From third person limited to first person . . .

[Lifelongdagger]

I have written thirty odd thousand words of the first draft of my first novel. It is written in third person limited. Among some very helpful feedback I have received, one reader has suggesting re-writing the whole thing as a first person narrative. This strikes a chord with me, and makes a lot of sense.

I just wondered what sort of an endeavour I would be taking on. I'm content to finish the first draft in third person, just to get the story down, and wondered if there were any particular techniques or tips for rewriting in first person. What needs to be left out, what needs to be emphasised, reduced, that sort of thing.

Any comments will be much appreciated.

Warmest regards,

Ian

[Wolvel]

Finish the first draft as is then take a break from it. Come back to it later and read it as is, if you think it would work better in first pov after reading it then re-write the whole book as your second draft. That will give you two ways to look at it.

[dawinsor]

You might try taking a page or two and making the change and seeing how it feels to you. At a workshop, I once did an exercise where we wrote the same passage in three different POVs, and I found that for me at least, changing from third to first wasn't just a matter of changing the pronouns. Everything in first felt much more filtered through my MC's attitudes and thoughts. It was much more intimate. If you try it, you can see how much work it is for you and if you like the results, and as a bonus, you're bound to get to know your MC just a little better.

[Lifelongdagger]

Thanks Wolvel and dawinsor, that's a great help. I did intend to finish the first draft in third person, third person limited, actually, and then go to first. You've made me realise, Wolvel, that now is not the time to predict this move. The book might actually be better as it is. As a serial underachiever with a lifelong fear of both success and failure, for me to finish the book is the main thing.

And dawinsor, what a great idea. I already have a couple of scenes in mind with which to try it. As it is all written in third person limited anyway, perhaps the jump to first person might not be as big as I first thought.

Warmest regards,

Ian

[heyjude]

I tried this with my first ms. I re-wrote 3 chapters going from 1st to 3rd. Then I put it down for a month. When I went back and reread it I realized it sucked in 3rd. SO glad I didn't spend the time on the whole ms.

Experiment. You never know what will work!

[timewaster]

I think you will know within a chapter or two whether it works or not. As another poster saidm it is more than just changing the pronouns. In filtered third you do not have to use only the words your POV character would use, you can move between distance and intimacy. In first you can only use the words, expressions, thoughts, syntax that your POV character would use. It is great fun but it is not the same as tight third.

[icerose]

If you do wish to make the change, I strongly recommend printing it out and typing it from the draft. Go slow. This will also give you a chance to edit your piece as you move along. But if you don't start fresh, chances are you're going to miss a parts of the third person.

[HeronW]

I think I'd go in now and redo from ch. 1 in 1st POV shifting things as needed rather than finish another 60K or whatnot and then go back redo even more.

[Captain Howdy]

I did the opposite. I've spent a year and a half writing in first person, got to roughly 30K words, but halfway through that I had to start writing in third person to broaden the scope of the story. Now I've gone back to square one and started over in third person. The characters are much more three dimensional and the action more "fun" and "dramatic". Luckily I already have quite a bit in third so I didn't lose my entire word count. If I hadn't already begun writing some scenes in third I may have continued to the end in first, maybe not.

[yappo]

FP is, well, FP.
TP is very often two POV:s -- the character's and yours, the author's.

There is a trick used for getting around this dilemma, if it is a dilemma, in FP. A memoir style story. The character remembers, or at least retells, the story. In this case the narration can use both a vocabulary and a knowledge that would be unavailable to the character as the events unfold, but the reader assumes that the older version of the character is familiar with. Even gives room for some inside jokes in the style of: "I turned and saw a run-down Therence model interstellar liner make ground. Well, at the time I thought of it as a Bloody Big Barge."

Sten