Life has a way of working its way onto the page. Writing fact: In any story, YOU are the first, second and third person. You exist in first, second and third person. As do your friends, neighbors, pets, trees and favorite tv characters.
What we experience finds its way to the page whether we intend it to or not. Sometimes we don't want to share ourselves, so we stop writing. But just as we exist in every POV, plotline and character (after all, our stories come from our minds), we are not our stories.
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Wait. But what if you're writing a nonfiction personal essay?
Nope. You're still not your story. And you can show yourself this by using craft to step outside the immediate intimacy of your narrative.
Writing Prompt
Change your point of view. Move from third to first, first to second, second to third. See how it feels, how it alters your experience of your writing, how it influences the voice of the narrator and characters.
This prompt is particularly useful for gaining clarity in the telling of your story, and for creating safe space to emotionally process the recording of difficult events. In fact, second person is my favorite narrative tool, and I will be telling you about why in another post.
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