  Drama
This week: In Defense of the First Person POV Edited by: Joy  
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“The choice of point-of-view will largely determine all other choices with regards to style, diction, characteristic speed of sentences and so on. What the writer must consider, obviously, is the extent to which point-of-view, and all that follow from it, comments on the characters, actions, and ideas.”
John Gardner
"View point must always serve as filter for the voice that is revealing the story."
Uma Kirishwami
I like to write first-person because I like to become the character I’m writing.”
Wally Lamb
Hello, I am Joy , this week's drama editor. This issue is about the merits of the first person point of view.
Your Drama Newsletter Editors: zwisis NickiD89  kittiara Joy
Thank you for reading our newsletters and for supplying the editors with feedback and encouragement.
Note: In the editorial, I refer to third person singular as he, to also mean the female gender, because I don't like to use they or he/she. |
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
Several people, including a few rigid editors, have made this statement: “If a story is written in first person, I’m not going to read it.”
The reason could be that they are annoyed by the overuse of interior dialogue, but how else can you show the hopes, dreams, secret thoughts, and frustrations of an important character? It is also true that when writing in the first person point of view (POV, for short), you can’t get inside the heads of other characters, but should you dump the first person POV when there are so many ways to get around this problem?
Personally speaking, I quite like the first person POV. It is the sincerest form of opening up a character to the reader, and there is nothing wrong with using that interior monologue in a proper fashion. Interior monologue is an excellent tool, but like any other tool, it should be handled with care. If you are writing a novel in a hurry, such as in NaNo, you might consider trimming the interior monologue during the revision process.
In addition to the interior monologue, with the first person POV, you can also use interior emotion, description of action and dialogue, and other descriptions. All of these tools should be used according to what the POV character witnesses. For him to tell us something that is happening in another place or without his knowledge does not make sense, does it?
Then, in longer works, there are no rules against writing from the first person POV by several characters. For example, each chapter can be told by a different character in first person, without confusing the reader. Having read similar novels by authors who can write way better than me, I wrote such a novel once, using a mother and daughter and put the name of the person speaking at the beginning of each chapter, since getting inside the minds and hearts of other characters did not become necessary.
While writing in first person, the questions to ask for each scene is: Does this scene work? Would it work better if told from any other POV? If the answer to the first question is yes, you have nothing to worry about. If the answer to the second question is yes, then it would be a good idea to rethink your priorities with the story and possibly change the POV or some other aspect of it.
A plus with the first person POV is that you can really give your character a strong voice. For example:
“Jim said that bees won't sting idiots, but I didn't believe that, because I tried them lots of times myself and they wouldn't sting me.”
From The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
What if Mark Twain used a third person POV in telling Finn’s story? It would still be a good enough story, but it would lack Finn’s voice, and the reader would not be able to empathize with the main character fully.
Using the first person POV is certainly better than constant head-hopping used in third person in some genres, such as the romance genre. I once stopped reading a novel with quite an interesting plot because the author head-hopped too fast, without tact, and inside the same scene, throughout the several chapters I managed to read. Thus a word of caution: If you are head-hopping in third person POV, you should at least not do it inside the same scene. Better try telling each scene from only one character’s POV.
When it comes to writing exposition from the first person POV, it is a bit more difficult than writing it in third person. For that reason, keeping the exposition to a minimum should be the way to go. Besides, the information you want to offer in the exposition can easily be inserted into the dialogue. If a long exposition needs to be written and you cannot think of any other way, this might be one of those times that you have to do what you have to do; at this point, you can go ahead and write it, until you can think of a better approach later.
In short, if you like to write in first person, by all means, do it, especially if this POV works for your story and you are comfortable writing it.
Until next time... 
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 Enjoy!
"I looked down at myself and saw what I had become, Lord, and it disgusted me. For I had willingly allowed myself to be swayed. I'd reclined, supine, and allowed the wool to be pulled over my eyes"
"How to write about the signs without sounding like a total nutcase? I admit I have given one of these objects enough weight that it can shift the energy of a moment. It has the power to make me stop and feel something. Ache. Fondness. A chill. Do I conjure it? Do I summon it into view? Do I give it meaning or is the meaning already there?"
"I returned to the stump and found the old man waiting there. A man and a woman, not much older than me, stood at each side of him. Their eyes! Even in the moonlight, the rare green could not be mistaken. Could the tale be true?"
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#1926270 by Not Available. |
"I feel the surge of a title wave as the barrister states his reason for being here, and then the wave brakes over me, and I clutch the arms of the chair for stability. Edward in jail?"
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#1921125 by Not Available. |
"They call me Huck.
That’s not bad when you consider the possible alternative. My parents were both academicians, American and English Literature respectively."
"Sweat ran down my face and I felt my stomach churning deep inside of me. My heart was pounding and my hands were shaking. I sat there in the dark trying to regain some degree of normality."
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#1888188 by Not Available. |
"Last night I dreamt I bit into a shrimp and its guts torpedoed against the back of my throat. I retched, spat it out, and watched as its legs wriggled around on my plate.
So much for sleeping in."
"I watch Abner for a tense minute while he surveys his room. Satisfied, he scoots off his bed. His rippling muscles move with ease as he works out any kinks he received overnight. He is bare-chested with long trousers that come down past his knees. Abruptly he rolls onto the bed."
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| *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
 This Issue's Tip:
If your protagonist, or any one of the characters in your story, is an emotionally stable character, have that character follow a smooth emotional arc. To be effective and gripping, such a character's emotions do not have to be dramatic.
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 Reading Recommendation: A book with drama
If you have a recommendation, a few words on a book or a product review, send it to me or to this newsletter. I'll highlight it here.
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Grace♥Leo health issues 
Wow! Your newsletter this week is awesome. I have a character that I want to be ruthless has been stuck in limbo. Your ideas and suggestions to pull from have inspired me to pick up my pen and write the character. Awesome information, Joy. Thank you, Grace L
Thank you, too, Grace, for your encouragement. I'm glad that issue was helpful to you.
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heftynicky
My favorite ruthless character of all time is Hannibal Lecter. Of course, he was psychopathic -- which puts him in a special category, I suppose. Still, Anthony Hopkins's portrayal of him still gives me delicious goosebumps every time I think of it. Thanks for the thought-provoking newsletter!
Thanks for the feedback, Nicki.
Yes, Anthony Hopkins is one of my favorite actors, too, and he was spectacular as Hannibal Lecter.
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Quick-Quill 
This is just in time. I needed to know this. One of my characters seemed a little whimpy when he needed to be diabolical, well not that bad, but he is the bomb explosion in my story. I am going to apply some of the characteristics to him to make him more of a BAD boy and no just a boy.
Yes, even a good character would be more believable if he had a flaw or two. Best wishes with the story you are writing.
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BIG BAD WOLF is Howling 
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Sometimes its a struggle to survive.
It definitely is.
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Drama: June 26, 2013 Issue [#5731]
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