How to Change First Person to Third Person

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I like that expanded a conception of what conflict is. Now, it can't be easy. If everything just happens automatically, then that's not really a very fascinating story. So let's go back into the nitty gritty. We have our premise, people are talking backwards. We have some characters. I mean, at what point do you make decisions like, ah, is it a first person narration versus third person? Is it a novel or a short story? Gong to break it into a million scenes like all these knitty gritty things. Oes this is it? Is that easy and natural at this point in your expert life? Or is it, is that the hard part?

Telling a story seems like the most natural, human thing in the world. We all do it, all the time. And who amongst us doesn’t think we could be a fairly competent novelist, if we just bothered to take the time? But storytelling is a craft like any other, with its own secret techniques and best practices. Charlie Jane Anders is a multiple-award-winning novelist and story writer, but also someone who has thought carefully about all the ingredients of a good story, from plot and conflict to characters and relationships. This will be a useful conversation for anyone who tells stories, reads novels, or watches movies. Maybe you’ll be inspired to finally write that novel.

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Charlie Jane Anders studied English and Asian literature at Cambridge University. She is the author of over 100 published works of short fiction and several novels, including the new Young Adult book Victories Greater Than Death. She was co-founder of the website io9, a blog about science and science fiction. She is a frequent event organizer, including the monthly Writers With Drinks. Among her accolades are Hugo, Nebula, Locus, Sturgeon, and Crawford awards. She is the co-host, with Annalee Newitz, of the Our Opinions Are Correct podcast. Later this year she will publish Never Say You Can’t Survive: How to Get Through Hard Times by Making Up Stories.

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