Any tips for writing in first person?

I've never done this and I don't want to sound jarring.

"I went and picked up the rusted pipe leaned against the fence." That sounds like it's past tense when I want it to be present. I'm trying to avoid randomly switching tenses, but I'm not sure how exactly.

If he was thinking it, it might sound more like "I have to get that rusted pipe over by the fence if I want to survive this."

Sometimes I want to show that without the character thinking it, mainly because when you have the character think it it seems to fall too far on the "telling" side of Show, Don't Tell .

Is there any way to do that without switching tenses or PO Vs?

Well, how would you describe what you did yesterday, if you were describing it in as much detail as a typical novel scene has?

Regarding the way to avoid telling thoughts, you could simply say something like:

I went and picked up the crowbar, knowing that if I didn't fight, I wouldn't survive this.

edited 27th Jun '11 2:31:30 PM by Ettina

That's still telling, isn't it?

1. : First person tends to work better in present tense. First person past tense kind of throws suspense to the wind when the narrator is in a life-threatening situation.
2. : Remember that the narrator is a character in the work. Who is not necessarily as smart as you, does not really understand at the same level of you, and, for obvious persons, is not you.

What does a present-tense first person sound like?

Is that how it's supposed to be?

Present tense is "say/says" instead of "said." Also, it is perfectly possible to write past tense first person without spoiling an ending.

Past Tense: I heard a crash from within the dark house, and after Sarah pried her hand out of mine, she took out her key—ignoring my protests—to open the door.

Present Tense: I hear a crash from within the dark house, and after Sarah pries her hand out of mine, she takes out her key—ignoring my protests—to open the door.

The latter sounds jarring. Maybe I should stick to thrid person. At least I'm familiar to it.

If you have never written or even read present tense before, it usually does sound jarring. But that's only because it's new and you're unfamiliar with it.

Also, telling isn't always bad: it works primarily in summarization that connects scenes, so that rather simple action in the 1st post being shown as telling isn't necessarily problematic.

^ Seconded.

I'm having a problem with 1st person and tense too. I want the narrator to describe stuff in the past tense, and then have his thoughts in the present tense. Naturally, this leads to some inconsistency.

I can post a particically awkward example if you like.

Read books that have really good first person narratives, like Frankenstein.

One very easy way to have a first person narrator who doesn't know about endings: Have the writing be in the form of a journal or something. Either that, or chalk it up to the Literary Agent Hypothesis and don't worry about it.

I actually did read a book in first-person once that managed to kill off one of its narrators (the POV switched between certain chapters).

I think first person narrators are also generally afforded a bit more freedom regarding explaining their feelings.

Being killed off is hardly the worst thing that can happen to a person. Uzumaki is told in first person. Let that sink in.

What I like about first person is it's easier to make it interesting (YMMV), you can give them funny accents or weird thought patterns and keep the work from being overly serious. Although it kinda helps you cheat if you are trying to be serious—characters have more leeway if they lack eloquence in describing their own thoughts and actions

I don't get how 1st person would give the narrator immunity to death. Presuming that the narrator is narrating what just happened, instead of telling the readers the story after the events of the book, the POV could suddenly halt at their death.

Or you could move the viewpoint to someone else.

I actually primarily write in first-person present tense. Like mentioned before, I find it better than past-tense because with past-tense you assume they are alive and well if you can be telling this. A great book to read that is first-person present tense is Robin Mc Kinley's Sunshine.

I may just be picky, but I've never liked present tense in stories.

I don't get that either. What's wrong with present tense? Well, I'm the one who tend to stop noticing Said Bookism and adverbs in stories even if I try to notice them (must be my hyperlexia skimming over words), but...

And why do you have to presume that the narrator survives the story when using 1st person past tense, especially if the narrator doesn't know how the story ends?

edited 27th Jun '11 8:31:39 PM by chihuahua0

From a technical, objective perspective it makes sense that writing a story in first person past tense is a spoiler. But I've never been under that impression, and it's certainly not a fact.

It may feel awkward to you right now, but I recommend you don't default back to third person this time. Practice makes perfect and it's a good skill to have under your belt as a writer.

I think part of it is that I write my outlines in present tense, so it throws me off when I'm reading actual prose that's in present tense.

edited 27th Jun '11 8:35:24 PM by animemetalhead

Going along with/to elaborate on the narrator only being a character- not only does them being a character mean the narrator doesn't know everything that's happening, there are also many things they might not notice, just because it's the kind of thing that doesn't concern them.

This might be a problem if the story needs to include something they wouldn't notice.