Daily Writing Tip — Sep 11, 2026
By writing in the 3rd person we are more likely to CARE about boring characters because we TRUST the narrator. We know that there's some reason this person is getting a story told about them.
By writing in the 3rd person we are more likely to CARE about boring characters because we TRUST the narrator. We know that there's some reason this person is getting a story told about them.
This works because third person implies curation. Someone chose this life to narrate, out of all the lives available, which means significance is baked in before a single interesting thing happens. First person has to earn attention moment by moment; third person borrows it from the storyteller's authority.
Try this: instead of "I woke up, made coffee, thought about my sister," write "She woke up the way she always did lately, already tired, already thinking about her sister." Same events, but now they feel selected, worth telling.
The caution: this trust is a loan, not a gift. If nothing eventually justifies the attention, readers feel tricked rather than patient. Borrowed authority still has to be repaid with a reason.
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