First-Person Point-of-View: Me, Myself, & I

M.L. Bull
11 minutes ago
7 min read

First-person point-of-view is known to be the hardest kind of point-of-view for most writers to write because it requires them to literally "get inside of a character's head" or for them to become the character themselves. This requires skillful writing and being almost submerged within a single character, and just one reason why I rarely write in the first-person point-of-view. Writers also have to thoroughly know the focal or viewpoint character well, such as their thoughts, worldview, personality, insecurities, and their wants, needs, hopes, and dreams. Now, let's check out some key points, and story examples of first-person point-of-view to see exactly how writers can do this and make their protagonist's voice come alive.

An old Hispanic man looking in a dresser mirror.

WATCH THE EPISODE

Video coming soon...

6 KEY POINTS FOR 1ST PERSON POINT-OF-VIEW

An African American young woman wearing a blue sweater and typing on a laptop.

As I stated, first-person point-of-view is a challenge and can be a difficult task. Depending on the type of short story or novel, these types of stories often require multiple drafts before a writer gets them just right. Other times, the voice of the character speaks so clearly that the story flows smoothly. That's how it was while I wrote my Christian and Historical fiction novel, "The Pact of Freedom." In my story, the lead female protagonist, Millie Crabtree, spoke very clearly in my head and imagination. If a writer is going to attempt to write a first-person story, that is probably the best time: when the character's voice speaks clearly to them.

However, there are a couple of key points that can be helpful as well listed in the following bullet list below:

6 KEY POINTS FOR 1ST PERSON POINT-OF-VIEW

GET TO KNOW YOUR CHARACTER
STAY WITHIN THE CHARACTER
USE THE PROPER PRONOUNS
SHOW INTERNAL CONFLICT
USE CONSISTENT DICTION AND LANGUAGE
AVOID OVERUSING PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Okay, now, let's go over each one of these.

GET TO KNOW YOUR CHARACTER

A white, round handheld mirror lying on a wooden table.

In order to effectively write in first-person point-of-view, it is very important for writers to get to know their character, or characters if it's more than one of them. Writers can do this by keeping a character journal about their protagonist character or creating a story bible of character profiles and interviews. Character profiles are writing references of information about characters, such as their basic info, character roles, physical attributes, personality, emotional wounds, strengths, weaknesses, and insecurities or fears. Interviews are creative questionnaires, in which the writer answers questions about the character while using their critical thinking skills. Other helpful things to do are building backstories or past histories of the character or characters prior to the present-time story. Finally, get an idea about the character motivation of the protagonist, which is the driving force that keeps them going after goals, wants, needs, or desires and keeps them moving forward throughout the storyline.

STAY WITHIN THE CHARACTER

Once writers know their protagonist or character, they should ensure while writing in first-person the character's voice is consistent that they stay within the character. This means writers don't have their protagonist say or do anything that is outside of their make-up or the personality of the character. For example, a shy character will most likely not be too talkative and will be more contemplative in their thoughts while maneuvering in their story world. The Disney character Mickey Mouse is a similar example. While his design evolution changed, from the classic to the more modern version of today, he's still known for his high-pitched tone of voice and large, round ears.

USE THE PROPER PRONOUNS

A white letter I on a purple background.

When writing in first-person, writers should also use the proper pronouns. These include me, myself, and especially I. At the same time, it's important to use a good balance in the narrative. One mistake many beginner writers make while writing in first-person point-of-view is starting every sentence with the single word I. This can be overdone if writers aren't careful, which can really bore readers and drag the pacing of the story. A solution that can help prevent these problems is paying attention to the internal conflict of the protagonist, how they interact with their story world, and how it has an effect upon them.

SHOW INTERNAL CONFLICT

Showing internal conflict for protagonists or characters is crucial. Emotions are essentially what really make characters come alive and allows readers to connect with them on a deeper level. First-person point-of-view isn't just about giving the protagonist or narrator a believable voice that speaks from the page, but also about getting the readers emotionally invested in the character. Remember, the protagonist will also be the viewpoint character and most of the story will be told through this character's eyes, so they have to be very appealing to keep readers' interest and make them want to care about them. Deep dive inside the protagonist and reveal things like the character's inner thoughts, emotions, sensations, and their deepest fears, secrets, and insecurities to the readers and detail how they cope while interacting with other characters and their physical surroundings in the story world.

USE CONSISTENT DICTION AND LANGUAGE

Again, this one goes along with staying within the character, but only when it comes to the character's voice and speech patterns. Writers should ensure they stay consistent with diction and language when writing in the first-person point-of-view. For example, maybe a character uses certain words that have different meanings for the time period in which they live, a character is Southern and has a type of dialect, or a character uses slang. Make sure you use the appropriate diction based on the character's perspective and outlook on life. For instance, a character from the 1850s will definitely not greet anyone saying, "What's up?"

AVOID OVERUSING PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

An attractive model wearing a dress and high heels and walking on the runway.

While physical descriptions are important to make characters believable for readers, when writing in first-person, writers should monitor how often they describe their protagonist, as it can seem unnatural to readers. Typically, we don't describe ourselves when interacting with other people and the same should be the case when writing a first-person perspective of a protagonist narrator. Some writing techniques that can help prevent this problem is using other distinctive attributes like clothing or accessories, blending physical descriptions into the narrative, or having other characters describe the protagonist rather than the protagonist themselves. These are techniques I used in my Christian and Historical fiction novel The Pact of Freedom while writing from the first-person point-of-view of my character Millie Crabtree, such as the passage examples from my novel below.

The front cover of my Christian and Historical fiction novel, The Pact of Freedom.

📌 TECHNIQUE 1: OTHER DISTINCTIVE ATTRIBUTES (CLOTHING, ETC.)

Pearl wore a wry grin, pulling back the silk ribbon straps of my ruffled, baby blue evening gown. "You look terrified."

"I am," I said, "it's my birthday, but I already feel like I'm getting hitched. What if I say something foolish?"

Pearl chuckled and smiled. "You're good with words. Relax and just be yourself." She tied the straps into a bow behind the small of my back. "There, you all done. This dress brings out your deep-blue eyes."

📌 TECHINQUE 2: BLENDING PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS INTO THE NARRATIVE

I frowned and turned sideways, examining my somewhat stocky figure in the mirror--hence, why I was wearing a corset for support. Having inherited my father's bodily build, I didn't know what Chauncey saw in me, but he must've been blind in one eye.

📌 TECHINIQUE 3: OTHER CHARACTERS DESCRIBING THE PROTAGONIST

On his hip, he also wore a holster loaded with a gun. "My partner Sal and I wanted to know if you've seen four negro slaves; one man and three women. They maybe with a young, white teenage girl named Millie. She's eighteen, of average height, and has brown hair with blue eyes. Mr. Crabtree hired us to catch the negroes and his daughter. Have you seen them?"

PLURAL CONTEXT OF 1ST PERSON POINT-OF-VIEW

Besides my latest novel, The Pact of Freedom, there are many other story examples of the first-person point of view. Most of these use the singular context pronouns of me, myself, and I, but there are some novels that actually use the plural context too. One example of this is the classic novel Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss, the story of a shipwrecked family on a deserted, tropical island, which although told and narrated from the father's point-of-view also uses the plural context pronoun "We" for the collective perspective of the family as a whole, as in the opening paragraph of chapter one of the story:

The front modern cover of Swiss Family Robinson novel.

For many days we had been tempest-tossed. Six times had the darkness closed over a wild and terrific scene, and returning light as often brought, but renewed distress, for the raging storm increased in fury until on the seventh day all hope was lost. We were driven completely out of our course; no conjecture could be formed as to our whereabouts. The crew had lost heart, and were utterly exhausted by incessant labor....

CLOSING REMARKS:

A redhead woman wearing glasses and a pink sweater and reading a Christian novel in a reading chair.

First-person point-of-view can be complicated to write sometimes, but keeping the six key points above in mind will make it a lot easier for writers to apply the proper approach to write in this perspective, allowing readers to be invested in a single character whose unique voice speaks from the pages and holds the attention of readers in a believable and compelling way. For more writing videos or tutorials, subscribe to my channel Journey of a Christian Writer series. All right, that's it for this post. If you liked it and found it helpful, please, give it a (heart❤️), take part in the poll 🤔, and share your thoughts or comments 💬 below.)

Happy Writing! 😊✍🏽💻

🤔Hey, writers, have your ever written a short story or novel in first-person point-of-view?