‘[First Person Present] cannot tell a story, because we are not the narrators of our own stories.’ – Ellen Moore

Introduction

In the previous article, I gave a brief description of the meaning of the First Person Present perspective. Here, I will give a more in depth description, give examples of how it can be used, and answer the questions mentioned two weeks ago: Why is it used so often? Why is it so popular? Why do I believe it should be used only as a temporary point of view?

The Meaning Behind The Word

The First Person Present point of view is like this: ‘When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping.’ – The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. First person means ‘I/myself/me,’ while the present tense is how you describe things that are occurring right now. I go, I do, I see, and so on.

Why Not To Use

The reasons below are the answers to why I believe first person present should be used only as a temporary point of view or small circumstances, but should be avoided as a narrative.

Self-Centered

Think of Gollum in the book The Hobbit. “It’s no good going back there to search, no. We doesn’t remember all the places we’ve visited. And it’s no use. The Baggins has got it in its pocketses; the nassty noser has found it, we says.” and so on. He speaks this way because he has no one else to talk to and is so completely self-absorbed that he is the only person, in his opinion, even worth speaking to. When you use the first person present as the narrative, you are automatically making the main character completely selfish, focusing on their own feelings rather than those of the other people around them. And while this is not in itself a problem – all characters should have major failings – unless the perspective changes as the character changes, it leaves the reader with the sense that your main character is irredeemably self-absorbed.

Bad Example

The books that children read and the movies that they watch will influence them until the day they die. Every child wants to be in a book, to have their own story, to live through adventures and excitement. The stories that they immerse themselves in will become part of them. If they are surrounded by such narrow, self-interested stories, what is their natural conclusion? To be narrow and self-interested. This is unhealthy and is a bad example to everyone, especially the enthusiastic, fascinated, and often rather impressionable person that most readers are.

Cheap Suspense

This point of view is sometimes used to build some sort of suspense and worry in the reader’s mind, since it focuses on the innermost workings and thoughts and actions of the main character, in the hopes that it will intrigue the audience throughout the story. But this is really not an effective way of building suspense, and almost always falls flat, leaving the story dull, grey, and mind-numbing.

Unrealistic

When does anyone ever say, or think, “I walk to the door,” as they are walking to the door? When does anyone ever think, “He comes toward me!” as someone approaches them? The first person present perspective is unrealistic and ineffective, and at least for me ends up being cringe-worthy and laughable.

How To Use

There are ways to use first person present. As a matter of fact, we use it quite often, though we do not realize it. Actually, that sentence was in itself first person present.

Dialogue

“I’m well, thanks.” This is an example of when people use first person present in everyday life. And writers use it when their main character speaks about themselves, such as responding to inquiries on their health or speaking about other temporary things happening now. Saying you are well does not ensure that you will stay well for the rest of the day, it simply means you are well now. Sharing opinions or stating things that are true at the moment but have also been true in the past, such as saying “I am a man,” falls more into the ‘State Of Being’ category of first person present, and I will explain that a little later.

Recalling or Reciting

Another time a sane person will speak in present tense about themselves is when they are remembering or reciting. You might see in movies or books a person recalling their actions in the past, such as if there has been a murder and the detective has to know what everyone was doing. Some people might say something like, “I go to the door. I stop. I turn.” and go on to recall their past actions in the present point of view. They might also do this if they are trying to find something they lost, like keys, phone, et cetera. On the other hand, an actor might rehearse on stage the actions they will do. “I go to the door. I stop. I turn.” In both examples, they are speaking in the present tense about themselves, but it is really either the past or the future that they are referring to.

Insanity

As with the example of Gollum, you can have a character who speaks about themselves in first person present, but only if they are out of their minds. Gollum often uses ‘we’ to refer to himself. He also speaks in second person present, which I will get to in a later article. ‘We’ is actually a first person point of view. It is first person plural, technically. Anyone who uses ‘we’ to refer to themselves doing something at the moment is using the first person present. But no rational person speaks like this. Only one who is so self-centered, and therefore insane, will ever even think of speaking of themselves in this manner.

Subcategory: State Of Being

A subcategory of the First Person Present is what I call the state of being or, if I want to be fancy, The First Person Continual, which I don’t think is the technical word for it, but I use it anyway. Examples of the continual are, “I am a woman.” “I do not like that painting.” “I go to the store.” It is using the first person present “I am,” “I do,” “I go,” but it is not restricted to what is happening now. Rather it is a statement about yourself. It is possible that in time you will begin to like that painting, but at the moment, and as far into the future as you can see, you do not like it. It is a form of First Person Present, and is often used in dialogue.

Why So Common?

So at last we come to the question: If the first person present point of view is best used as a temporary point of view, and can actually be a bad example when used as a narrative, why is it so popular to use it as a main point of view? The honest answer is… Angst. For a reason I cannot explain, many people want to feel depressed. They want to feel hopeless. They want to be filled with worry, be self-centered, pitiable, and excusable. First person present offers all of this. It is precisely for the reasons not to write this way that it is so common. Such an enclosed, narrow point of view makes the reader focus on themselves rather than the plot, the characters, or any morals and good examples that might be in the story.

Conclusion

The First Person Present perspective is a useful but dangerous tool for a writer, and it has to be used wisely, as any perspective. It can be a bad example for readers when done as a narrative, often making them more worried and ‘angst-y’ than anything else. But it can be a masterful weapon in the hands of a masterful writer. Experiment with ways you can use the first person present. Be aware of when people use it in everyday life. When you watch and listen to the people around you, it makes writing your own characters much easier. If you want to make your characters relatable to the reader, write the narrative in the way that a person would think and act. The First Person Present is not the way for that.

Next Week…

Moving on to the next perspective, First Person Past. Much easier and usable than First Person Present, this point of view has been used as a main perspective for a very long time. But whether it can be effectively used as a main narrative or not is a necessary question. There are different opinions depending on who you talk to. I hope to see you next week, and until then, keep writing, keep learning, and keep growing.