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Q&A Dead as a point-of-view, how can you write first person narrative if that person is dead?

After death experience. IRL many people with stopped hearts or that have clinically died, or been very close to death, report after-death experiences. Floating above their body, hearing (and repor...

posted 6y ago by Amadeus‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-19T22:13:28Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/37250
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T09:14:23Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/37250
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T09:14:23Z (about 5 years ago)
### After death experience.

IRL many people with stopped hearts or that have clinically died, or been very close to death, report after-death experiences. Floating above their body, hearing (and reporting) conversations and sights it seems impossible for them to have experienced (including since their eyes were shut). Being able to rationalize and even _know_ they were dead (or dying).

This phenomenon is the only route I see to avoiding supernaturalism; you could have a page or two after certain types of death in which the brain is intact (like being shot or stabbed in the heart, perhaps an overdose or poisoning) in which your character has extreme clarity and deductive powers: With the evidence they have been killed, perhaps by whom and how, they can deduce the wrap-up, solve any remaining mysteries (and tell us why) and what must happen next.

Of course this route will leave out actual interactions, perhaps it will be more of a summary, ending with a line like "And knowing that, I let go of life."

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-06-26T16:55:09Z (over 6 years ago)
Original score: 2