• Contact
  • Account
    • Become an Affiliate
    • Sign Up for Deals

    • Login
Book Cave: free ebooks!
Book Cave
Connecting the RIGHT readers with the RIGHT books
  • About
    • Book Cave Reviews
    • Who We Are
      • Mission
      • In the Works
      • Book Cave Logos
      • Meet the Ratings
    • Privacy Center
      • Privacy & Terms
      • Your Privacy Rights
    • Affiliate Program Agreement
    • Trademarks
  • Current Deals
    • Deals from Retailers
    • Book Cave Direct Deals
      • Exclusive Ebook Downloads
      • Free Group Deals
    • Giveaways
      • Win a Free Ereader!
      • Last Giveaway Winner
      • Past Winners
  • Readers
    • Sign Up
    • Rated Books Database
    • Rate a book I’ve read
    • Browse Author Pages
    • Reader FAQ
    • Reader Blog
    • Giveaways
      • Win a Free Ereader!
      • Last Giveaway Winner
      • Past Winners
  • Authors
    • How It Works
    • Our Services
      • Feature Your Book
      • Group Features
      • Subscriber Magnet Services
      • MBR Ratings
      • Create an Author Page
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Pricing
    • Submit a Book
    • Create Account
    • Become an Affiliate
    • Author Resources
      • Author Blog
      • Author FAQ
      • Promotion Tips
      • Cover Guide Calculator
  • Book Swag
  • Contact
  • Account
    • Become an Affiliate
    • Sign Up for Deals

    • Login
  • About
    • Book Cave Reviews
    • Who We Are
      • Mission
      • In the Works
      • Book Cave Logos
      • Meet the Ratings
    • Privacy Center
      • Privacy & Terms
      • Your Privacy Rights
    • Affiliate Program Agreement
    • Trademarks
  • Current Deals
    • Deals from Retailers
    • Book Cave Direct Deals
      • Exclusive Ebook Downloads
      • Free Group Deals
    • Giveaways
      • Win a Free Ereader!
      • Last Giveaway Winner
      • Past Winners
  • Readers
    • Sign Up
    • Rated Books Database
    • Rate a book I’ve read
    • Browse Author Pages
    • Reader FAQ
    • Reader Blog
    • Giveaways
      • Win a Free Ereader!
      • Last Giveaway Winner
      • Past Winners
  • Authors
    • How It Works
    • Our Services
      • Feature Your Book
      • Group Features
      • Subscriber Magnet Services
      • MBR Ratings
      • Create an Author Page
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Pricing
    • Submit a Book
    • Create Account
    • Become an Affiliate
    • Author Resources
      • Author Blog
      • Author FAQ
      • Promotion Tips
      • Cover Guide Calculator
  • Book Swag
Book Lovers,Interviews
07 Mar 2020 at 07:01 AM PST
Updated 2 years ago

The Voice in Reading—Why I Love Writing in First Person

By Luana Ehrlich

Subscribe for book deals

Advertisement

Browse by topic

All Posts Book Lovers Book Products Book Reviews Fun Facts Holidays Interviews Literature News Prizes! Quizes Quotes Reading Challenge Reading Tips Updates

writing in first person

I'm a book wyrm
We hope you enjoy reading this post!
If you’re like us and love to read, then click here to score tons of free and discounted ebooks.

I’ve always loved reading a story written in first person. As an avid reader, I’ll read almost anything, whether it’s written in first person or not, but my favorite voice is first person, and I’ve been that way ever since I learned to read.

One of the earliest memories from my childhood is piling in the car with my family on Saturday morning for our weekly visit to the downtown library in Joliet, Illinois.

Even though my parents did a lot of reading in their chosen professions—my father was a minister and my mother was a schoolteacher—they always found time to read fiction.

When I was eleven, I became more interested in the books my father was bringing home from the library than I was in the books I was finding in the children’s section. My father’s favorite genre was mystery/suspense/thriller, and by the time I was eleven, I had already read through the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series several times.

When I asked my father if I could read one of his library books—a book about a spy, a beautiful woman, and a bad guy stealing state secrets—I was shocked when he said yes.

From then on, I was hooked on the mystery/suspense/thriller genre forever, and I was especially enamored with reading novels written in first person with a male protagonist telling the story.

Years later, when I sat down to write my first novel, I didn’t think about whether I should write in first person or not. The voice of my protagonist, Titus Ray, a CIA intelligence officer, came out on paper—or, more accurately, on my computer screen—as if I were telling the story in my own voice.

Now, after writing eight novels—with three more on the way—and receiving hundreds of emails from my readers, I believe I understand why the voice of first person is one I love to read as well as write.

  1. First person is an intimate voice. It allows the protagonist to share his or her innermost thoughts and feelings with the reader in a way that’s impossible with third person. Because the protagonist is telling the reader what the other characters in the novel don’t know, an intimate connection is made. Much like the bond between best friends or a husband and wife, it’s forged by shared secrets and experiences and leads to a deeper, more insightful relationship.
  2. First person is an authoritative voice. The reason most readers enjoy reading a story in first person is the same reason jurors enjoy hearing directly from witnesses in a trial. The words of a person who saw something, heard something, or experienced something carry weight. The protagonist in a story told in first person knows about the story; the words are weighty words.
  3. First person is a natural voice. The voice of first person is natural because it’s how we all think. We talk to ourselves in first person. We say, “I need to go to the store. I really like her. I love this apple pie.” Thus, whether we read or write in person, it’s a comfortable way of looking at a story.
  4. First person is a character-driven voice. Writing or reading in first person inevitably leads to seeing the full spectrum of at least one character, the protagonist. However, because the protagonist is having dialogue with other characters, thinking about the characters, describing their actions, it allows the other characters to be fleshed out in the story in a more well-rounded and meaningful way.
  5. First person is a simple voice. As soon as the reader begins reading a story in first person, the focus of the story becomes clear—it’s the protagonist. When a story is told in third person, this may not become evident until much later in the story. With first person, the perspective is well-defined and uncomplicated.

Because I write in first person, I often get asked some interesting questions from my readers: “How do you know so much about the CIA? Did you use to be a spy? Have you ever been a private investigator?”

I believe such questions not only reinforce why I love to write in first person, they also reveal why readers love to read stories told in first person. It makes fiction seem real, which is what fiction readers want and why writers write fiction in the first place.

Want great ebook deals sent straight to your inbox? We’ve got you covered!
Send me free ebooks
Copyright 2020 by Luana Ehrlich
Reuse notice: Non-commercial users, feel free to print out “The Voice in Reading—Why I Love Writing in First Person” for personal use or give to friends, share online, or make a meme of, as long as you attribute and link back to this post. Commercial users, you may share a link to this post or quote a short excerpt from it with attribution and a link to this site, but you may not use this post in its entirety. Thank you for caring about copyright.

Avatar for Luana Ehrlich
Luana Ehrlich

Luana Ehrlich is the award-winning author of the Titus Ray Thriller Series, featuring CIA operative Titus Ray, and the Mylas Grey Mystery Series, featuring private investigator Mylas Grey. Her novels are clean reads with intriguing plots, fascinating characters, jaw-dropping twists, and occasional touches of heart-warming romance. Besides being an author, Luana is a freelance writer, minister’s wife, and former missionary to Costa Rica and Venezuela. To learn more about Luana, visit her website LuanaEhrlich.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter and receive the prequel to her Titus Ray Thriller Series.


Share this post

Keep Reading

write in first person

Why I Write in First Person

When I first sat down to write, I was focused on what pet peeves I’ve had with various books over the years. My biggest complaint? Not enough books are written in first person.

The Stages Every Book Lover Goes through (or Went Through) to Accepting Ebooks

The Stages Every Book Lover Goes through (or Went Through) to Accepting Ebooks

When people first started publishing ebooks, I laughed and thought, “Who would want to just stare at their screen for hours when they could be flipping through pages?” But one day, something changed . . .

dysfunction childhood inspired Illusions of a Girl

How My Dysfunctional Childhood Inspired The Illusion of a Girl

My book The Illusion of a Girl is fueled by my own soul crushing, tension-filled childhood. I share my thoughts, feelings, and conscious decision to not be like my parents with the hope it will help someone who is going through or has gone through something similar.

Hello fellow book lover! We hope you are enjoying this post.
If you want free, content-rated ebooks that you can download straight from your favorite retailer, just sign up for our free newsletter
Sign me up!

Leave a Reply

Cancel


Comments

  1. Trick
    Trick • 2 years ago

    I really enjoyed reading about your background,thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  2. C.S. Kjar
    C.S. Kjar • 2 years ago

    I’m writing a book in first person for the first time. I love it! The story is much deeper, I think, than if it were written in third person.

    Reply
  3. Cheryl Arcemont
    Cheryl Arcemont • 2 years ago

    I love reading in the first person. Let’s me know in the beginning who or what the story is about and allows for introduction to other leading characters in relation to the protagonist. I am contemplating writing a book and I would definitely write in the first person as only I KNOW the emotions involved.

    Reply
Receive free ebooks on Amazon Kindle from Book Cave
Receive free ebooks on Apple Books from Book Cave
Receive free ebooks on Google Play from Book Cave
Receive free ebooks on Kobo from Book Cave
Receive free ebooks on Nook from Book Cave
Receive free ebooks on Smashwords from Book Cave
Book Cave
Book Cave Direct
My Book Ratings
MY BOOK RATINGS
Connecting the RIGHT readers with the RIGHT books
  • Sitemap
  • Contact Us
  • Free ebooks
© Book Cave - All the rights reserved!

Sign up for our ebook deals and we'll enter you to win a new Kindle 7. We're giving one away each month!

Get Ready for Free Ebooks!

Let us know where we should send your free and discounted ebooks deals. (And who to notify in case of a win!)