writing about death in the first person

Is it wrong, and bad to write a story about a person dying in "I"form? him describing the moment he dies etc? got some critics cuz of i did write about it and it was a impossible thing. just currius what the people had to say about this type of writing.
thanx

 

dont-let-others-opinions-change-your-mind.its-an-intresting-idea

 

thanx, it didnt get to me, he is a teacher and it was a essay i wrote.

 

I don't see why not, most writers write about things they haven't personally experienced (e.g historical events, space travel etc). If it's well written there will be resonance regardless.

 

Nah, anyone who says "Oh no, it's impossible to write about someone dying in the 1st person" is just being an idiot. If you can write in the 3rd person you can write from the viewpoint of someone who's dead. They're both imaginary, "impossible" viewpoints.

 

Interesting proposition. Let us try a simple experiment.

Wednesday 21st.

Woke up with massive headache. Coughed blood. Went to the doctor. He said I've got three days to live. Thought he was joking at first, but he was serious. I had a cigarette and went for a beer to watch United vs. Barcelona. Ronaldo crossed to Giggs and he put the winner in the back of the net. Celebrated like mad. Had a few more beers. Some Polish bird made eyes at me. Took her to the toilets and gave her a good shag. Then went for a pie and chips. Got home zonked out of my head. Crushed out in front of the telly with a can of Tennants whilst watching Baywatch repeats.

Thursday 22nd

Woke up and rushed to the toilet where I threw up. Hair came out of my mouth and a couple of my teeth. Then I got the squirts and it felt like my stomach emptied out. Looked down the toiletbowl to see blood and some green stuff. Probably last night's pie. All my pubes have fallen out. Tried combing hair on my head. That fell out, too. Brushed my few remaining teeth. Bleeding gums and all. Door bell rang. Me mates came round. Told them I was dying so they tried to cheer me up. Brought some blow. Big lump of black and some rizzlas. Skinned up and got right out of my box. Went out for a laugh. Did some grafitti on a bus shelter. I sprayed: Jo woz ear. and one of me mates sprayed: but not 4 long. Which I thought funny. Then we went down by the canal and threw stones at the ducks. Then one of me mates trod on dogshit and we all start laughing and ran away from him. Then we went down Sainsbury and mugged some old bird that had just come out with her shopping. Slashed some car tyres. Got spotted by the rozzers and got chased through the council estate. Then fucked off home and got a donner kebab on the way. I did a lot of things today.

Friday 23rd

I died.

 

I think that the point of writing isn't doing what people think is right, but writing something so people don't care if it's right.

 

interesting question...let me ponder that and return later

 

Dear diary by the time I finish writing this I will be dead, but I'm damned if thats gonna stop me. I have just be given an injection of morphine to ease the pain and the doctors are a bit worried as I really should have stopped writing by now - oh here we go either I am sinking into a drug induced coma or it is death !
Hang on WOW man this is great I am floating around the room and I can see my body on the bed - I must be dead.

Oh no... this is drug induced - someone is coming into the room and stabbing me with a butchers knife - I can see blood pumping out of my body and out of my mouth but darn it ! I'm still gonna write this damned bit if it kills me - there it goes now the life force is ebbing away and everythings going dark but wait !!!!!! theres a light at the end of the tunnel and GOD is walking towards me - to be honest he's not what I expected - he's got a really fat arse and biscuit crumbs in his beard and tomato ketchup stains on his shirt. "God you look like a piece of shit, what happened - wheres your halo"
"Ah my child its a long story - but it will make an interesting diary entry"

And thats the story of how I died and what happened BTW my book is on sale at Dimblebies and other major retailers and I will be doing signings at Hawkes on the 24th
of course you will not be able to see me but you will see the pen moving across the page
only £1.99

 

Fuckinf brilliant. People should have to pay to see your posts, Sentient. The only way you could see god is if you stared into a mirror.

 

So you see its actually whats called a cheat ending as there is no way it could have been written except for one - and that is like this

The batteries would last exactly 2 minutes but it was worth it - he was hooked up to a big machine that was an electro magnetic dynamo capable of pumping 20,000 volts into his dead brain - they flicked the switch and suddenly they knew they would enter the Guiness Book of Records as they shoved the diary into his hands and he began to write

Havent made an entry for 12 years as I have been dead
wow the world looks great I wonder how that gas boiler blew up ?
Oh yeah I remember know it was leaking and I struck a match to see where the leak was.

then suddenly he fell back on the pillow and died again

so - it wasnt muslims after all that killed him - said inspector bumblebee

 

I, White Scorpion, being of sound body and mind (debatable), do hereby bequeath my sollicitors, Scratchy & Sniffy, that upon my death, they divide my estate and property as follows:

1. To Sentient I leave all my comas, question marks, and fullstops. Also all the "i"s.
2. To Body Electric I leave all the numbers.
3. To Raysun I leave what's left in my fridge.
4. To Self Control I leave my unpaid parking tickets.
5. To Yorick I leave the Eiffel Tower.
6. To Ronald MacDonald I leave a moldy old sock that's fallen down the far corner of my bed where I can't be arsed to get up.
7. Everyone else gets the big cheese.

 

Exactly.

 

Dude, death is natures way of saying "slow down" it doesnt have to be the end of your writing career. Oscar wilde is having new material publisheds every year, so is freddie mercury.

 

I think the only writer who writes as if he might as well be dead is Martin Knowitall Amies, or Amish.

 

yeah if we all only wrote things that got the approvel of someone else, then nothing would ever be written.

and death as always been a favourite theme in writing, probably because at some point we're all going to die, so it interests most of us.

some spiritual exercises are ones where one put oneself in the position of visualising that your dieing so that one can connect to the divine energy and the afterlife, so if its a spiritual practice there is no reason why one can't write death from the first person and doing so may indeed become a spiritual experince in itself.

I think its interesting where one can go from this if the charater actually dies, does the story simply end, does the charater experince the afterlife, or does the first person then become transfered to another charater in the story.
I think the possibilities are endless and very exciting
S

 

sounds interesting.. but then one could get wordy with enthusiasm in the process...

 

Obviously the narrator can write about his/her feeling while dying but he can't write about the actual death or anything happening later. You can probably do a good job narrating the dying, especially if you've had any experience at this.

I haven't been through the dying experience, yet, so anything I wrote about it would be in the nature of guesswork.

 

why can't a writer write about the actual death and after, people write about forming relationships with aliens and living in other universe's, its just about useing the imagination isn't it?
S

 

Of course you can. Science Fiction and Fantasy are all about suspending belief.

By the way, the afterlife is wishful thinking. No more, no less. It would be a good exercise for me to write a narration of my own actual death as I believe it will probably happen.

There is a gurney in a hospital corridor with me on it. A black fly buzzes, then lands on my face. Nurses pass me in a hurry without even a glimpse downward. The PA system booms. "Dr Johnston, Dr Johnston to Geriatrics. Dr Johnston." No visits in the past six weeks. I'm dizzy. Mommy, I don't want to go to school. I don't want to go to school. My bicycle needs fixing. Don't make me go to school. They're picking on me there. Nauseous now. Nurse. Nurse...



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