  Short Stories
This week: The First Person is Not Aways Me Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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There is no greater agony
than bearing an untold story inside you.
- Maya Angelou
Greetings, I am honored to be your guest host this week for the Writing.Com Short Story Newsletter. I would like to take this opportunity to explore something that I often have trouble with in my own stories ~ figuring out whose story it is 
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I hear voices, as do you, and the voices demand expression; that's why we write, correct 
But whose voice do we use? Whose story are we telling? (No, this isn't about 'show' vs 'tell')
I recently attempted to write something personal; a story about a personal event. I was being instructed to 'tell a story,' and relate something that happened to me. So here goes.
I entered the room and flicked the light switch, even though the power was out all over the city. My finger was so ingrained with the routine flip, I did it without thinking, and got the shock of my life when I heard a thump and saw, on the kitchen table....
First Person I am the narrator/protagonist and I relate what I sense. I see, hear, taste, smell, sense/think (yes, all five-plus senses). In a short story, the first person can work well as long as we maintain the sensory reality. I would not know that you are thinking of slapping me for what I said, but I would observe your fist clenched and your lips pressed together as if unstated epithets clamored for release. See the sensory image I'm depicting? Have you ever seen someone seethe and sense that it would take but one word or movement to make them 'flip'? Show that immediacy to your reader and you draw him/her into the character's vision, and aid him in empathizing with the character (you) and wanting to see you succeed (or fail, perhaps)
First person viewpoint is limited to what the character/speaker actually perceives by use of senses and imagination. I think it's really important to minimize adverbs which distance the reader. Allow your reader to walk alongside your character and draw his/her own conclusions as do you.
First person viewpoint, however, doesn't have to be just me, myself, and I. I can step into character as a sentient being of another species, or perhaps an inanimate object, and relate 'my' story using relevant unique perspectives.
First person viewpoint may also be used by a peripheral narrator - a character telling a story about someone else. Something like this...
I watched Jody open the door and flick the light switch, even though the power had been out for several hours. Her fingers then flicked the ineffective switch off, as he stared, agape, at what was on the kitchen table across the room.
So, as you can see, first person doesn't have to be about me, it is much more versatile that I previously knew and, I hope that you also, kind reader, see it as more than journaling or 'telling' tales. First person, whether related by me personally or my character or me writing of my observations of another character, does require active observation and vivid description of what I perceive. I want my reader to see what I see, smell what I smell, and perceive what I think before drawing his/her own conclusions up to the resolution I've plotted (but not before my character gets there, I hope ).
I think I've got it now, and hope you also, kind reader, have enjoyed this exploration
Write On 
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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Check out these stories, do they make you see, hear, sense what the speaker (either the writer, or character) is doing, thinking, or engaged in? Why not engage the story, and let the writers know your thoughts, with a review perchance? Then, give it a go yourselves
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Thank you for welcoming me to your virtual home, and for sharing this exploration with me.
I have a challenge for you, if you choose to accept it, I think would be fun.
As a guest host, I don't have an ask and answer, but how about this - write me a scene or two in First Person (or a story, if you're so inclined) using any of the models explored above where the following occurs:
You/your character are/is in a room that is familiar but it's completely dark, no power or light, and you/your character "have to get out because..."
If you send me an email with a {bitem: }, {item: } or {entry: } link or the whole scene(s)/story - I will offer my comments with a review, and send a raffle ticket with my thanks 
Happy Writing 
P.S. Thank you once again ^_^,
Write On
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
Kate - Writing & Reading |
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Short Stories: July 05, 2017 Issue [#8377]
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