How to Keep Your Fiction Voice Natural in First-Person POV

Write Better Now

Photo by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash

One of the biggest challenges of writing in first-person point of view is making sure that your narrative voice feels really natural and engaging rather than stiff and overly formal.

So, not like a text book, but more like talking to a friend.

This can be kind of tricky when describing settings or diving into the character’s internal thoughts—places where exposition can bog down the forward flow of the story, right?

This post is about that. It’s about how to keep your novel (or essay or blog post even—gasp!) from sounding like a research paper. It’s about how to make your sentences and voice pop a bit more.

Or, if I was writing that a bit more stiltedly:

If your first-person narration reads like a research paper instead of a compelling personal account, it might be time to loosen up and bring more personality into your writing.

Gasp! Same thing. Totally different feel, right?

Let’s get started.

If you don’t remember (or you are new here), I have two writing tip posts a week (usually). One is paid content and one is free. Why? Because I need to make a living, really. I know! It’s super annoying.

Below the paywall is a reason why first-person sometimes sounds stilted and an exercise to loosen up.