Writing in first person

if u are writing about ur self can you say i or me or my

Neil. I posted this on another thread, but got no reply. Wish i had read this one first as it more accurately defines my question. >I have a character 'Liesa', in a darkened room of a large house, containing what you expect of a Victorian nursery including a dresser with a mirror and where the story plays out. The thing is, i have to bring to life three different sides of Liesa's personality, 'all played out in the reflection in the mirror' and develop them as independent characters, in there own right. Dose any one know of any good period examples by other writers that may give me a clue how to do this well and save me from having to read half the books in the library. And do any of you taler's have any advices from you're own experiences of writing this kind of setting< Many of the responses hear have stimulated new idea's on how to go about it in the first person, but would still be grateful for an good example that any one can suggest?

I think I would first attempt to write all three persona in the first person perspective, don't give a clue you've changed persona, but slowly let the question be asked and then slowly answer it. Don't read other writers, do it your own way and see how it works. Since you're in the first person, the person wouldn't know they've changed, so don't tell the reader either.

Thanks radio, i hadn't thought of that and was just beginning to give up on this one when i read you're post. I think you're right radio, after all i am dealing with three distinct personality's, all be it from the one character. It seems obvious when some one Say's it. Thanks.

Sorry for not replying to a post with my name in John, I don't look into this group too often. I've seen this kind of thing done in stories by writing on one person's behalf in normal type then switching to bold or italics for the others. Otherwise it could get frustrating for the reader if you switch them a lot - you know who they are in your mind but the reader doesn't. Sorry also if this sounds personal but as you're writing you need to watch your grammar. In the above sentence "you're" is short for "you are" and "your" means "belonging to you". Like a lot of people you've mixed them up in your post. A noun ending in "y" like "personality" has an iregular plural ("personalities") - you don't just add "s" as you do for most words. Silly and confusing but I had these things drummed into me at school.

Thanks Neil. I had thought about switching type, but i was unsure if this was acceptable in writing. I cant remember coming across it in stuff i have read. Having read radios response, it suddenly occurred to me that part of the problem, may be because my main character is a female and her alternative personality is a male. Getting in side the mind of a female is not easy at the best of times, especially the mind of my main character who is confused and un able to distinguish reality from fantasy. Its not jackal and Hide though, its a more clearly defined and identifiable psychiatric disorder raped up in mythology and the struggle between good and evil. But the whole cruxes of this story, is that the reader has to be left convinced that her alternative personality, is her real personality. - 'if that makes any sense Neil'. Neil, feel free to correct my grammar at any time, i take no offense what so ever and am actually grateful when some one points things out. Dyslexia greatly effects spelling, but grammar is just laziness or sloppiness on my part. From now on you can keep an eye on you're, your, etc. Pull me up if i fall back on to old habits on the forum.

Most of my stuff is either in the first person, or I switch viewpoints quite a lot. Doesn't have to be I, I, I, just becase it is first person. Depends if the character is self-obsessed. Works better if the I-guy is not you, but has little bits of you and loads of other people in him. I itself is no more irritating than John did this or John said that. Where it can be bleaty is the Holden Caulfield sort of I-guy narrator. Let's be honest, Salinger was one of the most skilled writers ever, and even he can't pull it off all the way through the book and Caulfield leaves some readers absolutely cold. Try not to get too introspective - I like to hit the character with action and drama, so they don't have too much time to think.

I think you make a good point hear Andrew. In what way are the other personalties essential to the story? The main problem with writing this one is the lack of props. Most of the action takes places as dialog between each personality, the tension is suggestive, 'voices and suspicions', imaginary or not? all emanate from the mind of my mane character? In reality, she is the only character in the store until the arrive of some one at the ending, where the reader, 'in theory' realizes this. Until then, it is essential that the reader is un decided as to weather some - thing, or some one, is actually there. The question that this story ask is, at what point doses some thing imaginary become reality? And if an imaginary phenomena inflicts pain, injures and psychological damage, is it any more un real, than if it had been carried out by an actual flesh and blood assailant. I'm not Salinger, but i think i have a good idea how to approach this now. Thanks.

Sorry Andrew. Forgot to change sherlock back to john.

You should definitely name the persona that you put on, then write as though you were that person. Separate your own voice from the voice of your personas.

I don't think you should tell the reader so much, Neil. Accept that if you write fiction you tell lies, and that even when you are being autobiographical, you will probably change real events to fit the story that you are really about. Conversely when you are writing from your imagination it will also be informed by your experience. I don't know where you would draw the line. Anyway, if you're an auditor you must have lots of experience of being lied to.

Argyll, I completely disagree with you. Before continuing, I would really like to know how I am to pronounce your name. No one sounds as self-obsessed as a person who says I all the time. I know that it is pretentious to speak of oneself as a "he" or "she" also, as in, "Where is Steven?" and I were to answer "He is right here." but if I speak of all the characters in my brain as I, I think you would definitely get fed up with me and wonder if I had a MPC (multiple-personality-complex) which only Joycean characters so profoundly possess.

Thanks guys. Argyll, that's very helpful and more or less what I'd considered. If anyone's interested enough to ask, I'll freely confess to what's my experience and what's not, otherwise just enjoy the story. Steven, I count myself lucky when there's multiple characters in my brain, it's called a creative spurt and the question is, do I give them their own voice or describe them second-hand? A couple of weeks ago I was a young man who goes to university but ends up working in a bakery, a slightly older man who comes up with a very novel way to market poetry and a woman in her twenties who finds aspects of mediaeval history coming painfully alive, all of these people coming shortly to an ABC site near you! They're all safely transferred to the computer now and my own personality's feeling quite lonely. [%sig%]

Good point. Just wanted to make sure that you could distinguish between yourself and your characters....

Steven, I think I know what you mean, when you talk about the "I" word used continuously. It wouldn't work just as you say. I think what Neil is saying though is that it is about establishing a viewpoint. This can then be used to set the tone for the piece of writing. If this is done well then the "I" word need hardly ever appear in the text. In some cases the narrator need not even be the most essential character in the story. The pronunciation of Argyll, rhymes with style. It is a large county in the southwest highlands of Scotland, where I live. It's a funny thing but in work just the other day I was making the point to someone that we are lucky to have such a strong brand name. World famous I said. Ah well, there you go.

Isn't that what writing in first person is? Taking a situation and telling lies??? I'm sure thats story telling! - >>>Thinks she read that some where!

Joanna Harris 'Chocolate' uses two points of view - the girl and the preist, seperated by chapters... I found it very hard to get a grip with this style, and I started to find I was skipping odd paragraphs as they had already been seen in a different view pointin the chapter prior... She made a book and film of this so I must be wrong in my opinions, and her right...

I don't agree that you can't describe the thoughts and feelings of characters other than your own when you are writing in the first person, though I understand what you mean; it's true that you can't describe them from within, but instead you can make educated guesses based on what what they say and do, and on the facial expressions and gestures used. That is all we have to go on in the real world. Who really knows for sure what anyone else is thinking? d.beswetherick

There's also the fun to be had when you write just what one person notices who doesn't neccessarily know all the facts. I have been working on writing something where each character adds new details and themes to a plot and it's a nice discipline to only write what that person would notice while getting important stuff across to the reader. You also begin to notice the style in which the characters think and have to change the rhythms and pace and language too. I am also having fun when old characters who I have "been" in previous chapters meet the current "I" who blithly describes prople who we know much much better having been "inside." I agree with d.beswetherick in that the things a character notices are all we have to go on in the real world and personally don't like to write that for example a character was amazed when I can describe what they looked like and let the reader work out their emotional state. It's maybe more sneaky but less dictatorial and the reader doesn't get bludgeoned into exactly where I want them to be. I hope, anyway. Sometimes the limits I have set make for confusing reading - at least in the first 25million drafts...