 Mystery: June 03, 2020 Issue [#10206] |
This week: Eye of the beholder Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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Quote for the week: "The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery."
~Francis Bacon |
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Have you ever heard one person describe an event they witnessed only to hear a completely different version from someone else? This can happen for many different reasons:
One person is lying. Or maybe both people are lying! 
People witnessed the event from different angles.
One person saw or heard more than the other did.
People interpreted what they saw or heard differently based on their personal experience or biases.
Detectives and prosecutors are careful about basing their cases on eyewitness testimony alone, because eyewitness accounts are notoriously unreliable. Even when people tell the truth to the best of their ability, their accounts may be incorrect or incomplete. The same thing is true of characters in a mystery story. Well developed characters have the same flaws and biases as real people.
Before you begin to write your story, it is important to decide who will tell it. Do you want to present the events from the perspective of one character or many different characters? Do you want your main character to tell the story in their own words or have a third person narrator holding the camera? Will the narrator see into the mind of one character or all characters?
Mystery stories are often told from the point of view of the detectives or other main characters who are trying to find out the truth.
First person accounts are told in the voice of one character and the readers only know what that character knows.
Example:
"Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to harm your husband?" I asked.
Mrs. Smith looked down at her hands. A moment later, she raised her eyes and said, "No. Everyone loved him."
She's lying, I thought.
A first person account is limited to what the main character sees or believes, and will be affected by that character's experience or biases. Remember that a first person narrator does not always have to be reliable. You can create a plot twist or surprise ending by telling events through an unreliable narrator and then revealing what really happened at the end.
A third person limited account is still written from the perspective of one character, but is told by a narrator instead of the character.
Example:
"Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to harm your husband?" Detective Jones asked.
Mrs. Smith looked down at her hands. A moment later, she raised her eyes and said, "No. Everyone loved him."
She's lying, Detective Jones thought.
The third person limited narrator also only describes what one character sees or knows but can make comments about the character that might sound strange coming from the character himself. For example, a character who comments on their own appearance might sound conceited or artificial, but a narrator can comment on it more naturally. Many stories are told by a third person limited narrator with each chapter or scene focused on a different character.
A third person omniscient account is told by a narrator, but the narrator can see everyone's thoughts.
Example:
"Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to harm your husband?" Detective Jones asked.
Mrs. Smith looked down at her hands. Only everyone who ever met him, she thought. A moment later, she raised her eyes and said, "No. Everyone loved him."
She's lying, Detective Jones thought.
While some stories might work well if readers can see into everyone's minds, the "head hopping" that results is often confusing and annoying to readers. Remember not to accidentally reveal too much or lie to the readers with an omniscient account. For example, if two characters hate each other but you want other characters (and readers) to believe they are friends, focus on their actions and things they say out loud rather than their thoughts.
If you aren't sure which point of view to use in your story, try it from more than one to see what works best.
Something to try: Try rewriting a story by changing the perspective.
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