Young Writers Society

Ok heres where we ask fellow writers good ways or how to do something.

I would like to know a good way to make the main character sleep in a first person story. This is rather dificult because you can't just write I sleep it doesnt make sence.

Dream sequence?

What you have to ask yourself is why you are putting a sleep sequence in the story anyway. What purpose does it serve?

*moved to Writing Tips*

You can always write what the character didn't do. You know how it is when you sleep (and didn't inted to) - things distance and then you wake and you think you've been conscious and can't remember why things have changed...

For example: I didn't think the sun could move so quickly. A moment ago it was at its zenith...wasn't it? I groaned, rubbing sleep out of my eyes - and found my hair there, tangling in my fists.

That is, of course, if sleeping wasn't intentional.

I think however you do it, you'd need some sort of space between going to sleep and waking. New chapter. New paragraph. Whatever. Just something to indicate passage of time. Apart from that, I'm not sure I can do any better than poor-imp there. ^^

Good luck with it!!

I agree with Imp and Kay. There has to show some passage of time between sleep and awake and Imp helped you get started but I feel someone doesn't have to go into huge slur of describing a char falling asleep. Short and straight to the point is usually good, unless your character has an acute case of Insomnia.

Here's an example:

Feeling my head becoming heavy, I collapsed on top of the shirts and went back to sleep.

Now, the character is sleeping. It's only my opinion but 'waking' the char is so much more fun. How many times have you tripped over your ankle, accidentally walked into a walk because your eyes haven't adjusted to the dark, wobble on your feet or just plain feel stiff?

Hehe... I suggest playing around with 'waking' your character, depending on their current dilemma. Trust me, you'll have fun watching them act like a jerk.

It depends on what the story is and what happens during the sleep. I see nothing wrong with saying, "Then I brushed my teeth and went to bed. In the morning..." On the other hand, if you're going to have a dream or something, or it's at the end of a chapter, you might want a more artistic transition: "I laid my head on the pillow, feeling my eyes droop heavily. I shifted around a bit, and felt the edges of my consciousness begin to fade. Soon, I was asleep." Or, if you're having a dream, you could blend right into the dream, rather than explicitly stating that you fell asleep. And, of course, if sleep was unintentional, then Imp's suggestion is dead on.

I might write something such as:

I yawned and looked around the room. More precisely, at my calculus homework on my bed. I stumbled towards it, intending to do it -- honest -- but the allure of a soft blanket...

"Goodnight homework," I mumbled as I fell asleep.

So yeah. Something like that.

If you're in third person, it's even easier.

Snoink stretched and looked around at the room and the calculus homework layering her bed. She tottered towards the bed, yawning, and was about to do her calculus homework until she felt herself sink into the blankets.

"Goodnight homework," she murmured, falling asleep.

Hope this helps! ^_____^

It really depends on how imperitive it is that your character sleeps. If you just need a way to get to the next morning, then go ahead and skip the falling asleep part (put in a chapter break or line of asteriks to show that something passed) and then go straight to the waking up in the morning.

for example:

I put my textbooks away for the night and turned out the lights, crawling into bed.

***

The next morning, I woke with a start, the alarm blaring in my ears.

Because it's first person, I'm guessing that you don't have to show what other characters do while the MC is asleep, so I'm just going to skip that possibility for now. Let me know if you need me to come back to it.

Or if you're trying to do a dream sequence, like Firestarter said, just sort of seperate the chracter off from thier surroundings a bit and the break into italics to show that it's a dream.

For example:

Soon the words in my textbook were bluring together and I barely knew what I was reading. Maybe it was something about Columbus. Maybe it was something about the dog that he brought along on the trip. Did he bring a dog along? I tried to open my eyes wider, realizing that I was falling asleep. Maybe I should be going to bed... maybe...

The wind blew in my face with startling coldness...

And so on...

I hope that helps.

Maybe write a murky, short dream scene and then have him come out of that? Making it obvious that it's a dream? Lol, then it's obvious that he's sleeping...