Amateurs and careless writers use first-person narration that sounds remarkably like themselves. But if you’re into characterization, or a character-centered story, you’ll love discovering each distinct, new voice for your next work in progress.
Before committing to first person, here are some factors to consider.
More often than not, the protagonist is the first-person narrator. This means he or she must be present in all key scenes in your manuscript. You can’t have a main character who learns about key actions happening elsewhere. Unless the point of your book is to show a main character left out of all the action. That would be a sad book about a lonely person.
Maybe you decide your protagonist will be too close to the action and can’t give you the clear-headed narration you need. You could choose a close friend, family member, or someone else to be your first narrator who can tell the story without the melodrama and graphic imagery.
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