tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1985680669015181843.post3184948805172569723..comments2022-11-17T08:25:12.204-05:00Comments on Scenes From a Notebook: Persona AngstMichellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821454890994040285noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1985680669015181843.post-18837439699743409782008-06-24T15:18:00.000-04:002008-06-24T15:18:00.000-04:00Yeah. It's hard. The story has to start with somet...Yeah. It's hard. The story has to start with something like, "Not right then, but many years later, I recalled..." Right? And then you have your first person describing somebody doing something intense, such as caring for a dying person. And you describe that, first person as third person. So far so good. But then at the end the narrator reveals, let's say, that he or she never saw the person doing this thing. They've just been told about it, and are in fact imagining it moment by moment, but in a really poetic, stanza-like way. Easy peasy, right? This is why I mention McPherson, who's forever having characters go on and on first person past tense about some whiskey soaked misadventure involving themselves and someone else, all scene-based, but presented detail by detail so it feels fast and intense, and he doesn't seem to need to be nursing a dying person to get at the emotion.Michellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07821454890994040285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1985680669015181843.post-64515807148863542492008-06-24T14:48:00.000-04:002008-06-24T14:48:00.000-04:00"Write in first person describing the actions of s..."Write in first person describing the actions of someone else in minute by minute detail but as imagined by the first person after having been described to him or her in the past by the other character." <BR/><BR/>Huh? I'm going to try to this exercise as soon as I'm able to understand it. It sounds awesome and complicated and cool. Just what I'm up for. <BR/><BR/>Per your suggestion, I read Ron Carlson Writes a Story and I wrote a story this weekend. Finished a draft this morning. <BR/><BR/>Thanks again for your comments on my essay. I've done a couple more drafts on <BR/>it thanks to your help. <BR/><BR/>Hope you had a great vacation! I'm off to Canada. . .Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03152680091261268510noreply@blogger.com