Comments on: Novel Too Long? Do This, says John Irving http://writeabetternovel.net/novel-too-long-do-this-says-john-irving/ Practical wisdom for novelists and other storytellers Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:03:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: gemma http://writeabetternovel.net/novel-too-long-do-this-says-john-irving/comment-page-1/#comment-109 gemma Sat, 10 Nov 2007 16:14:45 +0000 http://truevoice-blog.com/?p=96#comment-109 <p>I haven't written a novel, but I have noticed that when I write in the first person it takes me a long time to get things going. Sometimes I just think I'm producing a lot of blah blah blah, and there's no story yet, so I quit.</p> I haven’t written a novel, but I have noticed that when I write in the first person it takes me a long time to get things going. Sometimes I just think I’m producing a lot of blah blah blah, and there’s no story yet, so I quit.

]]> By: Anne Willkomm http://writeabetternovel.net/novel-too-long-do-this-says-john-irving/comment-page-1/#comment-110 Anne Willkomm Sat, 10 Nov 2007 08:42:28 +0000 http://truevoice-blog.com/?p=96#comment-110 <p>With regard to switching between 1st and 3rd person. I've done it twice with little problem. In both cases the story came to me or needed to get out of me in 1st person, but then once I was finished, I decided the story would work better from the 3rd person pov.</p> <p>I didn't find the process difficult and in the process, of course, some things were dropped and others had to be added.</p> <p>And I can't tell you exactly what it was that made me decide it would be better in 3rd person -- just knew that I had to re-write it that way.</p> With regard to switching between 1st and 3rd person. I’ve done it twice with little problem. In both cases the story came to me or needed to get out of me in 1st person, but then once I was finished, I decided the story would work better from the 3rd person pov.

I didn’t find the process difficult and in the process, of course, some things were dropped and others had to be added.

And I can’t tell you exactly what it was that made me decide it would be better in 3rd person — just knew that I had to re-write it that way.

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