 Mystery: February 20, 2008 Issue [#2233] |
  Mystery
This week: Edited by: darkin
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Welcome to the Mystery Newsletter. Why are mysteries so popular? Because mysteries make you think. You follow every clue, examine the crime scenes and remember what each suspect said, until you solve the crime. A good mystery can keep you interested until the end. A great mystery will keep you guessing until the last page...when it makes you slap your forehead in surprise!
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Who should tell your story, and how?
You have a story idea in your head; the characters are peeking in to see what is what...but who is going to tell your tale? And how? Sometimes this is an easy question, because the character dictates it to you. But sometimes it isn't so simple.
The how is as important as the who. Here is a list of ways a story can be told.
Third-person narration, as is used in fables, allegories, tall tales, and most novels. This has historically been, and still is, the most popular approach to storytelling.
First-person narration, in which the author or a fictional character appears as "I". Also very common.
Second-person narration, in which the reader becomes the protagonist. Example - "you enter the room and suddenly freeze." Extremely rare, and usually difficult to pull off, but very engaging when done well. Usually this is used in role-playing tales.
Personal written records - diaries, journal entries, etc., written by one or more of your characters; or, letters written between two of more of them.
Impersonal written records - newspaper accounts, transcripts or speeches, TelePrompTer scripts, etc., from which the reader pieces together the tale.
Stream of consciousness. The reader follows a character's thoughts as they occur to him or her. When stream of consciousness takes the form of standard written English, rather than a quasi-English flow of thoughts, it may be indistinguishable from third- or first-person narratives.
Now that we've gone over the 'how' in telling a story, let's look into the 'who'.
Who tells your tale is as important as how they tell it. There eight different types of narrators, each with their own good points, and bad ones.
The Protagonist: the story is told by the character within the piece around whom the story evolves and revolves.
The Internal Observer: the story is told by a character within the piece who observes the protagonist in action.
The External Observer: The story is told by a character who has a distinct voice and personality, but who is not personally involved in the story they tell.
The Author: The writer of the story takes the overt role of narrator, without disguise or artifice. Common in nonfiction; very rare in fiction.
The False Author: The narrator purports to be the writer, but in fact is just as fictional as the characters who populate the tale.
The Nonentity: The narrator is more or less invisible, and devoid of personality and persona, much like the narrator of a newspaper story. Events are clearly described, but they are not narrated by a recognizable voice or personality.
Multiple Narrators: Different parts of the story are told by different characters, who are usually (but not necessarily) part of the story they tell. In rare cases, portions may also be narrated by the author, a false author, or a nonentity.
The Written Record: The narrator is the fictional, and usually unmentioned and unnamed, author of some ostensibly factual (but of course fictional) written account, such as a newspaper story or court transcript, from which the reader gleans the story. Often several such narrators (and several different written records) appear in the same work of fiction. Quite rare.
There you have it, the how and who of story telling. The combination you choose is up to you, the author...and your characters!
Thank you for taking the time to read. Happy Writing!
darkin |
Here are some items I found while traveling the highways and byways of Writing.Com!
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Thank you for allowing me into your e-mail boxes for this week's issue. I had a wonderful time writing this issue and would love to hear what you think about it. Here is some feedback I received from my last newsletter.
darkin
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Submitted By: larryp
Submitted Comment:
Hi Darkin
When I was younger, I read mystery novels, but then I got away from them. When I recently did a Mystery Newsletter, it spurred my interest again. Give your characters the passion and desire to complete their task. Give them people who want to stop them, for whatever reason. Make sure these two meet, as often as you want...and make sure their confrontations move the story along.
This is very good advice. I am reading a mystery novel now that does this and I can hardly put it down.
Larry
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