Last night, I picked up my grad school thesis for the first time since May.
I am not exaggerating. I was so sick of writing and revising it that I couldn’t even reread my work for six months.
Looking at it now, I realize how much a person can grow and change in half a year. Just think about all the things that have happened to you since May. Are you a different person now?
I am beginning to remember the ideas and emotions that consumed me while I was writing these short stories, and I am suddenly not sure if I want to continue where I stopped. I have greater insight and a better grasp on friendships/relationships.
Regardless, I feel ready to revise and add to it. But now I want to use the first-person (“I”) voice.
I wrote my original manuscript with a third person narrator, and my advisers frequently suggested that I experiment with the first person. At the time, I didn’t feel ready to explore the first person voice.
However, I think I understand my main character better. I can speak for her now. I plan to spend the next few weeks retyping the original manuscript with a first person voice.
While considering my own work, I am also starting to wonder: how I can apply shifts in narration to real-life situations?
Do you allow someone else to speak on your behalf? Could you find your own voice? Should you find your own voice?
For my fictional character, first person will mean that she will have to be more of who she is. She will be funnier, bolder, and more creative. She will make stronger decisions and assert herself in antagonistic situations.
Can you rewrite your narrator?
Not exactly sure how to present yourself? Doubting your identity, values, or beliefs? You will probably require a third person narrator. Desirous and outspoken? Diving headfirst into a goal or mission? You will have to flex your first person. Feeling like you only matter in relation to another person? In rare cases, you will want a second person narrator.
Trust that you will know which narrator to recruit. Pay attention during the quiet moments, and you will be ready to speak during the loud times.
(Photo by pedrosimoes7)