Questions tagged [narrator]
This tag should be used for questions relating to the usage of a narrator in your own fictional writing.
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questions
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151 views
Is the MC in first person singular always all knowing?
While writing a first-person singular novel, is the MC all-knowing? How do we handle plots which do not include the MC, like something happening with others but not including MC? Will it be taken as ...
11
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4answers
3k views
Is it bad style if the personal first person narrator of a story dies during said story?
Right now I'm writing a novel in which I use the changing perspectives of two main characters with limited information each to slowly unveil the whole plot to the reader. Both use the past tense and ...
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4answers
102 views
1st person addressing a narrator
I'm writing a story in first person, but with a third person narrator for the secondary character. I was wondering if there were any books or stories to research how the first person character could ...
9
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3answers
134 views
Alternatives to Second-Person POV Narration
I am someone with no formal writing background, who has come to love writing for the fantasy adventure role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons (fifth edition) during my free time.
I am currently ...
6
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4answers
103 views
In one book can one narrator be in present and the other in past?
I'm currently planning a book series that is told from the first person perspective of 5 different characters. I have a different voice for all of the characters, but I think that 2 of the characters ...
3
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2answers
181 views
In third-person limited POV, what can be described?
In 3rd person limited, when the protagonist is present in a scene, can the narrator describe something in a scene that the protagonist cannot see?
4
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2answers
209 views
Can a third-person narrator ask questions instead of the characters?
In novels, when the PoV follows a particular character, is pretty common that we get to hear his/her thoughts. Sometimes, those thoughts take the form of questions that the character ask himself:
...
17
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6answers
4k views
Should a narrator ever describe things based on a character's view instead of facts?
There is something I find myself doing often while writing, and I don't even know what to call it, but I would like to know if its good practice. It happens when I'm writing from a third-person ...
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votes
1answer
102 views
Distinguishing between unreliable frame narrator and narrator of framed story
I'm writing a work which is bookended by a frame story with an unreliable narrator.
How do I prevent confusion for the reader when the frame narrator interjects? In the framed story, the characters ...
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5answers
873 views
What should the omniscient narrator call a character?
Let there be a character. Let the character's name be, for example, Alexander.
Now, Alexander's parents call him 'Sasha'. His friends call him 'Xander'. His girlfriend calls him 'Alex'. In formal ...
8
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3answers
361 views
Naming things the POV character doesn't know
My middle-grade novel is third person with one primary and one secondary viewpoint character. Sometimes the narrator hovers a bit more, sometimes the narrator is more in the character's head.
The ...
11
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4answers
2k views
Everyone is beautiful
I've noticed a quirk with the narrator voice of one of the two novels I'm working on. This narrator only describes the beautiful aspects of every character's features. You might think the women are ...
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1answer
45 views
How do we properly manage the state of transition between unknown and known?
I often have a passage that sounds like this. I don't know why, but I always found these passages a bit odd sounding.
A stranger was lying, face into the sands, belly down, on the beach
all alone....
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10answers
2k views
Is it possible to narrate a novel in a faux-historical style without alienating the reader?
One thing that often annoys me in historical fiction or fantasy books is the dissonance between the writing style and the events and historical period described in the book. The writing is usually ...
2
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3answers
69 views
Could I have some characters reveal more internal monologue than others?
For context, I am writing a graphic novel. I always used to imagine I would have some characters (mainly protagonists) reveal their internal monologue while others (mainly the antagonists) don't. They ...
5
votes
4answers
204 views
Can my characters interact with my narrator? (and vice versa)
I know that this idea is not totally 'revolutionary' as this type of narration has been used in Breakfast of champions, for example. But, Unlike Vonnegut, I want the 'Narrator talks to the characters ...
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5answers
69 views
Should I change from past to present tense to state a fact that continues into the present and is unyielding?
Within narration in past tense, should a statement of a universally true fact be in past tense or in present tense? For example, in the short text:
It was late afternoon in Zubrin. The air was ...
4
votes
3answers
433 views
Effectively conveying an unreliable narrator
I have been working on a post-apocalyptic novel for about a year. My female narrator/protagonist, named Eris, was isolated for almost all of her life until meeting a rogue group of survivors and ...
2
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3answers
154 views
How to describe a horse from the POV of someone who has never seen one? [closed]
In my story, my narrator has only recently met other humans and the biggest creature she has ever interacted with are dogs. In the survivors' camp, she encounters their horses and is pretty freaked ...
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8answers
4k views
What to call a main character who changes names?
I'd like to write a story, in the third-person perspective, centering on a character who changes her name several times in the course of the story.
She uses her birth name for the first couple of ...
2
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2answers
79 views
Can there be written narratives (not movies or films, but books) without any narrator?
Would it be possible?
It strikes me as impossible but I am still curious to know what you think.
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15answers
13k views
Is it acceptable to use words like “heaven” and “god” when the narrator is agnostic?
The main character, and the person whose viewpoint the story is told from, is a scientist and subscribes to agnosticism.
And there are sentences in my story like:
"Trees stretched into the sky ...
3
votes
2answers
223 views
Third person into first person as the protagonist becomes the same entity as the narrator
I'm attempting to write a sci-fi novel in a dystopian future baring semblance to that within 1984. I'm using third person to describe what the protagonist sees, what he feels and what he thinks, ...
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2answers
483 views
What are ways to shade the narrator in alternating chapters of dual POV?
I've heard advice that in an alternating third person limited POV, the narration alone should be enough to seat the reader within the POV. I like this concept.
What are some concrete ways in which ...
0
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1answer
113 views
What would be an effective way to narrate this story? [closed]
I don't want the story being told from the point of view of the protagonist.
Could a third person (limited omniscient) be effective in telling this story? Giving points of view from other character'...
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vote
1answer
111 views
Character who always thinks aloud like a narrator
Are there any examples of characters who always thinks aloud, as a character flaw, as if narrating their own lives.
Such a character might for example be at a supermarket till and say out loud
"I ...
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5answers
709 views
What are the advantages and disadvantages to leaving the narrator unnamed?
As I begin to write a narrative (I haven't decided yet how long it should be), and as I develop the plot, I was wondering whether or not I should give the narrator a name. It was one of those random ...
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3answers
2k views
What is the difference between limited third-person narrative and free indirect discourse?
Free indirect discourse is a writing technique that makes the writing display the character's thoughts whilst still remaining in third-person narrative, with 'he' or 'she' as pronouns. As an example, ...
6
votes
5answers
641 views
Should the narrator use pseudonyms in writing?
I have characters who have to use false names.
Should the narrator use their real name or false name?
For example, if person A was being called Adam when their real name was Archie, person B would ...
2
votes
3answers
383 views
In first person narrative, is it acceptable to end rhetorical questions with a period?
In first person narrative, would it be acceptable to use a period in place of a question mark when the narrator is asking a rhetorical question?
example: My car broke down again. Why does this always ...
2
votes
1answer
223 views
Writing a narrator with a different character to the author
Many authors use a narrator with a similar character across several books - to the extent that it resembles a brand identity. Others have used different narration characters for different books (Ian ...
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2answers
131 views
How do readers/writers alike feel about too much narration in a story?
My question is pretty much summed up in the title. My story includes a lot of narration. Narrating events, narrating character's thoughts. There are several intervals in each chapter where the ...
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1answer
114 views
Using the Voice wisely
Of course, there aren't any rules in writing. But when something is used in exaggeration (or even Isn't used at all!) without prudence, it can ruins everything.
A voice is like a guide to see the ...
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2answers
685 views
What is Third Person Dramatic?
Often told as "Third Person Objective" or "Third Person Camera" it is some kind of mixture between cinema and writing. (Crazy stuff, I know.)
What is this Third Person Dramatic?
What are his pros and ...
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3answers
253 views
Is there a way to make all characters to be chameleon's archetype?
I've made another question which is an attempt to make all the characters be chameleons. What chameleons are?, in case you dont know, chameleons are characters that the main character / reader is not ...
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2answers
191 views
Omniscient but limited Narrator talking to the characters - Pros and cons
It is a third person narrator that changes the character he is "following" from chapter to chapter, or even in the same chapter (just like a limited POV, such as Mistborn or Game of Thrones)
Here are ...
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2answers
256 views
Giving the narrator a personality that doesn't gets tiring
Proposition: Stories are information packets aimed to "entertain" people, and just like every other form of communication, they have:
A basic and lasting knowledge for interpreting the information (...
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votes
1answer
100 views
Tech-limited metaphors?
In my native language, we sometimes use the expression "to be shot by (Someone)'s eyes", meaning that Someone is staring at you very intently and in an examining, measuring manner, most often trying ...
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4answers
701 views
Point of view, narrative voice, and when to name a character in narration
Let's say you have a scene with Maria, written in third person from Maria's point of view. Then you have a scene with Akash, written in third person from Akash's point of view - and suppose they do ...
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3answers
199 views
What is it called when the reader is the focal point?
Here is an example of what I mean in present-tense (though narrative time is irrelevant):
You walk into the empty room, you should be worrying about what's about to happen but instead your mind is ...
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2answers
212 views
How to present a human protagonist from a narrator who does not know what a human is?
My protagonist is an average human as we know it in a world populated by different animal-like species. The narrator (different character) is a member of a species that resemble polar bears. As far as ...
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4answers
1k views
How does the narrator address a character who has changed her name, but only some people call her this new name?
I know this is similar to How to Handle a Character When She Is Lying About Her Name but the situation is slightly different in where my problem lies.
I have a character who is introduced as Tabatha ...
4
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1answer
160 views
How can I hint at biases in a fictional first person account?
In the story that I'm preparing to write, the main character is involved in many tense encounters and begins to develop a slightly warped world view while losing bits and pieces of his morality.
I ...
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3answers
1k views
First person narrative - pros and cons
I'm writing a novel where my original idea was to use first person narrative in most chapters, since the story focuses on the main character's thoughts/feelings/mental issues. I planned to use third ...
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3answers
508 views
What do you call a narrator who is not unreliable, but is naive?
While an unreliable narrator is someone who is deceiving the reader (or possibly himself), there are plenty of stories where the narrator is truthfully relaying what happened, but does not fully ...
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vote
2answers
130 views
How to stage a scene conflict that is not about the scene's narrator?
I'm working on a novel that is told from a single narrator in third person. A number of subplots detail the stories of secondary characters.
My problem: From their point of view, I could easily ...
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4answers
870 views
Switching perspectives for a single chapter in a first person POV novel, to do or not to do?
Allow me to explain what prompted the question before you immediately say that it's not okay and it would confuse the readers.
The protagonist of the novel - also the narrator - has the ability to ...
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3answers
131 views
Interwoven story arcs (for video) - guidelines so viewers will not get lost?
I am trying to create a documentary about the history of a sports team, and have identified some compelling story arcs. However, as we know in reality, stories do not begin and end one at a time:
...
6
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1answer
142 views
What is the technique of displaying stream of thought in third person?
I've noticed that authors often show the main character's though process in third person using the prose itself, almost as if the character were the one narrating. Made-up-on-the-spot example:
...
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4answers
214 views
Explanatory narrative in fiction
For a little homework, I have a good story, but its not a story that can be told by letting it unfold and writing the events that happened.
What I want to do, is tell a story of events in the past ...
