PdW
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2019
- Messages
- 4
Hi all,
This is my first attempt to write a novel.
I noticed that I was drawn immediately to the first person perspective.
What I am struggling with is the dialogue.
The intro reveals a mysterious event that happened 7 years ago, told by the main character in the first person past tense.
I am starting the first chapter with the main character being interviewed by mysterious people after an attack.
This dialogue reveales the attack.
However, I want this interview to be experienced by the reader as present(the reader is experiencing a scene where the main character is not narrating the events.
so what is happening is happening now without any explanation.
I feel like I am stuck because it feels as if I'm breaking immersion when nearing the end of this chapter when i'm switching to his thoughts on the events that occured.
What bothers me most about this dialogue is that to make it clear for the reader I'm not putting both question and answer on the same line.
"How are you"
"I'm fine, thank you"
instead of
"How are you" , "I'm fine , thank you"
Also I am wondering what are the so called boundaries of writing first person.
Is it ok to switch between the main character narrating the event and the main character experiencing the actual event happening (non narrative)
i don't want to write the whole book or even chapter narrating everything.
but also i dont want to be stuck in the narrow first person experiencing the events live.
i would like to smoothly transition between the two making it very immersive, if this is even possible.
like i said this is my first attempt and i would like to explore the boundaries of this first person POV.
This is my first attempt to write a novel.
I noticed that I was drawn immediately to the first person perspective.
What I am struggling with is the dialogue.
The intro reveals a mysterious event that happened 7 years ago, told by the main character in the first person past tense.
I am starting the first chapter with the main character being interviewed by mysterious people after an attack.
This dialogue reveales the attack.
However, I want this interview to be experienced by the reader as present(the reader is experiencing a scene where the main character is not narrating the events.
so what is happening is happening now without any explanation.
I feel like I am stuck because it feels as if I'm breaking immersion when nearing the end of this chapter when i'm switching to his thoughts on the events that occured.
What bothers me most about this dialogue is that to make it clear for the reader I'm not putting both question and answer on the same line.
"How are you"
"I'm fine, thank you"
instead of
"How are you" , "I'm fine , thank you"
Also I am wondering what are the so called boundaries of writing first person.
Is it ok to switch between the main character narrating the event and the main character experiencing the actual event happening (non narrative)
i don't want to write the whole book or even chapter narrating everything.
but also i dont want to be stuck in the narrow first person experiencing the events live.
i would like to smoothly transition between the two making it very immersive, if this is even possible.
like i said this is my first attempt and i would like to explore the boundaries of this first person POV.
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