Me, My Friend and Them
(the first, second & third person narrative)
A story or novel needs a teller.
"Once upon a time…", the narrator begins their legendary opening of many fairy tales, reassuringly taking the reader by the hand; welcoming them into other worlds.
Most novels I’m asked to read or review take a first person view; the character we’ll follow through the story will also be our guide.
"My eyes adjusted as the blurred yellow digits of the alarm clock became 07:32. I was in my bedroom, in my bed, and, oh yeah, it was Monday morning. Whatever had happened over the weekend, I couldn’t remember it now."
This seems like a popular, even natural narrative style. You take your principle character where you want the action to go and in describing what they think, feel and see, you are telling the reader what you want them to know.
On the downside, you are limited to what your character sees and does. How for example can they possibly know what others think, where they’ve been or what they’ve done? The first person narrator is also constrained by the present. When we wake up in bed with them on Monday morning, we’re stuck with them for the rest of the day.
In a slight twist, our narrator could become the friend of the star character.
"Apparently, he’d rolled into work more than an hour late. I met him in the coffee bar upstairs. He told me he’d woken up at seven thirty, clueless as to what had happened at the weekend. By the time he’d got his head together, he'd explained, the last possible on-time train would already have left. Hence his dazed and confused state."
In this case, somehow, the teller needs to know what’s happening to the character we follow through the story. How could this ever be possible, I hear you ask? Well, it’s likely to require some very careful planning.
This introduces us to two other 'thoughtful' elements to story telling; structure and influence.
Sometimes the telling of a story, relies upon a number of ready made devices. These allow you to inform the reader about what you need them to know – such devices can make up the structure of a novel. The narrator we choose as our story teller may not be value free, this is where influence comes in. The friend we mentioned above, for example, could love, hate or be indifferent to the star character. Their view of the character could shape the view given to the reader.
Finally, it could be a case of hearing all about
them.
"His eyes adjusted, the blurred yellow digits of the alarm clock becoming 07:32. He was awake. He was in bed. He was in his room, which was a relief once it had dawned on him. What day was it? He wondered. Oh yeah, oh no! It was Monday. What had happened at the weekend? He couldn’t remember, it was either that good or that bad. Right now there was only time to get ready for work."
The most flexible narrative form provides a teller who’s omnipresent. They have the power to wonder anywhere in the world of the novel. To see, hear, sense and feel anything, giving the reader a vantage point from which to know and observe.
Once upon a time... there were three general story tellers and the writers task was to consider carefully which one they'd use.
© editor@unheardwords.com, 2007 (all rights reserved)
Comment, Answers, Feedback WriteIn or email editor@unheardwords.com (editor@unheardwords.com)
Back to Top or
Return To Home
