third person

Think About It

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

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One of the things that makes our writing strong is sharing our character’s thoughts with the reader. This is done in two main ways: by indirect and direct thoughts.

Thoughts are simply a character talking to themselves. We show this inner speech by using italics instead of quotation marks.

For example,

Indirect: He thought his friend’s remark was funny.

Direct: Now, that’s funny!

Most narrative writing is in the past tense.

But, characters’ inner thoughts are written in the present tense.

Here is an example:

Indirect:  He refused to give up.  (This comes from the narrator. Past tense- third person.)

Direct: I refuse to give up.  (This thought comes directly from the character. Present tense- first person.)

So, when should you use indirect thoughts and when should you choose to include direct thoughts?

Ask yourself two questions:

1) Does it feel like it’s in third or first person?

2) Does it feel like the character is saying this?

It’s just that simple. 

Or, at least I think so…

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An Interesting Profile

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

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When I was a youngster, we used the words, “cool, neat, and swell” to describe good things.

Now, the popular words are, “awesome” and “epic.”

Remember the days when the word profile referred to how you looked from the side view?

Now, it means your bio.

Although word usage may change, an interesting bio/profile is even more important in our current world than in the past.

So, just what should one contain?

Begin with your name.   End with your contact information.

Between those two “bookends” include the following based on the purpose for writing your profile (is it for a college or job application? a dating site? your own website? to find contacts?)

A little research on my part has uncovered these necessary items:

Your profession/training/educational background (Simply state this. You don’t want to come off sounding “smart or cocky.”) **This is NOT A RESUME, so don’t fill in too much detail. However, realize that you’re going to be going into more depth in this area, if the bio is for a job application and less if it is for a personal website.

Special accomplishments/recent works/expertise. If you share examples, direct them toward your target audience.

Personal, humanizing details. Are you married? Do you have children? Pets?

Your age and a recent—tasteful—photo.

Include hobbies and interests (but, again, think of your audience. These might not be good to include in a job application, unless specifically asked for…)

Remember:

Be sure to write in the third person.

Keep it up-to-date, making changes whenever necessary.

It’s a word picture, so write with a smile!