FIrst Pain-In-My-Ass Person

1st Person Narrative (From Answers.com): a narrative or mode of storytelling in which the narrator   appears as the ‘I’ recollecting his or her own part in the events related, either as a witness of the action or as an important participant in it. The term is most often used of novels such as Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (1847), in which the narrator is also the central character. The term does not mean that the narrator speaks only in the first person, of course: in discussions of other characters, the third person will be used.

You learn the differences between 1st, 2nd and 3rd person in middle school. I, me, and we are first, therefore seeing things through the eyes of the writer. You and your, second, and is rarely used to write novels. He, she and them- 3rd- is through the eyes of an outside observer.

I write the majority of my novels in 3rd person. My strongest writing voice is in 3rd person; my attention to detail and description is as strong as my voice. So when I try writing anything in 1st person, well, it's a flat out pain in my ass.  

I grew up reading the classics- Jane Eyre, The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, Little Women- the majority or which are written in 3rd person. When I first started writing, I thought that I could write something like that. I quickly found that 3rd person was the easiest to write.

In order to be able to master writing in 1st person, I've given myself a list of exercises to do to help my writing skills. They're basically fan fiction, but I write only in 1st person; using a scene from a movie/ TV series/book, I try my hardest to get into character's head.

I've included the scene I worked on in a seperate page, with a little excerpt below. The scene is the Delcaration of Independence scene in John Adams, when Franklin and Adams are critiquing the draft of the famous document. I try to get into Jefferson's head, and draw out what he was possibly thinking that day. I hope I've captured even a little of the 1st person writing in this piece.

From 'Well, It's What I Believe':

The smooth material of my coat is soft beneath my chin, and I listen, internally cringing with every word. Did I really, truly write that? What was I thinking?

"Yes, see, you... you lay the evils of slavery at the... the feet of the king, but you say nothing of slavery itself, sir." Dr. Franklin says, pointing out the phrase in the paper in John's hand. I cringe, hearing the negativity in his voice, and reach down, pulling gently at the long underwear exposed beneath my knickers- a nervous habit I've had since childhood. He doesn't like it. "Now surely, if the trade is outlawed, but ownership is not, then those unfortunate Negroes still in servitude will become a more... ah, lucrative commodity."

He clears his throat, as though displeased. At me. Don't just sit there, say something!

"Well, that's not what I intended, Dr. Franklin." Go on, say it. They'll find out what you think eventually, just tell them now! "Slavery is an abomination and must be loudly proclaimed as such. But I own that neither I, nor any man has any yet immediate solution to the problem." There, I said it, it's out in the open. I abhor slavery, yet I myself have slaves. I'm a hypocrite. A hypocrite, a hypocrite, a hypocrite. Tar and feather me, and ride me out of town on a rail. I deserve it. It's only by sheer force of will that I keep eye contact with him.

"Oh, well... ti... tis no matter. The issue before us is independence and not emancipation." THAT'S IT? That's all you're going to say? 'Tis no matter? TIS NO MATTER?!

~ Bridget Aine