![]() ![]() There are many examples of first person narrative where the first person narrator confides in the reader. Let first person narrators confide in your reader We look through the first person narrator’s eyes directly at the scene, and this puts us right there. Immediately, we see the door, not the character seeing the door. I shuddered when I noticed a dark, wet streak beneath it, seemingly oozing out from underneath.’ Now read the same with filter words removed (and other minor improvements): ‘I saw that the door had been left ajar and felt fear to think what could be behind it, especially when I saw a dark, wet streak that seemed to be slowly pooling out from under it.’ They remove your reader further from a scene. Filter words and phrases such as ‘I saw that…’ out. In first person narrative, it is tempting sometimes to over-describe what your narrator sees and experiences. running a hand through one’s hair) your first person narrator uses Body language and gesture: Include movement or habitual gestures (e.g.Whereas a character who uses long run-on sentences might be more of a thinker A character who speaks in short, simple, clipped sentences might be a salt-of-the-earth, plain-speaking type. Sentence structure: Even sentence structure is often revealing.Does your character use positive words to describe people and places or mostly negative? What do their choices reveal? Word choice: Mark Twain wrote ‘A man’s character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation’. ![]() Register: Is your narrator’s tone formal or littered with slang? How does this reflect your narrator’s age or background?.To convey personality in first person narrative, use devices such as: He also uses dramatic exaggeration (‘in about a thousand magazines’). The tone is also informal (‘always showing some hotshot guy’), with a note of judgment (‘some hotshot guy’). His ‘You probably heard of it’ has a world-weary ring to it. Holden’s voice is clearly a cynical teenager’s. ![]() They advertise in about a thousand magazines, always showing some hotshot guy on a horse jumping over a fence.’ Pencey Prep is this school that’s in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. ‘Where I want to start telling is the day I left Pencey Prep. The language Salinger gives him is responsible for this, in part. Caulfield is an icon of teenage angst in fiction. Salinger’s disaffected teen Holden Caulfield is a strong example of a characterful first person narrator. Tint your narration with words that reveal your narrator’s personality, their unique perspective. In first person, perspective is everything. Make your narrator’s language show their character Here are 5 tips to make a good first person narrative even more lifelike: 1. The intimacy and immediacy of first person, how it closely involves your reader in your narrator’s world, makes this point of view (POV) naturally engaging. First person narrative lets your main character take the reader into their confidence. ![]()
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