So in meeting number three we kind of touched on writing in first person as the opposite gender. Now what we seem to be wondering is if this person actually sounds like a girl or because we knew it was written by one was it automatically assumed to be a girl.
When I was six I loved puzzles. Placing the pieces together one by one, excited to see what picture would be the one to form. And for a while I always had my little brother their to help me with those puzzles; the two of us were inseparable as any non-twin brothers could be. But then things changed abruptly, after the eve of my tenth birthday I found myself waking up in the middle of a parking lot, feeling like I had been left for dead…
I was laying on something cold and uncomfortable. That much I could tell and I groaned my protest of the location out loud. The second thing that I noticed was the smell, a cross between that of asphalt and stale city air. Then I made the mistake of opening my eyes. The small movement caused my head to pound and my body to ache. The sky above my head was still rather dark. I presumed that it was about five in the morning, which would allow for a little bit of light to come out. At that observation I scrambled to my feet, only to fall right back down. I was ten years old, there was no way I could have began to guess such a thing, and what was even worse was the fact that I was contemplating second guessing myself. Something was definitely wrong.
As I sat there on the ground thinking about thinking, it finally occurred to me that I would have to find my way home. Absently, I brushed my hair out of my eyes and felt something sticky cover my fingers and instead of being completely scared at the fact that it was blood, I found myself frowning and dismissing the blood almost immediately. I glanced at my surroundings, immediately my mind reacted before my ten-year-old brain could take in what was around me; there in my head a map was drawn before my eyes to lead me home. I was in the library parking lot and with the map already in my head as to the fastest way home the only thing I could do was follow.
Strangely enough, walking was not as painful as I imagined it would be. And without any pain to impede my judgment I tried to remember exactly what had happened the night before. I could remember my fear and could remember running. But as for how I ended up lying in the library parking lot I had no idea.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
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As far as the voice goes, I think we know that it's your voice. We recognize it as Amber, so that's whose voice we're hearing, so we think of the narrator as a female. I do think that one thing that makes it sound like a girl is brushing his hair out of his eyes. That's something girls generally have to worry about where most guys do not. If he has hair that reaches all the way to his eyes, it's pretty long... an inch longer than Jaron's, or more.
ReplyDeleteThat was my thought exactly; the hair part was what was getting to me as well.
ReplyDeleteI think I agree with Rachel. On the first read-through, I didn't know what I was reading other than "this came from Amber," and my mind just skipped over the "brothers" thing, so I think I automatically filled in the female voice. But now that I know it's supposed to be a guy, it sounds alright as a guy.
ReplyDeleteSo maybe a cool experiment would be for someone to write a scene from the first-person perspective and then attach two different names for the author to it, one male and one female. And maybe a few with just initials or no name on it at all. Then see what people think. Writing exercise, anyone? Haha.