Thread: Self-Reflective Writing

Just wondering, do any of you writer gods use self-reflective prose in your fiction? For instance, in a strictly Third Person POV story, something like-

Johnny ran to the store. Inside, he stole a couple of beers and on his way out I believe he grabbed a candy bar as well.

As readers, do you feel it pulls you out of the story? Is that a bad thing, or do you think maybe the addition of the writer's style adds to the fiction itself?

FWIW, not really looking for black-and-white "DON'T EVER DO THAT." responses, just looking to start some discussion and hear how other writers/readers feel about this sort of thing.

Cheers!
Heavy Thorn

I usually avoid it. To me it's the equivalent of saying something along the lines of "One could hear the sound of bells." It's essentially passive voice. If I'm the author, the question the reader asks is "Well, did they hear the bells or not?" It's my job to say they heard the bells! No maybes.

Hmm, that's interesting. I actually like that line. <poetic whisper voice> "One could hear the sound of bells..."

Though I think I might write it more like "The sound of bells far and away." Maybe not though, I really do like "One could hear the sound of bells."

So do I, but I can't use it in a book!

Unless you have plans in BreakingTheFourthWall or inserting TheNarrator into the story itself, perhaps as a sort of twist or MindScrew, then by all means you can do it. Beyond that, it won't look too well.

I love me my TV Tropes.

Still, I like it. It doesn't plague my writing, and it isn't horribly disruptive, except perhaps at the very beginning. It's more an influence than a predominant factor.

I like it and use it. But only when writing in first person.

I think it should have a purpose rather than the example you give. Taking the candy bars doesn't tell us anything additional.

'Percy drew up in a big red car. I couldn't tell you what car it was, I'm not a car person.'

It tells the reader something about the narrator and the probable personality conflict between Percy and the narrator.

Aye, I spent about ten seconds on the example, it wasn't something I was planning to use in my work. <grin>

I don't like that. I like to have the story clear-cut. I would rather know if it did or did not happen, not if it maybe happened.

Cool beans. I didn't figure everyone would like it.

As long as you use it for a reason, I don't see anything wrong about it. For instance later on you could unexpectedly include the narrator in the story. Or it can turn out that the narrator had been wrong about something, or wilfully tried to mislead the reader.

I think Agatha Christie wrote a crime novel where it turned out the narrator was the murderer. But that was written in the first person.

It was Agatha's first novel (The Mysterious Affair at Styles), and yes, the first person narrator was the murderer.

I don't really like it myself. If the narrator is third person and they aren't sure of the facts, that puts the whole telling of the story in jeopordy. It adds too much uncertainty.

Third person POVs don't have to be omnicient, but they should not be fallable in their relating the truth.