Narrator & viewpoint character - Page 3 - Writers Forum

Cipher2 · 07-23-2008, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

I have just read the quote below.

Could you perhaps do the same, then answer the question that follows:

“Third person limited, since you are limiting yourself to a single character, shares some of the same limitations of first person. However, since the narrator has his own voice that may be different than the viewpoint character, it is a bit less claustrophobic than first person.”

Q: Can you explain to me by way of an example how the narrator and the viewpoint character differ?

In other words, write some fiction for me that does what the quote sets out.

Thank you.

Dead simple example:

Third(close to the character, call it what you want)

John notices an attractive women enter the room. She looks like the only girl worth chatting up in the dead party.

Third Person

John notices an attractive women enter the room and thinks about chatting her up. He doesn't notice her boyfriend stood in the corner.

Third Person Omniscient

John watches as an attractive women, who's mercedes is parked outside-- a present from her boyfriend, enters the room. She had managed to charm her way out of a speeding ticket earlier when she was stopped doing 90 in a 40 area. He is drunk and doesn't realise how much trouble his plan to chat her up is about to land him in.

That's the most I've written all week. Exhausting, it was.

lin · 07-23-2008, 07:48 PM

There aren't two "first things"

All three of those examples are in third person

Cipher2 · 07-23-2008, 07:52 PM

For some reason I wrote "first person" when I should have wrote "third person". I have edited it now. Blimey it is hard to get right.

The Backward OX · 07-23-2008, 08:09 PM

I'm really pleased I started this thread. Done wonders for my education, it has.

Dawnstorm · 07-24-2008, 03:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lin

No such thing. Rare in science. Non-existant in writing.

(Not theories, but theories that can be done, much less properly, much much less to produce anythign worth a shit)

I agree, somewhat. Theorising has made me a better reader (more aware of things I wouldn't dream of doing). Being a better reader must have made me a better writer.

But there's no direct influence, I agree.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cipher2

For some reason I wrote "first person" when I should have wrote "third person". I have edited it now. Blimey it is hard to get right.

Well, it could have been first person. We don't have the entire text.

("John notices an attractive women enter the room and thinks about chatting her up. He doesn't notice her boyfriend stands in the corner. Her boyfriend - that's me." There. First person. See?)

The Backward OX · 07-24-2008, 03:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dawnstorm

("John notices an attractive women enter the room and thinks about chatting her up. He doesn't notice her boyfriend stands in the corner. Her boyfriend - that's me." There. First person. See?)

Is the fact that the narrator ("me") knows what John is thinking significant in any way?

Dawnstorm · 07-24-2008, 04:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

Is the fact that the narrator ("me") knows what John is thinking significant in any way?

The narrator could be wrong. The narrator could deduce this from the way John's expression changed when his girlfriend walks by. We'd need more information to determine whether the narrator actually knows what John is thinking. First person narrators can easily jump to conclusions. A jealous-boyfriend narrator might be particularly prone to that kind of misconstrual of motive. And he might then procede to beat John up, thus never finding out how wrong he was. We might then get John's first-person version, which could be very different, involve a lot of pain and puzzlement.

But, yes, it's significant. In one way or another. (And this demonstrates that it's more important to know your narrators and characters than the theory used to describe them. Heh.)