FA+
Shop
^?^ Your opinion?
11 years ago
General
Here's something that has plagued me for awhile now: voice when writing fictional narrative in the 1st person. It plagues me because most (actually, all I've met, myself included) when telling you (orally) a story about themselves are hardly good storytellers, hardly poetic, hardly masters of oratory or literary form. A lot of people (maybe most) don't even write about events of their own lives that way. So, I never know, when writing a fictional piece in the 1st person, how to voice it. It is particularly troublesome when the narrator is not a writer -- say he's an auto mechanic who flunked every English class he took (I'm not saying auto mechanics aren't capable writers or anything, I just picked that occupation out of a hat, so don't flame me). Does my auto mechanic say, "The stars splattered across the dark velvet sky overhead reflected fragile crystals in her eyes as I cradled the limp corpse of her puppy in my arms. I struggled to understand how I'd hold her with my arms full of her love before her stars shattered into tears." Or does he say, "It was dark and I was holdin' her dead puppy and I thought she was gonna' cry, and I felt like I was gonna' to cry, too, but I didn't know what to do, my arms bein' full of the dead dog and all."
This is why I rarely write in the 1st person: I always hit a point that really calls for stars splattered across a dark velvet sky, but all I feel the character would notice is holdin' her dead puppy.
I was inspired to write about this because I just bumped into a short story written in the first person and the narrator says, "He must have seen many men squirming helplessly, couples rowing, women crying." Maybe he's a writer by profession, maybe not -- we don't learn that in the story. But, really it is probably safe to assume he is not. "Couples rowing"? Who says that? I'm not even sure what it means in this context: fighting or backpedaling.
Anyway, that's just one example. The narrator says other things rich expressions I just can't see most people saying or writing things. I got yanked right out of the story and said out loud, "Who says stuff that way?!"
So, what do you think about use of language in 1st person narrative stories?
This is why I rarely write in the 1st person: I always hit a point that really calls for stars splattered across a dark velvet sky, but all I feel the character would notice is holdin' her dead puppy.
I was inspired to write about this because I just bumped into a short story written in the first person and the narrator says, "He must have seen many men squirming helplessly, couples rowing, women crying." Maybe he's a writer by profession, maybe not -- we don't learn that in the story. But, really it is probably safe to assume he is not. "Couples rowing"? Who says that? I'm not even sure what it means in this context: fighting or backpedaling.
Anyway, that's just one example. The narrator says other things rich expressions I just can't see most people saying or writing things. I got yanked right out of the story and said out loud, "Who says stuff that way?!"
So, what do you think about use of language in 1st person narrative stories?
But I will say, like any voice in writing, it's a choice. If you want to use flowery language then your character either needs to be that kind of a thinker or you just have to find a way to describe those moments in his words. So maybe your down-to-earth mechanic tends to notice the little details, like how the stars reflect in the tears of her eyes, but he just wouldn't describe the moment with the same finesse. Even a simple or uneducated character can experience the world emotionally. But yeah, to do first person right, you do have to sacrifice some of your personal style as a writer to allow the voice of your character come through.
http://www.writersdigest.com/editor.....rical-research
I don't really know anything about screen writing, but if you'd like a little critique on it based on what I *can* do, I'd be happy to read it. I could use the practicing critiquing (is that a word?).
On another note, did I mention I watched "And So It Begins"? That is pretty darn good! I'll eventually get to the other episodes. Needless to say, I noticed the production design far more than I usually do
Also, no you didn't mention, but that's awesome! Thank you so much for watching it! That web-series has been my pet project for a few years now, there's still a lot of improving to be done before we put out season 2 though. But, as usual, I'm of the mindset that you can't improve your craft without practicing it.
And I concur wholeheartedly: you only improve with practice.
V.