writing first person pov

Of course it's possible. Otherwise we wouldn't have:

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe
A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
We, Evgeny Zamiatin
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Little Big Man, Thomas Berger
I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
The Ox-Bow Incident, by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov
every Sherlock Holmes tale by Arthur Conan Doyle
every Nero Wolfe mystery by Rex Stout
every Travis McGee thriller by John D. MacDonald

Concentrate on what your narrative character does and observes, more than on what your narrative character thinks.

One of the biggest benefits of first-person POV is that it forces you, dear writer, into the discipline of limiting your narrative to what can be observed and done by ONE character. You can't head-hop, or drift about in a nebula of vague POV options.

caw

I use first person pov often. It's an effective way to literally "get into" your character's head and can establish a connection between the reader and protagonist right from the start. You don't have to use tags like, "he thought" or, "she mused" when reflecting on an idea or event (though you could certainly avoid those in third person via clever technique). The biggest drawback I've encountered with first person pov has been maintaining mystery and suspense on the part of the protagonist. It's difficult to justify a main character making any surprise moves when we've been living inside their head for 200+ pages. I've changed more than a few short stories to third person because of this.

You could certainly write a story from the pov of a journaling character, though you'd probably want to start by establishing a frame of distance between the character and their experience. In other words, how much time has passed between the event and when they sat down to journal? How much do they really remember and is their memory accurate? Most people don't remember things with 100% accuracy; you could have some fun here. You'd also want to think about the level of detail afforded by this type of telling. They're recollecting events, not living them, so, for example, if the protagonist is writing about an argument he had with his girlfriend, he probably wouldn't recall her sighing or looking down, but he might mention that she was biting her nails or stomping her feet, i.e. big, obvious, memorable things that allow you to "show" the scene playing out without being there in the moment.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of the "tales from my diary" perspective, but that's just my own bias. If it's something that interests you, then why not try your hand at some experimental free writes/flash fiction?

Tbh, I don't see how you would write a diary except in first person.

First person pov offers various challenges, the most notable being that you can only recount what the narrator knows and experiences. There is a first person omniscient pov that is used rarely, but ime it simply doesn't work. The idea that first person should be limited is too strong in me, maybe.

Some readers don't like first person. Nothing you can do about that so don't let it worry you.

First person is difficult to do well, imo. It's harder than third. Too many first person stories I've read haven't used the pov to take the reader into the head of the narrator. They would probably have worked in third.

Not everyone agrees, but I think first person should be written in the voice of the character, with their unique take on the world. Really get inside their skin.

Read as much first person as possible. If you don't read a lot of it, writing it well just isn't going to work. The only drawback to first person is the skill of the writer.

All diaries and journals I've ever read were in first person. I know of no other way to write one.

Buffysquirrel said:

Tbh, I

First person pov offers various challenges, the most notable being that you can only recount what the narrator knows and experiences. .

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This is no different than third person limited, which is the most common form of writing fiction.

Buffysquirrel said:

Tbh, I don't see how you would write a diary except in first person.

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I suppose the writer could refer to themselves in 3rd person. "Some idiot left the lights on again! Will he never learn??"

Some old journals are written that way; they're first person accounts but refer to everyone, including the author, by name as if in third. (With occasional lapses into "I".)

Strange thought: if the Bible was "written" by God, it is actually first person expressed as third/omni.

Buffysquirrel said:

First person is difficult to do well, imo. It's harder than third. Too many first person stories I've read haven't used the pov to take the reader into the head of the narrator. They would probably have worked in third.

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I've also said this -- it's harder to get first person right, and flaws are more visible.

Too often first person is a laundry list of actions: I did this, I did that. Impersonal and choppy.

The Travis McGee books are great ones to study. When I first read one, later I didn't remember whether it was in 1st or 3rd and actually had to go check... it was that smoothly involving.

bkendall said:

I do not read much in the way of 1st pov but I have read some of the examples blacbird mentioned. While I did enjoy those I'm finding it so hard to wrap my mind around using 1st. It probably shouldn't be this hard but it is. The only reason I ask is because I really want to work on a story that I feel only could be written from 1st to make sense. Without going too much into the sandbox, it's a story where two friends meet up and recount some wild tales from their youth only for the reader and protagonist to find out that the friend is a figment of his imagination. I hope you see the dilemma.

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That's a interesting story idea and I agree with you 1st person would be best. The limited view point would be essential to hide the truth. You'd also be able to get into the head of the character much better using this approach. The twist would then be a greater shock to the reader.

Personally I like 1st POV's - the thoughts and emotions of the MC can create a strong voice - and a good hook. (Providing the reader likes your character )

Good luck!

bkendall said:

I do not read much in the way of 1st pov but I have read some of the examples blacbird mentioned. While I did enjoy those I'm finding it so hard to wrap my mind around using 1st. It probably shouldn't be this hard but it is. The only reason I ask is because I really want to work on a story that I feel only could be written from 1st to make sense. Without going too much into the sandbox, it's a story where two friends meet up and recount some wild tales from their youth only for the reader and protagonist to find out that the friend is a figment of his imagination. I hope you see the dilemma.

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That could go either way, but I think is a very different story in first person, compared to what it would be in third. It might be worth writing both ways just to examine the differences.

And it's a really neat idea! Go for it.

Jamesaritchie said:

This is no different than third person limited, which is the most common form of writing fiction.

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Maybe in theory, but in practice I find a lot of 3rd limited includes observations that are not within the direct pov of the character.

bkendall said:

The only reason I ask is because I really want to work on a story that I feel only could be written from 1st to make sense. Without going too much into the sandbox, it's a story where two friends meet up and recount some wild tales from their youth only for the reader and protagonist to find out that the friend is a figment of his imagination.

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Have you read Fight Club? It might help. But ultimately the only way to do this is to try. It doesn't have to be perfect first time. You will make mistakes.

Glad we could help. And do give Fight Club a look.

Absolutely you can show, rather than telling in 1st person.

In fact, I find the showing much easier in 1st person than 3rd. My 1st person narrator can't know what another person is feeling. She can only relate their facial expressions, words and actions. For her own internal reactions and feelings, I can get really intimate with how things feel.

First person POV is my favorite to write in. I believe there's a depth to emotions that you get from first person that other povs don't provide. I wish I could successfully get away with writing a multiple pov story in first person. I've seen people pull it off, but I'm not that good.

bkendall said:

Have you ever used 1st person pov? If so what are some benefits and some drawbacks in your opinion? Also is it plausible to do this through the characters writing of a journal? If this is possible how can I show what happens instead of telling everything? It's just some food for thought nothing really serious but thanks in advance for any suggestions or experiences.

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1. Yes.

2. Benefits: Make the story immediate and in the pov character's voice and perceptions without wrangling with all the differing expectations re third person of varying depths. Also, a lot of flexibility, ranging from the ability to tell a story from a greater temporal distance (reminiscing about long ago) to a narrative style that feels like it's happening "now." Great for unreliable narrators. It also gets rid of sticky pronoun attribution issues when two hes or two shes are interacting closely in a paragraph.

3. I can't really think of a global disadvantage if you have a story that benefits from being told in the main character's pov. If you have more pov characters, or need to show things the pov character never knows at all, then it can be limiting. Though some writers pull of multi first very nicely. I guess one down side is if you're writing a story where the pov character has literally forgotten their past (or part of it) and you don't want an unreliable narrator, or if the main character dies at the end (or you want to keep their survival up in the air). There are workarounds here, but they may or may not work.

4. Yes, there are stories that are told as if they're journal entries. They're examples of epistolary stories. I've also seen novels where the premise was that someone found a journal or was writing in theirs, but once that was established, the normal novel format took over. There are many ways to tell a story.

5. You show the important story elements in the same way as you would in third person, except in first.

Instead of writing: I contemplated killing him, but the idea upset me.

You could write something like: My heart pounded as I fingered the knife. It would be so easy to slip the blade in between his ribs while he wasn't looking. But then I'd be the murderer. I slipped it back into my pocket.

Author Mary Robinette Kowal blogged about showing instead of telling (along with some other misunderstood advice) recently

I like writing in first-person. Getting inside the character's head and seeing how they perceive their world fascinates me. However, one issue I have sometimes is my use of description. I tend to trip myself up writing as an observer and not how a first-person pov would.

First person POV is fun, but it does have its challenges.

You can't easily nip off to see what another character is up to. So you can't say, pop into the villain's lair to see him being villainous. You have to show things through the main character's eyes.

There's the problem of how much the narrator knows. Is he telling the story from the perspective of having got to the end? Does he know how it all finishes? In that case, there might not be so much tension. If the story is told by way of a diary then you can get around this.

One other challenge is to develop a distinctive character voice that it different from your own voice. This can be important when you write your second first person novel with a different first person narrator.

I have written one book where the first person narrator is a man in his twenties. He is warm, lacking in confidence, unsure, easily confused. I followed this up with a book written from the perspective of a much older man who has lots more confidence, but is cunning and ruthless.

The thing I found hard was to make each character distinct and different from me. And then to give them a character arc so that their personalities develop as the story progresses.

Some of that also applies to third person, but it seemed more important in first.

I tend to use first person POV if the focus is very much upon the emotional state of the MC. I like the fact that you can take the reader into situations without them being fully aware of what is happening, and that they have to figure things out along with the narrator.

Also, if there is an element of humour or suspense, it can work by approaching a situation without a complete knowledge!

I wrote my first two books in 3rd person. The third one I wrote in 1st person, and now I'm hooked. I keep trying to go back to writing in 3rd person, but I end up going back and making it 1st. I find it more fun to write in, and it's easier for me to get into the character's voice. I haven't found any drawbacks, probably because when I wrote in 3rd person it was always limited 3rd anyway, so I don't feel limited writing in 1st.

It's a worthwhile experiment to do if you're curious about it.

I have a novel I tried in first that didn't work that way. The story would have been confusing to the reader. There were things the main character took for granted that the reader wouldn't understand. He had no reason to explain them. A change to third omni solved that problem. The omniscient narrator can provide the background info without dumping it.

bkendall said:

I do not read much in the way of 1st pov but I have read some of the examples blacbird mentioned. While I did enjoy those I'm finding it so hard to wrap my mind around using 1st. It probably shouldn't be this hard but it is. The only reason I ask is because I really want to work on a story that I feel only could be written from 1st to make sense. Without going too much into the sandbox, it's a story where two friends meet up and recount some wild tales from their youth only for the reader and protagonist to find out that the friend is a figment of his imagination. I hope you see the dilemma.

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Reading more in first person will help greatly. Reading more is the key to may problems that come up in writing. Try reading short stories written in first person. That way you can get a variety of different examples faster than you can reading novels. Although, I still think you should read first person novels, too.

I can see the story you mentioned working in first or third. The execution of the writing can make or break a story. Reading examples of the way you want to write is just so beneficial. Reading and writing are very connected. When I read work from classmates or friends, it is pretty easy to spot who reads more and who needs to read more.

I love first person. I'm fine with only seeing what my character sees; I think it's easier to plausibly surprise the reader, because the MC didn't see the twist coming, so neither does the reader.

About the only disadvantage, that DebbieV touched on, is it might be harder to work in backstory than in omni. But avoiding infodumps is just a writing challenge in any POV, I suppose.

The mentions of epistolary, journal, and first person together gave me this thought for a novel, which anyone who wishes may steal:

The journal is chained to some significant object. Random persons write their thoughts in it. Occasionally someone instead leaves a letter between the pages.

bkendall said:

Have you ever used 1st person pov? If so what are some benefits and some drawbacks in your opinion? Also is it plausible to do this through the characters writing of a journal? If this is possible how can I show what happens instead of telling everything? It's just some food for thought nothing really serious but thanks in advance for any suggestions or experiences.

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I much prefer third person limited/close third person where you can still hear the thoughts of the character, and the POV remains on only one character at a time. You get all the benefits of 1st person without having to constantly worry about starting too many sentences with "I" or any of the other 1st person pitfalls.