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1 vote
3 answers
107 views

How/when do you reveal a big secret to the reader using first person or third person viewpoint?

How and more importantly when do you reveal a major secret about the character? My character is a mythical species, highly valuable for both intel and magical properties, however she is humanoid and ...
BubbleQueen's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
168 views

I'm so angry! How can I show that in an interesting way?

This is in a sense a part two to my question on English Stack Exchange about replacement for word "bullshit", which I decided would better fit on this site. A bit of background Optional ...
Reverent Lapwing's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
271 views

Sudden diary entry within a 3rd person limited story

I'm writing a 3rd person limited multi-pov Sci-Fi. The thoughts of whatever POV is being followed at any point are sometimes shown in italicized writing. Suddenly, 42K words in, starting off chapter ...
A. Kvåle's user avatar
  • 4,053
4 votes
3 answers
590 views

Switching Between First and Third Person

So I've started writing a book. It's set in present time, but is going to be interwoven with flashbacks to a few years ago to explain how the character(s) got to this scenario in present time. I was ...
Jay G's user avatar
  • 51
3 votes
2 answers
256 views

Can a writer change the perspective of a story?

Is it a bad thing if someone writes a story in the third point of view, then he changes the whole story into the first point of view where the protagonist himself tells the story?
Nour Fourti's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
110 views

How much of a Novel's Point of View should be from the Narrator

I am writing a Novel. How much of the story should be from the Narrator's Point of View. For instance, Narrator knows that person A was engaged to person B decades ago. But Narrator does not know ...
Marium's user avatar
  • 627
-1 votes
1 answer
81 views

How do I avoid using to many "I and My in first person narratives [duplicate]

To give you a little context below. "Yesterday, I was smiling, and tomorrow, I will try to hold my head up high. But today, tears welled up in my eyes, as my worst fear looked me in the eyes as my ...
Rbrown's user avatar
  • 23
1 vote
3 answers
196 views

Can I state a fact in a first person story?

If I have a sentence such as this: Footsteps were heard coming down the alley. Can I use that in a first-person story? I don't think it's technically third-person, but it sort of feels like it's ...
Jared's user avatar
  • 11
11 votes
6 answers
998 views

Third Person POV: What level of telling is acceptable for character motivation?

The novel I'm writing is third-person limited POV in style. This means that the narration's coverage is limited to what the POV character can observe, think, feel, while others' thoughts, feelings, ...
Matthew Dave's user avatar
  • 9,134
6 votes
5 answers
591 views

In a "Gatsby" type story, how does a narrator relate what he doesn't get to see?

"The Great Gatsby" was told from the point of view of Gatsby's neighbor, Nick Carraway by name, with Nick using the first person. Nick gets to see a lot, but not all of Gatsby's dealings. A case in ...
Tom Au's user avatar
  • 4,405
4 votes
3 answers
17k views

Is there a term for a narrative where you are speaking to the reader?

I know that a first-person narrative is written from the point of view of the narrator, relaying events from their own point of view using the first person (i.e. I or we, etc). Is there a name/term ...
ƬƦƖƝƛ's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
285 views

Can I change tenses in my first person YA novel?

I'm half way through a YA science fiction novel that is told in 1st person, past tense. Currently there are two chapters in different tenses. One is 2nd person, present tense - the p.o.v. of an AI. ...
FalseEpiphany's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
127 views

Does the degree of immersion in the character alter the extremity of plot points used?

Star Wars IV: We never really get to know Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen, and so when they're burned to a crisp, little pieces of human toast, it's horrific but yeah OK. Not as horrific as if we saw Obi Wan ...
SFWriter's user avatar
  • 23.8k
2 votes
4 answers
996 views

Point of view, narrative voice, and when to name a character in narration

Let's say you have a scene with Maria, written in third person from Maria's point of view. Then you have a scene with Akash, written in third person from Akash's point of view - and suppose they do ...
writersam's user avatar
  • 719
2 votes
3 answers
277 views

What is it called when the reader is the focal point?

Here is an example of what I mean in present-tense (though narrative time is irrelevant): You walk into the empty room, you should be worrying about what's about to happen but instead your mind is ...
Sigma's user avatar
  • 23
5 votes
3 answers
448 views

How do I avoid rambling in first person narratives?

When writing in first person narrative, there are points when the narrator expresses their opinion on a situation, the emotions they're feeling and so on. I've read books where there are several ...
K. Bailey's user avatar
  • 193
1 vote
3 answers
2k views

First person narrative - pros and cons

I'm writing a novel where my original idea was to use first person narrative in most chapters, since the story focuses on the main character's thoughts/feelings/mental issues. I planned to use third ...
viktoria_s's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
2k views

1st person story with no dialogue? [duplicate]

Is it possible to write a good story without any dialogue? I'm working on a short story, and trying to keep it within 2000 words, but preferably 1000-1500 words. I'm trying to write it as if the ...
Abram Frost's user avatar
1 vote
4 answers
315 views

Have a tough time figuring out third-person prose

I can write first-person great, but many stories can only be told third-person and i dont have much experience here. It always feels clunky, doesn't flow right. And get distracted by pronouns and what ...
Altoban's user avatar
  • 107
1 vote
3 answers
543 views

Is my method of Narration switching from objective to subjective too complicated?

I'm having trouble deciding if the manner I have decided to narrate my story is too complicated or not. I have a story set in a completely foreign and alien world (fiction story). I then uproot my ...
EveryBitHelps's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
178 views

New style of first person pov

I was thinking about my own style of writing. Turn out, in every role play I've written, I have a good writing style when I use the first person pov. I'll add some "voices" to the main character. (...
Guildias's user avatar
  • 109
4 votes
4 answers
634 views

How to determine if a story would benefit from multiple first-person POVs?

Originally I asked this question: What is a "methodology" I can I use/follow to determine the ideal set of protagonists for my story?, but found that it was too vague. Specifically, I'm ...
JD Solomon's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
364 views

1st-person POV vs. 1st-person narration

I always thought there was a distinction between POV and narration. You can have 1st-person POV with either 1st-person narration or 3rd-person narration. So I think the discussions here (http://...
dmm's user avatar
  • 3,579
4 votes
1 answer
732 views

In what narrative mode should you explain a process or task?

I want to explain a psychological and behavioural process to someone via email. I start off in first-person and speak to them in second-person, but what do I use when I want to explain a process ...
theringostarrs's user avatar