Re: Be a Better Writer--A TOUCH OF POV
Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2015 2:58 pm
Allison, I really enjoyed your two pieces that you linked.
One thing I forgot to mention - even though I like 3rd person better than 1st person, there is one way I really do like using 1st person. Sometimes if I am struggling with a particular scene or story, it helps to open a new word document or get a fresh piece of paper, and rewrite a 3rd person scene in 1st person. For some reason, just looking at the "I" instead of "he/she" shakes it up enough for me to spot problem bits or see where I can pare away unnecessary fluff (which, for RC "Purple Prose" Barrett, is a good thing ). Then I can just switch it back to 3rd person, with the edits, and plug it back into the manuscript.
Don't know why, but it seems to help.
One thing I forgot to mention - even though I like 3rd person better than 1st person, there is one way I really do like using 1st person. Sometimes if I am struggling with a particular scene or story, it helps to open a new word document or get a fresh piece of paper, and rewrite a 3rd person scene in 1st person. For some reason, just looking at the "I" instead of "he/she" shakes it up enough for me to spot problem bits or see where I can pare away unnecessary fluff (which, for RC "Purple Prose" Barrett, is a good thing ). Then I can just switch it back to 3rd person, with the edits, and plug it back into the manuscript.
Don't know why, but it seems to help.