I’ve seen a lot of posts rolling their eyes at first person narrative in fanfiction.  Not all first person is bad, Body of Knowledge is a wonderful book for example, but I feel like there’s a good reason readers are avoiding first person fic.  I started writing on how to fix this which became an essay on Show Not Tell, and then on the Metaphysical Pathologist, and then Voice and it was getting awful long for a tumblr post, so here’s the third in a set of three.  

Now that we’ve covered how important it is to Show to build character and what the Metaphysical Pathologist does as a narrator, and can’t do for a first person narration.  Let’s talk about the importance of voice in first person narrative FIRST PERSON NARRATIVE IS ALWAYS TELL UNLESS YOU HAVE A STRONG VOICE.  ALWAYS.  aLWAYS.   Voice can be constructed in a number of ways.  Consider the ingredients that make the narrator’s voice their voice.  Put together a list of verbal ticks, slang they use, the way they think.  Use it to support their narrative.  This is also a way godmoding your character can hamper you.  It’s the cracks in a character that gives the reader the best handhold.

If you just don’t know where to start, if you’re trapped in tell land, and you just can’t break through the story – keep skipping over the surface of the story and find your word count falling short again and again – don’t worry there’s still hope!  Unfortunately there may need to be some major changes.  Ask yourself if first person is really right for the story, you may be wrestling with point of view without realizing it, trying to make the narrator reveal too much or at too grand a scale.

The problem may also be you’ve godmoded your character, using what is often called a Mary Sue.  I don’t like to use Mary Sue as much because it implies several things – an intrinsic weakness in female writing and that ‘Mary Sue’ characters can’t be awesome.  Batman is a Mary Sue, so is Superman, most superheroes are.  Godmoding is something that gets to the root of why those sorts of character appeal though and reveal the danger in them, that the desire to be the most and the best can destroy the narrative.  As we discussed last time, the protagonist must die, must become new, throw away the old self and become something better suited.  The whole philosophy behind godmoding is that they’re perfect and the best and everyone needs to get down on the ground and WORSHIP.  When the author acts like the narrative owes the protagonist anything, the narrative just won’t play.  It doesn’t have to, it’s the narrative.

That’s enough about what not to do, what do you do, intrepid writer?  When you write first person there’s an implicit audience attached, so your first step toward voice should keep the following questions in mind:

1. Who are they talking to when they narrate?
        a. Another character, are they conversing with the benevolent metaphysical pathologist, the cops, the unfeeling void of space are some options
2. Why are they telling this story?  What is their purpose?
3. When are they lying?  When are they telling the truth?

These are important since no one lies like they lie about themselves.  No one wants people to think poorly of them.  If the story is about the narrator, their personal story instead of something they witnessed, you need to establish their reliability and why they’re telling the truth or what they’re lying about.  Think of first person narration like a lens that the narrator uses to direct the reader where to look.  

Next use let the voice and the narrative get close, let them go on dates, let them meet each others parents, get them married, and give them little theme babies.  If it says on your character sheet that Shelley feels lost, and the narrative is about going somewhere new, let Shelley’s voice dart like her gaze.  Let it circle back to try to find where she took a wrong turn.  If Mr. Tam is familiar with his library and the story about something that had him happen long ago, let the voice link memory with the dewey decimal system, let him reference articles mentally, or make book recommendations in his head.  

If all of that doesn’t work take your character and put them through an AU cycle.  You can pick any five as long as they’re quite different.  If you can’t think of any, run them through: Kindergarten, Coffee Shop, Criminals, Camp Counselors, and College.

Best of luck!  And here’s to better writing!