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I’ve become one of those harried mothers, a child in a carseat slung over my arm as I run errands. If she’s awake, she’s fussing because she hates her carseat. I plop her up on the counter to stare at whomever and she’s instantly quiet. I’m glad she’s easily distracted with people, though it makes feeding her and getting her to sleep with others around quite a chore.
In a writing group recently, a girl read us a short story with enough conflict to stretch into a novel. While we discussed the piece, I had to comment about the baby character. Part of the woman’s inner monologue was that nothing was more important than that baby. Somehow, within the two thousand or so words she read to us, this baby that meant so much had no name. Found out three quarters of the way through the segment it was a boy.
The baby felt like a placeholder to build sympathy for the mother. Throughout the evening’s events, she dragged the boy across town in the rain, but never fed him, tried to get him to nap, responded to his cries (because he didn’t cry), changed a diaper, or interacted with him at all. No one else in the story did, either.
Perhaps because I have a five month old crawling around and several of my family and friends have also had babies this year, I expect more out of their personalities. Even just hitting the averages, most babies will cry at some point. (The exception being my niece who won’t fuss for anything, but she’s not in the norm.) The child’s needs are always on the mother’s mind, and that may mean some creative characterization to make it work within the needs of the story.
A baby still needs to be sketched in as a character. There may not be a full personality, but there are tendencies one way or another. Depending on what the writer chooses, it can build even more sympathy for the mother. |
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And two submissions for unreliable narrator: you decide.
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Lorien  Interesting newsletter, Sesheta! I love stories with unreliable narrators, and I'd love to write one myself, but as you rightly point out, it's a very hard tactic to pull off well. When done properly, though...wow!
I agree.
Adriana Noir Very interesting edition. I don't think I've ever heard this debate though it certainly does give way to some fun ideas! The closest I've seen was maybe "The Notebook" where the audience thought he was reading to a fellow resident, but it turned out to be his wife who was in the last stages of Alzheimers. Neat subject! 
Thanks!
NickiD89  The unreliable narrator is a fascinating subject. Thanks for discussing it, and for the outside link that offerred excellent examples of successful stories using the technique. I feel inspired!
Inspiration is always good.
Coolhand It's an interesting idea you raised about point-of-view and the unreliable narrator. This has all sorts of ideas swirling around in my head. Good stuff!
Have fun!
josh.benj The article on the imperfect narrotor has inspired me. I've been mulling over ideas for a new short mystery and I think such a twist will be perfect. Finding the right 'imperfection' in my narrator will be the tricky part. Thanks.
Finding the right imperfection is always difficult.
April Sunday Works featuring first person narration generally require a secondary character to detail the narrator for the reading audience. In fiction neither are real. E.g. Writing well, enthralling the audience hinges on topic (e.g. plot) and if the BIG I I I narration aint got it, most of us pass by. Agree, though the first person narration tale must carry temporary believability.
That is true. If you lose your reader, you might as well forget it. |
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For Authors: September 23, 2009 Issue [#3292]
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