1 of 1

Write now Article Tools

Page 4 of 5

is designed to tell the story with a faster pace, and without distractions).

Within the broad spectrum of tone are a multitude of attitudes which may be projected into the story through the narrator: playfulness, absurdity, mockery, humor, grittiness, jadedness, romance, lust, mystery, irony, satire, indignation, irreverence, dreaminess, seriousness, nostalgia, cynicism, horror. "This attitude," as stated by Kress, "is embodied in diction, pace, detail, characterization-almost everything on the page."

RELIABILITY Usually the reader may rely upon the narrator to tell the truth, at least the truth as the narrator perceives it. But sometimes an author toys with the reader and causes the narrator to misstate the events or some perception of the story's truth. As observed by Les Edgerton, in Hooked, ". . . unreliable narrators almost always carry the promise of at least some fun (for the reader) in the story. It's just plain fun to figure out the truth of a character from the clues the author provides." And according to Orson Scott Card, in Characters & Viewpoint, "The use of an unreliable narrator can add a delicious element of uncertainty to a story . . . ."

DISGUISED NARRATION Even though all written fiction is narrated and thus has a narrator, some stories, including entire novels, have no apparent narrator. The author has chosen to camouflage narration, to make the narrator so unobtrusive that the narrator never addresses the reader directly. Instead of direct address, the author presents the entire story through a viewpoint character, converting direct narration to other fiction-writing modes: description, action, conversation, exposition, summarization, introspection, sensation, transition, emotion, or recollection.

DISTANCE Also referred to as narrative distance, intimacy, or penetration, distance exists in three dimensions: time, space, and emotional intimacy. Distance comes into play in five areas:

* Between the events of the story and the telling of the story, Between author and narrator,

* Between narrator and reader,

* Between narrator and character, and

* between reader and character.

As explained by Orson Scott Card, "The narrator, as a participant in the events, is telling about what happens in the past. He is looking backward. He is distant in time from the story itself."

The more an author attempts to self-narrate, the less distance there exists between the author and the narrator. The more an author narrates through a character or an assumed persona,

• << previous page
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Fiction writing and the use of narration?
We want to hear your view. Write now!