reader) actually learns something. It can be harder to write the story using a mixture like this, and you have to make sure to be 'in character' throughout the different scenes because as you so correctly stated each character's voice is different - but in my opinion it makes for a deeper connection for the reader as they are taking in the details of the story itself. What I rarely do is repeat the same 'scene' in multiple first person POVs - I don't like it as a reader and so avoid it as a writer.
@@vpnightshadepersonalThat’s a lot to keep track of, but if you can make it work, awesome. I can’t imagine moving on from 3rd limited haha
I tend to write in first person and I find it stimulating and challenging, but I think it helps me to establish character voice in a more intuitive way. I will use third person in stories that benefit from a zoomed out perspective with a lot going on that the reader needs to be aware of.
I knew I'd see "bury the 'I'" in here. Such a fun exercise to go over things you've written and tweak all the sentences that use "I". It's definitely helped my 1ppov
It’s a great exercise. Gotta vary your sentence starters
Always appreciate you Brandon! LIke I said a year ago, I've watched all the other "writing advice" channels-You're the BEST. Thank you for all you do! Love Santa
Haha thanks Santa!
I'm currently on the second book of my series with two first person POV narrators and one note I got from my editor/beta readers is that they really enjoyed how one POV in present tense while my the speaks in past (frequently past perfect) tense. It not made only the switching between POVs between chapters more recognizable but matched their respective personalities as well. I think playing around with grammar and sentence structure is my favourite part of writing in first person, it really helps ground a character and further build character voice. great video :)
Thanks for watching!
I just found your channel last night I’ve been binging since.
Lots of good information
I just wanted to comment to thank you. I love the length of your videos and how you break them down. You make it easy to understand without tons of filler like so many other RUclipsrs.
Thank you for the kind words! If you ever need me to cover a specific topic, let me know
I’ve always really loved 1st person narrations. They just feel so personal, and real.
I find the first-person style fits very well with shorter stories and character-driven stories. Military sci-fi for example is good because it's usually short and tends to focus on the struggles of characters in a conflict as opposed to the conflict itself and the larger picture.
Too Much Introspection!😆🤣Just hit 90% of the YA books I've read. This really does seem to be a problem with YA. Though when done well can work great. I had a trilogy written in first person and I loved it for this aspect, but really went way too much on this. Very easy to do this. Looking back I think one of the best ways to prevent this is to have it interrupted in some way. Not just an action they are doing like biting their nail. Maybe have new information that forces them to go What! Or allows them to connect something. I do think First Person needs to have a very unique voice even if you only have one POV. Great Video.
I read an Adult SF novel a few weeks ago that started out GREAT before it completely lost itself in introspection. YA is definitely the most guilty but it pops up everywhere
I think if it works or not also hangs very much at the story itself. I remember reading David Mitchell's Ghostwritten (great book) where a some of the chapters are heavy on introspection. But it works with the story, theme and characters pretty well. A lot of things are just happening in their heads, while the outside world is mundane and almost static. It is used to a specific effect there, which works. But I think this is really heard do archieve ...
In high school, I hated first-person writing and reading, and I even once said that "writing in the first person was lazy." Over ten years later, the first-person POV is my preferred method of writing. My stories are in the first person, but I am a growing writer and always learning ways to improve. This video did help me in some areas I didn't think about.
I want to write in the third person, but I'm very hard on myself every time I do. I don't know why.
Great video. Thank you for sharing these great tips.
I'm writing a story about a man posing as a preacher. "confession" is a great way to hear other characters lives and backstory, monologues and exposition.
Ahhhh that’s a great way to get insights into a variety of characters. Is your story set in a small town by any chance?
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty haha a small isolated town yes
@@mattsager914 Nice. That’s an excellent way to introduce a large cast, by violating their privacy
Great advice! This is helpful to me as I love to write in first person POV. :)
Thrilled to hear it helped!
I've been reading a book in the first person and absolutely love it. I will try writing in the first person.
Best of luck!
I mostly use third person but sometimes pick certain books to write in first. Third tends to be a little easier to write.
When I do first person, I sometimes forget to remove things that the character wasn't actually there for. So, sometimes I put third person sections or spinoff books to switch periodically to do important scenes that the main character didn't experience.
Funny you say third is easier to write… I think first is easier to learn, but once you get a handle on writing fiction, third proves more flexible
Yes! Exactly the problem... how to introduce information the narrator can't see.
If you're writing in past tense, you can step back and say "What I didn't realize at the time, is that as I was in the airport, Tom had already found Mary...."
Great video!
Thank you. This helped me a lot
Glad it helped!
I prefer the First Person POV. Nice videos as always! 😀
Thanks!
Burying 'I' is pretty difficult when also avoiding to be verbs. It's a fun and challenging exercise though.
Interesting video.
I used to hate writing first person but tried it for a short story because I thought some of the jokes and descriptions worked better that way. Positive response to that story (including the owners of the rpg it was based on wanting to put it on their website) made me a bit more willing to try first person writing.
One thing I struggle with finding a good way to include descriptions of the protagonist in first-person stories.
You can have them look at themselves in the mirror and describe their appearance to the reader. For example: I noticed my reflection in the mirror. I got wavy brown hair, brown eyes, and a serious looking face as my mother says. I’m also kind of skinny. First person is actually my favorite writing style. Was this helpful?
Same, I don't want to do the old mirror trope, cuz it rubs me the wrong way. Plus my story is set in a world that doesn't have a lot of mirrors in the common people's homes. So... makes it difficult. And I want the description to flow well enough it doesn't take the reader out of the action, too.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Bram Stoker's Dracula always impressed me back in the day with the use of clever narrative devices.
The artic explorer's letters to his sister in Frankenstein and the doomed ship captain's log in Dracula come to mind.
I'm very fresh to this thanks for the tips. I'm currently working on my first serious writing book and I feel like I will run into pitfalls very easily. Hopefully this will be a good reminder for me whenever I feel stuck.
I'm a screenwriter and have written dozens of them (22 features produced) but am tackling a novel and am doing it in first person, which I've always enjoyed reading. Still, it's very daunting. I enjoyed this video very much. To the point and exposes the problem (and opportunities) of doing it in first person. Thanks. Have to chew on your comments for awhile.
Hi Brandon, thanks for this excellent video and your professional advice. I wonder if you also could make a video of writing in 3rd person deep POV. I watched numerous videos and read various blog posts by writers and came across conflicting information. My main questions are: 1) Was is deep anyway? 2) And is it deep enough? 3) And is it better to use the "deepness" as a thought in italics or also in 3rd person?
Here is an example that I read on a blog:
"Judy picked up her pace. Footsteps sounded in her ears. Imagination? Maybe, but what if that spooky-looking man at the corner had followed her into the alley? Damn this tight skirt. She could hardly move her knees, let alone run. And these heels! What had possessed her to buy anything this high? Momma warned her about vanity."
To me, it sounds pretty deep and if you ask me, the writer is in Judy's head.
However, there was a commenter who said that to him or her, "it doesn’t seem that the second example is strictly third person - damn this tight skirt strikes me as a pretty weak display of Deep POV."
So, I wonder, how deep should deep POV be to qualify as deep POV??
And I noticed also a confusion between should the deep POV be in italic or in 3rd person. In other words: I or he?
1rst examples:
1) John starred at Karen's diary. Should I take a peek or do the noble thing and respect her privacy?
2) John starred at Karen's diary. Should he take a peek or do the noble thing and respect her privacy?
If the 2nd example is better, is it 3rd person deep POV or just 3rd person??
No, hurry, but if you have time, I would appreciate one of your clear videos to the topic.
Happy 2023, Brandon, and much success as writer and in your private life.
Hey did you see my Deep POV video from a couple months ago?
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Several months ago? I missed it and watch it now. Happy 2023!
Thank you! This has really helped me as a new writer.
Thrilled to hear it helped!
I prefer third but I'm warming up to first. Excellent video.
My grandma had that book, entry wounds, cool!
Good video!
And that's a great question, because I like to write in third person! But I still find myself writing stories in first person.
Thank you for all your great videos. Could you please talk about pitching? I love how you pitch your books. I always go on for too long and don't know what parts of the story to focus on and what it too much of a spoiler.
What if your narrator is reliable and consistent, because all of the events they're describing are real within the context of the story, but in the conclusion, the narrator wakes up from a dream, and none of those events actually took place? I wonder how that would work to create an exciting, emotionally powerful story.
That's not what's happening in the story I'm currently working on, but it was just a thought. I'm playing with the possibilities of a two-person POV, written from the perspectives of two characters who are very much in love, but they are afraid of risking the friendship they have formed, and it's an urban fantasy where they need to work together to solve a mystery, and through solving the mystery, they uncover their own trauma that explains their mutual fear of falling in love again. Their mutual pining is intense!
For one of my stories I did an unreliable narrator, which basically tried to tell his story so he didn't seem like a dick. But when you see his actions and shit it really created a disconnect
I’ve written four books in 3rd limited, but my new WIP really demanded 1st person, so here I go. It’s a tricky POV to write because it often *feels* natural to compose in the moment, but is actually much more technically difficult than 3rd. We tend to overlook exigence, the voice has to be strong and interesting enough to support an entire novel. and the time element of perspective on the story is so often not even considered. I’ve often turned away from reading 1st person in the past because the percentage of mediocre handling is high. It’s a very fun challenge to learn and conquer.
Very helpful video for a beginner such as myself. I especially struggle with the introspection bit and really does slow down the pace of the story. Thanks for the great advice
First person is my favorite writing style. I feel like I’m the protagonist in my story and I’m playing them as an actor. I was surprised when I found out a lot of people don’t like first person. Can you see why it’s not popular?
@@huntercoleman460 I completely agree. It's also my favorite and definitely what I've been using in my own writing. It makes it more personal to follow one character 's journey.
@@carinelaberge5352 I don’t like that it gets a lot of hate though. Do you struggle with character descriptions? Here’s how I would write it: I looked in the mirror. I got wavy reddish brown hair, brown eyes, and a serious face as Mother says. Was this helpful?
These are great tips. Thank you very much.
Thx ! Having difficulty with first person...but yes using journal dream entries...time and space shifts...this helped a lot.
Gonna listen again and take notes.
Thx ! I really like 1 st person but gosh dang it's so repetitive.
Great tips! Thanks for sharing.
Awesome channel, love your energy
Thanks! Glad you enjoy it
Thank you so much I really needed this
Thrilled it helped!
My story is about someone with amnesia. I heard about removing the "I" as much as possible (maybe here). Most of his story was reacting to being in a strange (to them) place. Though I threw in "diary entry," sort of. The character does some online research and related their findings by reading the wiki entries.
I enjoyed the perspective and challenges to keep describing the "five senses" as you put it.
Great video and good info, as always. Have a great holiday!
Yeah if your character is reading wiki entries, helps to break that up with some physical reminders of the world around them. Best of luck with it!
In just a few short months, I've written 4 unrelated short novels in entirely main character POV, and in the past tense.
One trick I used in my story was dream sequences to explain what is bothering the protagonist or as a motivation to do something difficult.
First-person pov is not only the more interesting and challenging perspective (not opposed to third), it also can create this illusion of a story's world lived in, even as we the writer are trying to write it (at least, we the writer may become wrapped up as a reader writing the story, and not the other way around by mistake). First person does come with challenges like you've mentioned; it creates this “veil” of suppressed information over the story we try to tell, because if we dive too deep into a story, it can actually begin to lose what the meaning is, and even where it's supposed to go (a challenge of creating voice, and once you have it, is you'll find the narrator only wanting to report certain things to the reader and will portray the story in their own inner world's manner and diction, and we as the writer have to control that voice to some extent, **give it things to do so it doesn't meander thoughts in the narrative as the story e.g. describe a scene using the five senses, and that means picturing you're in their body**).
When writing first-person, it's especially important to know the story behind the story, especially if you're writing one with the intention and knowing you'll be limiting all this information behind it as events play out, which means paying especially careful attention to things happening in the background **hidden narrators or secondary narrative**. Even the character narrators themselves may want to suppress their own truths and informations of why they have goals for certain scenes, because they don't want to reveal the inner motive behind what they do what they do (we as people, don't tend to notice why we do what we do-we just do-while others more aware know what they're doing with the intention of lying to either themself or others, which makes writing people a tricky concept because we're all flawed and make mistakes, and have our own quirks and sycophantic idiosyncrasies **e.g. Unreliable narrators**). But all that's part of the fun of writing a first person narrative-it means more discovery of the story and who they are-but it also means playing spending more time with the narrative, unless, of course, you're writing about yourself (which in that case, the I behind ourself is a lot easier).
However, and this is my point-trying to write the “I” behind those eyes, you need to know who those “I's” are before you start using those eyes to tell the “I's” story. That's especially true if you're writing a multi-first-person story and having to memorize six different or more voices and how they would react and approach things (it can disillusion you to alter your personality if you play around with them too much, so I'd advice caution with extreme deep first-person povs **Note that present tense involves this more often than not over past tense, where past tense is more reflective and insightful on prior events that shape how they think now: that's the key difference**). Not to exaggerate, but third's only the tip of the iceberg-while first is the bottom, the innermost depths of yourself you'll have to search, if you want to write this kind of narrative-which you do. You have to discover and know yourself before you can start translating that into others that may be like you-because in truth, they aren't like you-and they may want to come out and play. Consider this my little stream-of-consciousness (aka brain download) to approaching first-person, having dabbled with it for a while now (and unlocked that challenging tool for noggin about).
Now, Virginia Wolfe and James Joyce might not have been trying to make their narratives clear from the start-that wasn't the point-but, they must've spent a lot of time thinking about themselves because they had the time of luxury to delve into picking the scab at their own thoughts. Their own subconscious. Which, is what makes writing this and discovering that hack tool, as a way to unlock and extract voice (especially when they say, “listen” to your character's voice). Even if you have to whisper out their every word to extract its authenticity from yourself, stream-of-consciousness is the brain hack to unlocking authentic voices not of your own-it's theorized our subconscious hides more than millions, if not billions of thoughts from ourselves-but what you choose to believe is what matters and what you see at the forefront of your noggin as you walk everyday. Your first-person.
Great well-thought-out post. Never heard that theory about all the thoughts our subconscious suppresses, but that’s a great tidbit that can be applied to POV in the right story
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty 👍 I connected my own ideas, practicing writing, regarding the 1st person pov, with information I've seen around. Channels like “the psychology of writing” Abbie Emmons is one great authortuber I've seen as an example of highlighting the topic of stories and the subconscious mind. I looked into it a bit further under the topic of psychology, and there does seem to be a link of these thoughts “floating around in our brain” just waiting to be used; all we have to do, is learn how to unlock it for ourselves. By training our brain in the craft and art that is the wonder of writing.
@@gamewriteeye769 Abbie does some great stuff. I’ll have to look up that video
I like both equally, I'm writing two series (which are no connected to each other on any way, not even the same universe), with one of them being first and the other being third person POV. Plus, both are multi POV. I enjoy both, I don't really have a preference.
first time here. I am very impressed. trying to right my first fiction romance....about my life😆😆😆😆
I used to write in the 3rd person. When I went to 1st person it all worked.
Not saying I'm a better writer! It just suits me.
I write in 3rd person with multiple POV.
I'm also thinking about telling the story from one characters POV in first person and write the scenes where he wasn't present in 3rd person, but based on what he later learned about what happened, or on his assumptions.
I wrote in first person just once and I hated it. It's by far the hardest POV to do right - which also leads to me not necessarily liking it as a reader, yet a lot of my favourite books are in first person, because if it's done well it's great. Especially Fist Person Multi POV.
My book is written with 3 main characters (who won't meet until the end) but only 1 of them is told in 1st person and the hardest part has been concealing the tenses because I don't want the audience to realize he's telling someone his story in the future, until I'm ready for that rug pull. So everything has to sound like it is in the present, but also if re-read it works perfectly if events were in the recent past from the reader and narrator's perspectives. It's not easy, but I think the payoff will be worth it. This video will be helpful in my final edit, thank you.
Someday I want to try 2nd person for a prologue or an interlude, but never a full book. I like challenges but I'm not a masochist. 😅
If that’s the case, you should probably write it in third person then.
I like to write in third person usually but I’m starting to like first person too
I’ve written 31 books I. 3rd person. I’m going to attempt to do first person with my next book. Wish me luck 😊
Hi, Very informative vid again, thanks. How do you write dialogue between different characters and switch scenes, using third person POV and an all knowing narrator?
I love first person not as a mean to self-insert, but to know my protagonist better.
After all, it is their story, not mine, I am just a passenger in their head - narrating their journey.
The book I’m writing is a high fantasy adventure, where the main character has lost his memory. My main character doesn’t get his name until chapter 3. And yes I am using the Isekai trope.
Had to look up Isekai, but I totally understand what you mean
Love the ending of "Real Big Fish", where the narrator we assumed was unreliable, is revealed to have told a true story!
Is it any good that book?
@@huntercoleman460 Must admit I saw the movie, didn't read the book. It was a good story, centered on a son trying to establish a relationship with an estranged, dying father.
Ouch. I'm definitely guilty of too much introspection. I am working on a book series about 8 "Three Musketeers"ish guys who have sworn blood-brotherhood in order to help the common folks in an anarchic wasteland.
... And it's written from the perspective of the eighth brother who joins them as a freed slave from another culture.
My character doesn’t know who they are, and they’re discovering that. Science fiction, in a post apocalyptic world. There is a big lab basically, that somehow brought the character into consciousness. The character figures that out throughout the story, so it is interesting to write. I’m building the stakes of the characters as I go, originally there is no reason to care about them, because they don’t know anything. Also. The futuristic dialect is different from what the character speaks, so they have a heavy accent of sorts, they’ll be speaking differently than everyone, so they can feel foreign. I think that will help distinguish my character.
At age 66 just learning but a this point (hashing out my first comedy Novel) a story basically about one man on a journey to reach his life dream, I'm thinking first person.
Hi. Regarding no. 8. What if im writing it in a collection of vignettes? They all have a central theme.
1st person tho i do struggle midly with past and present
That is do to rembering something then grounding back to present
Third person, all the way! While there's nothing wrong with it, I generally don't like the first-person perspective in a written story. I don't know why, but it just doesn't land well with me.
could you do the same video, but with examples please?
I’m a little confused. When you were taking about “past versus present tense”, did you mean past vs present day? Nearly all narrative fiction is written in the literary past tense where even though we’re using the past tense forms of verbs, within the story itself, events are happening in the present. So, descriptions and narration are past tense, but dialogue is written in the present tense.
8:21: Normally, I love to write in third person as it is easier for me to describe characters and settings. With First person on the other hand, that is more difficult for me as if you get too witty and clever with the descriptions, it will break character most of the time. It doesn't really make much sense for a 10 year old to say 'She was as beautiful as 1'000 stars.' or just more complex words to describe things. It doesn't sound right.
For me, I can get away using more descriptive words and techniques (eg smiles, metaphors) for third person then I do with First person. I'm not saying it's impossible to use description in First person, it's just slightly harder for me.
But First elrson does have it's benefits. The story I'm writing now is in First person and I chose this because it gives me more of a challenge and First person helps the characters to feel more alive and real then third person.
It really depends what POV you chose. You can go First, third, or a pretty good idea, a mixture! I'm sure you get can all of them to work for you.
Can you give examples of how to avoid using "I" in first person?
I write in 3rd person, but it would be interesting to write in 1st
I was thinking about having each of my narrators vary depending on who the main focus of the chapter was. The main protagonist is immediate first person, everything he describes is as it happens. The second protagonist told through national archives since she's royalty and it going to be "sanitized" and heroic sounding, third protagonist telling her grandchildren her life story as her life is winding down and she ends her story shortly before she passes away.
The villain is going to be an unreliable narrator. I want her to be totally unhinged and sure of her delusions.
I prefer using third person, limited viewpoint. I have never used first person. But I have used second perso on two occasions.
I imagine a Novel based on a community reacting to an event would best be told 3rd person. But i am the 66 year old rookie.
Any recommendations on how not to overuse the word "I" in first person?
Very helpful
Tbh I have never read a book written in present tense. It's probably because reading/writing a whole novel that is written in present tense would be so weird in Turkish xD We generally just use it for peoms I guess
oha türk buldum SELAMMM
@@dolliesuzie SELAMMM KLDLAMFÖLSLD Sen de mi hikayeler vb yazıyorsun
@@TIME-fe6ne bi kitap/hikaye yazmaya basladim ama ingilizce 😋 turkcem cok kotu HDXKJXKS
@@dolliesuzie Vaaay kolay gelsin 😼✨ Yazarlık maceranda başarılar dilerimm
@@TIME-fe6ne teşekkür ederim 💗💗
I've been looking everywhere trying to find a video about writing a first person present tense scare. I don't want my narrator to think "OMG!" or "AHHHH" lol But just describing something scary happening also doesn't seem to cut it. I can't find anyone talking about it, the closest I've seen so far is you mentioning the car accident in first person. How the narrator can't be calmly describing the event. Can you give me some advice on how to approach this? For context, my story is not a horror one, we're at home with this character when she hears a sudden shriek, but it's just a tea kettle her grandma has put on and forgotten, so it doesn't have to feel too alarming, but I'm having a lot of trouble conveing what a jumpscare this is to her at first.
How do you write sub plots in this type of writing? Like how do you shift the focus from the protagonist to a side chatecter.
how would you write a first person narration on an emotional argument scene? I'm confused on whether I should write it focused on narration and the intensity of the situation, or if I should write it focused on lines instead?
How to write multiple 1st person povs
So with the bury the I, it goes more with when the paragraph or sentence begins with I, what goes for the I in the middle of the sentence for instance?
I definitely prefer first person, but I also don't want to be stuck in it.
Your eighth item, _too much introspection,_ is one I might need to watch. Thanks for that and all the rest.
I'll add another reason for writing in first, but it has a flipside as a reason to write in third. Try writing a story with two same-gender protagonists. Consider the classic, _A Separate Peace,_ where the story is told from the first person POV of the narrator, and how different the book would have been in third person.
I wrote a story in third that was about two teenage boys, and I struggled to identify a particular boy because the pronouns were the same for both. Much of the time context identified a boy because I wrote it pretty close, but often context wasn't enough and ambiguity reared its ugly head. Had I written the story in first, I could have used I/my for one character and he/him for the other, making it an easier write without having to use the character names excessively.
The flipside is I learned a thing or three by pushing through it and making it work.
Yeah that ambiguity is a PAIN. I’m dealing with to right now (two shes) in the novel I’m working on
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty By the time you're done, action beats will be your best friend.
@@desertgecko4549 Absolutely
How much does "bury the I" apply when you're writing from an extremely egotistical character's POV? In the story I'm writing, I occasionally switch from the protagonist's 3rd person POV to the antagonist's 1st person POV, and I want the selfishness of the antagonist to really show in the prose.
First person feels easier to write in, because I basically write in my own voice.. what would I do, or feel, I these things were happening to me? I don't have to worry about "is this guy's reaction reasonable?" ( I am ALWAYS reasonable), "would somebody really say that?" (I would totally say that)
I feel that too. Third person is actually harder for me to write too. I actually put a little of myself into the narrator of my story as well. My reactions are reasonable too. About time someone defends first person.
Think you could write a female character in first person?
@@huntercoleman460 I think I could, if the story didn't dwell on uniquely female qualities. I could probably do a female detective or doctor. I wouldn't dare write a story about what it means to be a mother, or a romance from a female point of view
@@velocitor3792 me neither.
Chucks book is also great.
Yep. Loved it
I started to watch a video on RUclips and then I stopped watching it because I had heard it all before.
"I'm not sure I got it," he said as he stopped watching and started watching another cat video.
Nope, can't write in first person. It's too difficult for him.
Because it for my test then i can lesrn how do
I realized that I use "I" too much in the beginning of my story. Really, it needs to be changed.
Ugh, that was annoyingly great (Thank you). I am trying to keep my subscriptions low, but I guess you've got me now..
First person, nearly always.
I see uzumaki. I like.
I'm i first person
First 😊
Thanks for watching!
First person narrator is inherently unreliable. Can be in small things, things he misinterprets but the reader doesn’t. He can't see that the neighbor has a crush on him, his friend is lying to him, his classmates don't really like him, his parents are jerks, he's not as clever as he thinks he is...
Truth
All good stuff. But, haha, I bet you couldn't speak a word if we tied your hands behind your back. You told us about things that are annoyingly distracting. I agree 100% with you. Good video. But hand gestures are another. It's not that different from too many 'I's. Maybe try to bury them as much as possible.
Most RUclipsrs have the same issue. The smart ones realize it and course correct.
It's even worse when the camera is too close, even if zoomed out properly. This causes an exaggerated, distorted depth of field, and then at moments when their hands get closer to the camera, their hands look twice the size of their head! Moving the camera farther away and zooming back in helps a little, as that telephoto-compresses things. But all that motion still causes seasickness in the viewer.
And that's not the real problem.
Overuse of hand gestures is an indication of the speaker not having all that much confidence in what they are saying and so they compensate by using gestures to hopefully improve the impact of that beyond the impact they are afraid it doesn't have. It does not subconsciously get us to believe the speaker all that much more. Sadly, it has the opposite effect. It looks phony and manipulative. Not a good look for someone such as yourself, who I know is neither phony nor manipulative. But it kind of can feel like an insult to the viewer's intelligence. I don't think you want that.
Don't believe me? Watch a video of minority leader Hakeem Jeffries. He's a brilliant guy saying important things and doing a great job, but when he speaks? It feels like he's trying to put one over on us, simply because of the ubiquitous awkward hand gestures. It detracts from what he actually says. He's shooting himself in the foot.
Then watch this video. Just sayin'.
Good to know. Thanks!