This weekend, I had the opportunity to discuss creative process—which just happens to be one of my favourite topics. These are questions I’ve been asked many times, so you might be wondering about them too.

1. When you write in the first person (“I”), are you writing about yourself?

Not specifically–it’s really genre-specific. Anyone who’s read my work knows that I tend to put in a lot of sensory details, and the only way I know how to do it is by closing my eyes and putting myself in the character’s body. As I write, I actually mentally “create” the space my character is in and put my senses to work. I try to look, listen, feel, touch, smell and taste fo the character–so the character becomes an extension of myself.

When I write creative nonfiction, I am always the voice behind “I,” but it might not always be who I am today. As a writer, I try to be true to the version of myself at the time of the event I am writing about. For example, if I am writing about when I was a teenager, my views or comments on my mother would not be as warm as they are from the perspective of my child-self or my adult-self. For example, see “Soap Opera, Starring Rachel Kim.”

The “I” in poetry quite often starts as my voice, but it is not always true to me. Sometimes it isn’t me at all. These days, the “I” in my poetry seems to be transforming into a whole new character. For me, poetry tends to come out as nonfiction. In fact, many of my nonfiction pieces started as poems but changed form halfway through. I think that, in my mind, there is a connection between poetic language and nonfiction. This intrigues me. For an example of the autobiographical “I” in my poetry, see “Girl Picks Bottles with Mother in the Heat of July.”

The “I” in my fiction is not me. When friends and family read anything I’ve written in the first person, I’m sure they assume that I have done/thought/said/felt the things the main character is doing. Of course, there are smatterings of truth in everything anyone writes. When you read an exquisitely depicted scene or emotion, it is probably because the writer has used an experience and changed it to fit the context of the story she is writing. For an example of how the character might seem to be me, but isn’t, see “On the Way to the Roxy.”

2. Why do you write in the first person? Why the present tense?

I have been asked this question often. I didn’t start out writing in the first person but found that I was better able to bring out the intensity of emotion and inner thoughts by writing in the first person. As I tend to live inside of my head,  my characters have rich inner lives. It is easiest to develop my characters—to give you a glimpse of their “beingness” by letting the reader into the characters’ thoughts. To me, the first person brings the reader closer to the characters and allows the reader live vicariously through them.

I was first asked about why I wrote in the present tense when I was taking a MOOC through Iowa Writer’s Workshop. I’d never really considered that it was unusual to write in the present tense. To me, it feels natural to let the action unroll as the reader reads the words. Anything in the past of what is happening is in the simple past.

If you’re wondering, this is what I mean:

This excerpt is from a story I am currently editing:

When I write my word, my mother’s eyes glisten with tears. She plucks up the letters and hands them to me. “Put those in your pocket. You need courage more than this silly game.” She folds the cool little tiles into my hand.

A writer would more commonly write it like this:

When I wrote my word, my mother’s eyes glistened with tears. She plucked up the letters and handed them to me. “Put those in your pocket. You need courage more than this silly game.” She folded the cool little tiles into my hand.

For me, writing in the present tense brings immediacy. My favourite novels are mostly written in the past. Maybe I’ll change the way I write someday, but for now, I’m just doing what comes naturally. (Also, it helps avoid having to write in the clunky past perfect—“After I’d written my word, my mother’s eyes glistened with tears…”)

What do you think? What’s your creative process?

Do you enjoy stories written in the first person? The present tense? Do you always assume that writing in the first person is the author’s words? What is your creative process?

I’d love to hear from you!