Writing From The First Person Like A Pro
Even seasoned writers can struggle with the first person point of view. After all, it’s a tricky voice that lends itself easily to misuse.
What simple mistakes give away your lack of writing facility? In the case of the first person voice, it always comes down to the use of “I.” To put it bluntly, pros know how to cut them out to the bare necessities, while those with less ability often struggle with their use.
When To Cut Down
During the drafting stages, having a few more of these self-referencing pronouns than what’s advisable is a natural occurrence. After all, you’re writing from a place of pure thought – one that’s not exactly refined to read like the smoothest chunk of text in the world
Once you’ve reached the editing stages, though, you have to cut down this first-person pronoun ruthlessly. If you established early on that the piece is written from a first-person perspective, why bother reiterating it every step along the way? The fact that you’re talking about your own thoughts and ideas should be a given after that.
Add One More Thing
What things do you do post-drafting to turn out a professional piece of work? Do you use an English writing checker? Do you print out the work and proofread the old-school way? Regardless of the actual steps you take, you need to add one more to mix when you write in the first person. Take care of those self-referencing pronouns and produce work that truly flows when you read it.