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past or present?, + 1st person or 3rd person

edited January 2006 in - Writing Problems

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  • i am having real difficulty with a story im writing by not knowing whether to put the story in 1st person or 3rd...i started it as 3rd but hav rewritten it as 1st, this feels much better and more natural,
    but now revert from 'i did this and did taht'  to 'i grab the glass from the drying dishes'.  is there a better/easier chioce of tense ...as i have done the first scenario  in past,  but it seems to get me stuck, and tyring to write like person retelling their own story, but would one really recount to a reader/listener about just drinking milk?....and is it acceptable to then just jump into present....  i can do many things, but these are just things i am taking a while to get my head around...
    (forgive me for this being so long...and confusing!)
  • Lindsay Davies writes her Falco novels in the first person, to get the feeling of the old "gumshoe" stories.  (They concern the adventures of an Ancient Roman detective).  She also sticks to past tense, as if the character is looking back on the story after he's lived through it.
  • Are you writing a short story or a novel?
  • Also have a look at the other thread on this subject.  It is the once headed Viewpoints in the 3rd person posted by Schumi
  • I don't know if this has been said already, but don't forget to take out the unimportant stuff. Things that don't move the story along, (ie drinking milk). It's alot to take in, you'll get there.
  • Too true Kangaroo.  If the writer is in short story mode it's important to leave out anything that doesn't move the plot or help characterisation.
  • thank you everyone so far...that all helps :)    ...in answer to someones question: i am attempting to write a novel...so possibly insignificant details like the milk thing might not b so bad??...  i do try to make it interesting descpriptions - like noticing something unusual in the pouring/drinking/over filling of the glass (for e.g.)...
  • I once went to a novel writing workshop and showed the tutor an extract in which a first-person character described a farmhouse. The tutor kept asking why he was telling us certain things. As I started to reply, she would say, "I know why *you're* telling us; why's *he* telling us?"

    That seems to be the question to ask about the milk. (It certainly shortened and livened up my description.)
  • Thanks Dee! that's a great piece of advice:)
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