Writing a novel in first-person seems easy at first. After all, how hard can it be to get inside just one character’s head and stay there? As it turns out, quite hard. To be sure, the first-person perspective is an exciting opportunity to explore your protagonist’s deepest secrets and drives and develop a sympathetic bond with the reader as they get to know your character from the inside. I bet many of our favorite books are told in first-person.

But from a craft perspective, writing in first-person is a potential minefield. Building an interesting and dynamic world full of believable characters can be extra challenging when the reader can only see that world through one set of eyes. Common pitfalls involve an over-reliance on telling rather than showing; not using inner dialogue strategically to build conflict and tension; and accidentally switching out of first-person, which can confuse the reader.

By the end of this presentation, you’ll be armed with a variety of techniques to help you use first-person effectively in a variety of genres and to recognize several pitfalls before you get too far along.

This presentation will cover:

• Determining if first-person is the right POV for your story and genre
• An understanding of how first-person works differently from other POVs
• Hallmarks of great first-person POV work
• Techniques to vary your writing style within first-person
• Real-time writing exercise based on a first-person prompt