Content Creation

Hands-on First-person Narrative: A Lesson from Michael Thompson

Examining the writing style in the piece “What an average Monday looks like when you’re 44 and live in a small coastal town in Spain”

I’ve been following Michael Thompson for the past two years, and what continues to impress me about his writing is his honesty, relatable content, and his ability to bring life lessons to the forefront through his own personal experiences.

I recently had the chance to read his piece “On Peaches, Park Benches, and Choosing What Matters Most,” after it had been sitting in one of my browser tabs for days before I finally delved into it.

The story is a poignant reflection of a simple, yet sweet moment Michael shared with his 4-year-old son, eating peaches on a park bench. After initially declining his son’s request to eat the peaches, as he felt he had work to do, he changed his mind and joined him.

Through his words, Michael vividly painted the scene, capturing the beauty of that 5 minutes with a nostalgic and introspective tone. This perfectly illustrated the value of the little moments in between the busyness of life.

As someone who is “fueled by never-ending goals to crush,” and a mom working from home as a software engineer and content creator, I could relate to the struggle of balancing work and life. I felt also touched by Michael’s expression of regret for saying no to some opportunities to spend quality with his children.

Okay, I think that’s enough as an emotional intro. Let’s lighten things up and dive into another delightful piece from our guest, “What an average Monday looks like when you’re 44 and live in a small coastal town in Spain.”

In this story, Michael leveraged sensory details and used humor and irony to create a sense of immediacy and transport the audience to the moment. This allowed the reader to imagine themselves going through the same routine as the main character.

So buckle up and get ready to explore the first-person narrative style that made that piece so engaging and immersive.

What’s a First-person Narrative?

A first-person narrative is a story told from the perspective of the narrator, who is typically one of the characters in the story and uses first-person pronouns such as “I”, “me”, “we”, and “us”.

In our target piece, Michael described events of a typical Monday in his own life from his own perspective. He effectively captured his thoughts, emotions, and interactions with his surroundings and created a vivid, relatable portrayal of them.

He used the pronoun “you” to create a personal experience for the reader and let them see the events unfold through their eyes. The “you” was not just a narrator, but a participant in the tale.

The Effects of First-person Narrative on Readers

The first-person narrative is like having a front-row seat to someone’s thoughts and experiences. It’s like being privy to a secret, exclusive look into a character’s mind.

It allows for a deeper understanding of complex or unreliable characters, as you get to imagine yourself in their shoes.

This narrative style creates a sense of intimacy and immediacy.

However, it has its limitations, as you only get one perspective, the narrator. Their point of view might not give you the full picture of the events that are happening, but it gives you an incredibly personal and engaging way of experiencing the story.

First-person Narrative Patterns to Learn

Michael leveraged introspective patterns with a touch of humor to describe the behavior of his children, his bike ride, the visit from handymen, running errands, and winding down at night.

He captured the ups and downs of the day with a warm, nostalgic feel, making the reader get a glimpse into the narrator’s life.

Below are some common first-person narrative patterns that have been used in that story:

1. Personal Experience

“At around 3:30, you realize you’ve done enough and you grab your phone and make a few calls to kill some time before you pick up your kids.”

This is an example of how to describe things in a personal and subjective manner.

2. Thoughts and Emotions

“‘Shit!’ you say to yourself. ‘I’ll swing back by the market on the way home once your mom gets here.’”

In this sentence, the author shared his thoughts and emotions as the events unfold.

3. Direct Address

To create a sense of intimacy and engagement, he addressed the reader directly by referring to himself as “you”:

“‘You want to go to the park?’ you ask while handing each one a sandwich outside their school.”

4. Reflections and Self-talk

Michael frequently reflected on his actions and thoughts, which allowed the reader to understand the deeper meaning behind them and get an insight into his personality and motivations.

“You think about that for a second. Your decision to work mainly from home. ‘Is this what it’s come to?’ you ask yourself. ‘Looking forward to weekly visits from handymen to get a dose of human contact?’”

5. Rhetorical questions

The use of rhetorical questions such as “Is this what it’s come to?” (in the previous example), engages the reader and creates a sense of shared experience with them.

6. Humor and sarcasm

To inject some levity and lightheartedness into the piece, the author used humor and sarcasm, such as when he swears under his breath when the doorbell rings and makes a self-deprecating comment about looking forward to weekly visits from handymen for more human interaction.

“After close to an hour of devouring 53 54-second videos of some stranger’s day, you get to work. It goes well. But then the doorbell rings. “Shit!” you say under your breath as you smile at the two men standing at your front door.”

7. Describe the events

Another pattern that Michael used is describing the events in a sequenced manner. He started with the morning and went through the day step by step, giving a sense of the natural progression of time and how one event leads to another.

He also used a very casual, conversational style while reflecting on the monotony of his daily routine.

“The first sound comes in at 6:43.

“Papa! Papa! Is it the day yet?” one shouts.

You open your eyes. You grunt. The woman laying next to you doesn’t look too pleased to be awake either. You grab your glasses. You glance at the clock. You yell “No.” You hide your head under the covers. But it’s useless.”

Let’s Practice

Let’s practice what we learned by applying the first-person narrative to simple sentences and transforming them into engaging ones:

Example 1

“The handymen arrived at the house.”

Engaging: “I heard a knock on the door, and when I opened it, the handymen had arrived at my house.”

Example 2

“The weather was cloudy.”

Engaging: “I looked out the window and saw that the weather was cloudy.”

Example 3

“The children were playing outside.”

Engaging: “I looked out the window and saw my children playing outside, laughing, and having fun.”

Example 4

“The sun was shining today.”

Engaging (Thoughts & Emotions): “As I stepped outside, I basked in the warm sunshine and felt a rush of happiness. The sun always lifts my spirits, and today was no exception.”

Example 5

“The sky was a beautiful shade of orange.”

Engaging (Reflections & Self-talk): “As I gazed up at the sky, I couldn’t help but be in awe of its beauty. The rich orange hue was like a painting come to life, and I felt lucky to be able to witness it.”

Example 6

“The movie was terrible.”

Engaging (Humor & Sarcasm): “Well, that movie was just a real masterpiece. I mean, who needs a coherent plot or well-developed characters when you have special effects, right?”

Example 7

“Why did the chicken cross the road?”

Engaging (Rhetorical Questions & Humor): “Have you ever stopped to think about why the chicken crossed the road? I mean, it’s a classic question, but have we ever considered that maybe the chicken just needed a change of scenery?”

Final Thought

Though “What an average Monday looks like when you’re 44 and live in a small coastal town in Spain” is a “boring everyday story,” as Michael described it, his colloquial language, familiar atmosphere, and sense of humor and irony broke up the monotony of the daily routine.

The lightheartedness and levity injected into the text made it easy for readers to relate to the events and feel an emotional connection with the protagonist.

That piece is a wild ride through the power of first-person storytelling and a valuable case study on how to transform the mundane into a page-turner.

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