A change in perspectives...

Our task for the Writers' Group this week was to take something we had written and write it from the other perspective. I mean, if you originally wrote it in the first person, to go and write it in the third and see how different it is.

There is probably a more articulate way to say the above, but sometimes it doesn't matter... its the vibe of the thing, man!

So I haven't actually read anything out that I wrote to the group yet, and I've been there a few times. Twintensity threw herself into it - and tonight she organised the topic. She read this awesome piece she wrote, contrasting her experience in the Peace Corps in Haiti and as a mother in Germany. It was beautifully done - she wrote about surviving an earthquake in Haiti and running off the road (car trouble) in Stuttgart. Lol First world problems.

(one day I will put the link here)

I noticed at some stage that the first instalment of Serendipity contains the first AND second person. I hope it flows... but anyway, I decided to write a little bit in third person - to give it a try.. mainly to have something to read for once. I almost didn't go cos I'm feeling buggared after trying to jog yesterday and I feel ill... tummy bug wise.

Anyway, this is what I wrote. And after you decide it's awesome, and that I'm really talented, let me tell you I wrote this in about 10 minutes about half an hour before the group started lol... maybe it shows.

*******************************************************************************

She sighed. Her body aching and sleep stealing away any motivation she had left, she knew she had to get it over and done with, and then she could really relax. Everyone was asleep and the night was no longer young.  But there were lunches to be made and uniforms to be laid out. The kids’ stuff could wait, but he started work before she liked to get up and she was still in the habit of making things easier for him. It was quiet. The fridge hummed. She collected lunchboxes and drink bottles.

After laying out the ingredients on the bench, Nicole began to feel hungry. No, she thought, I will be strong. Those diet lollies are good enough. No bread after 6. No carbs. The urge to binge was great. The photos of a happy family smiled at her from above. She didn’t really care. It was almost midnight, and there was still study to do. If only she could force herself to get through the rest of that reading for Uni. Maybe things would run smoother tomorrow.

***************************************************************************

The ladies liked it. One said the third person stuff sounded a bit poetical... she also whispered she thought it was beautiful and that she had been there herself. Another one liked it and said the first person stuff took you there, that it needs to be performed. As much as I love that my friends like what I write, it's also nice to hear that strangers like it too :)

And on reflection it was interesting to note, that to me, the first person Serendipity stuff was more of a bravado, a look at moiye type thing, whereas the third person stuff was a bit deeper and more honest. Maybe it was because the audience is different, or maybe cos I'm tired and don't feel like being positive.

Or maybe writing in the third person makes you more objective - its how you see yourself, not how you want the world to see you... Hmmm something to think about.

What I should really be thinking about are those two essays due in the first week of October - for Evidence it is about Hearsay. For International Political Institutions (or whatever the subject is called ;p) its whether state sovereignty should override human rights. They'll get done ... I think! Graduating in December..yaaay! Now THAT is motivation to get them done!