Monday, January 15, 2018

Is there such a thing as using too Many "I's" in a first person novel?


For example, would you say this section of copy has too many "I's" or even "my's"?



I woke in a daze. A drug induced daze.


I recognized it instantly, the feeling of being disconnected from my limbs. Only this was much heavier than the brain fog of the little blue and red pills I usually had in my system. Heavy enough, that the moment I opened my eyes, my body wanted them to close again. The urge to sleep was strong, but the scratchy texture of cheap sheets beneath my skin irritated my senses enough to hold sleep at bay. Slowly blinking, the room came into focus.



I was all alone.




Answer



"I" has a very specific feeling. Any time it's used like you did in your passage it creates a separation between the main character and the world. The protagonist feels alone, misunderstood against the big world.



I Am Jack's Inflamed Sense of Rejection



For instance in my writing I played between "I" and "We" for effect where I wanted to go between the character feeling like he belonged or not. Compare



We walk to the train station



I walk to the train station, and the other's follow



On the other hand, if you don't want the feeling of isolation or inclusion you should try to avoid that construction. Moving the "I" from the first word in a sentence also lessens the impact.


Overall "I" is a pretty good pronoun. Unlike "He" or "She", there is no congestive load in understanding who "I" is.


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