I’m a writer blog

Guidelines for writing Poems, Stories and Tales

Referring to a character in 3rd person when they have amnesia

How to write characters with amnesia?

What to Remember–When Writing About Amnesia

  1. Should they be a point-of-view character?
  2. How will the reader discover your character’s history?
  3. What kind of amnesia do they have?
  4. What’s the cause of their amnesia and how do they handle it?
  5. Will they regain their memory?
  6. Study real-life examples.
  7. Read fiction.



How do you refer to a character in third person?

Third person refers to people “on the outside.” Either write about someone by name or use third person pronouns.

  1. Third person pronouns include: he, she, it; his, her, its; him, her, it; himself, herself, itself; they; them; their; themselves.
  2. Names of other people are also considered appropriate for third person use.

How do you refer to a nameless character?

As @DoWhileNot suggests, if you can give the character a brief description, use that. Like, “the husband”, “the traveler”, “the soldier”, etc. Some writers give him a letter. I’ve read papers that say things like, “The character is not given a name in the story, so I shall refer to him as ‘M'”.

What is the third person omniscient?

THIRD-PERSON OMNISCIENT NARRATION: This is a common form of third-person narration in which the teller of the tale, who often appears to speak with the voice of the author himself, assumes an omniscient (all-knowing) perspective on the story being told: diving into private thoughts, narrating secret or hidden events,

Does amnesia change your accent?

A Navy vet with amnesia in California only spoke in Swedish. The peculiar condition often changes speech patterns, but it may also enable victims to speak an entirely different language. Over time, some FAS sufferers will lose their accent or foreign speaking capabilities. Others may permanently speak in a new way.

How do you show a character has trauma?

Show the characters processing their trauma and trying to resolve their issues. How do their brains connect the moment to reminders of the past? Give your characters a backstory, but don’t let the traumatic event dictate their entire lives. Real people never want to be defined by a single thing that happened.

Can you say you in 3rd person writing?

In third-person, you’d use pronouns like he, she, him, her, his, hers, himself, herself, it, them, their, and themselves. Or, you’d use a name. 🐶 Can you say ‘you’ in third person? You is used in second person and is therefore not used in third person.

What does it mean when you refer to someone in the third person?

When you speak or write in the third person, you’re talking about someone else, rather than speaking about yourself or directly addressing someone. Third person pronouns include “she,” “he,” and “they.” When a story is told in the third person, it takes the viewpoint of the people being described.

What should you avoid when writing in third person?

Common advice on deep third is to avoid action tags like “she thought,” or “he saw.” These tags pull your reader away from the character’s head and so out of the story. But ambiguous prose also pulls readers out of the story.

How do you write a character remembering something?

Option 1: An Introductory Phrase



The easiest way to let reader’s know a line is remembered dialogue is to tell them. It reminds the reader about the memory, and then shows the memory. Bob stopped at the edge of the creek, just before it curved into the woods. Miguel’s words echoed in his mind.

How do you write a traumatic memory?

Trauma is full of conflict and emotional tension, but readers don’t want objective news coverage. They want the lived experience of the event whether it’s happening right now or fifty years ago.



  1. Know Which Kind of Memories Your Character Is Dealing With.
  2. Choose Details That Are out of Place.
  3. Use Flashbacks—Carefully.

How do you write mentally disabled characters?

Writers looking to diversify their characters will find these rules useful.



  1. Choose different disabilities, not old standards.
  2. Use your research well.
  3. Explore what could be positive about your character’s disability.
  4. Don’t give a character a disability simply because it’s convenient for the plot.