Your Brain on Writing

In first person point of view, the “I” is witnessing the story, and an abundance of first-person stories are told in past tense. Even if the story is about a child, the narrator is older and uses adult, sophisticated language. First person POV is straightforward but the narrator can only know what he/she sees, hears, experiences, and observes. Another  element is that the person’s thoughts are accessible, creating a tone of intimacy with the reader. This helps make the first person POV uncomplicated and straightforward.

First person is often taken as autobiography, justifiably so since a bunch of first novels are a blatant rendering of the author’s own life.

From the Journal of Educational Psychology, I learned that a reader perceives a story differently when it’s written in the first person. In a similar way, different areas of the right brain light up when you write with a pen as opposed to the left brain while typing on a keyboard. Basically, when reading first person, the reader’s brain reacts as if it’s in a conversation, and pays more attention in case it has to respond. I’m paraphrasing the hell out of what I read, of course.

After I posted this entry, I was wondering why my tired brain was on this subject in the first place. Such a dry toast kind of post. Following the tangled fishing line that is my thought process, I concluded I was wondering why I enjoyed memoir and personal writing so much. I read it and process it much faster than fiction. I enjoy the look into someone else's mind, knowing full well how much self-editing goes into what we write. And, in the weird way the mind creates fiction, I just thought of a twist to add to a short story I've been working on, about a woman on a beach. (sounds riveting, I know, but I like this particular story) The story has needed something more and now I may have what I need in my arthritic grasp. 

In conclusion, I write some of my best fiction while using a pen and a legal yellow pad. Sadly, I can't always read my own writing.