Writing in first person means writing from the author's point of view or perspective. This point of view is used for autobiographical writing as well as narrative. The first person is an alternative to second person, which uses "you," as in the sentence "You are the smartest person in the room." The first person is also an alternative to third person, which uses "he," "she," or "it," as in the sentence "He is the most handsome person in the room."

First Person Writing Examples

From Literature

"It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived." - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

"I cannot but conclude that the Bulk of your Natives, to be the most pernicious Race of little odious Vermin that Nature ever suffered to crawl upon the Surface of the Earth." - Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

"I could not unlove him now, merely because I found that he had ceased to notice me." - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

"And I like large parties. They're so intimate. At small parties there isn't any privacy." - The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

"I'm nobody! Who are you?

Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us -- don't tell!
They'd banish -- you know!" - I'm Nobody! Who are You? by Emily Dickinson

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore" The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

"I wandered lonely as a cloud, That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils;" I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud by William Wordsworth

"I knew a man by sight,

A blameless wight,

Who, for a year or more,

Had daily passed my door,

Yet converse none had had with him." I Knew a Man By Sight by Henry David Thoreau

From Songs

"All I'm askin' is for a little respect when you come home." Respect - Aretha Franklin

"Oh yeah, I'll tell you something, I think you'll understand

When I say that something, I wanna hold your hand" - Beatles

"My mother was a tailor. She sewed my new bluejeans

My father was a gamblin' man down in New Orleans" House of The Rising Sun - Animals

"Under the boardwalk, Down by the sea, yeah

On a blanket with my baby, Is where I'll be" Under The Boardwalk - Drifters

"I keep the ends out for the tie that binds

Because you're mine, I walk the line" I Walk the Line - Johnny Cash

"They say we're young and we don't know, We won't find out until we grow" I Got You, Babe - Sonny and Cher

"Then I saw her face, now I'm a believer, Not a trace of doubt in my mind." I'm A Believer - Monkees

"I know you've deceived me, now here's a surprise

I know that you have 'cause there's magic in my eyes" I Can See For Miles - The Who

"I love the colorful clothes she wears

And the way the sunlight plays upon her hair" Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys

"I heard it through the grapevine not much longer would you be mine." I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye

"Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy, sunshine in my eyes can make me cry." Sunshine on My Shoulders - John Denver

These examples help to show how to write in first person.

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Examples of Writing in First Person

By YourDictionary

Writing in first person means writing from the author’s point of view or perspective. This point of view is used for autobiographical writing as well as narrative. The first person is an alternative to second person, which uses "you," as in the sentence "You are the smartest person in the room." The first person is also an alternative to third person, which uses "he," "she," or "it," as in the sentence "He is the most handsome person in the room."