tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post6094068685816457045..comments2023-09-05T12:51:25.656-05:00Comments on edittorrent: First Person uncertaintyEdittorrenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295505709568570553noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-33917977675946075712013-02-16T10:35:18.591-06:002013-02-16T10:35:18.591-06:00Anon, I also notice that in that more removed POV,...Anon, I also notice that in that more removed POV, there's the assumption that the reader can figure out what is being left out. Some authors (me, for example!) tend to tell maybe more than is needed.<br /><br />AliciaEdittorrenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14295505709568570553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-75602546048741526712013-01-31T13:50:31.000-06:002013-01-31T13:50:31.000-06:00I'm reading a series book by a well known auth...I'm reading a series book by a well known author that is told in third person limited. Throughout the story, we never go too far into a characters thoughts or feelings. <br /><br />For instance, in one poignant scene, a bastard brother visits his half brother who was pushed from a wall and now survives as a cripple. The mother, lady of the castle, tells the bastard as he is leaving that she wishes it was him instead of her son. The only thought the bastard has was that he should not have stopped to listen to her. There has been no other thoughts or mentions of this scene throughout the next 800 page that I have read so far. This has slightly frustrated me as a reader. <br /><br />As I was reading last night, the following line jumped out at me (mainly because I had read this article a couple days before): "his eyes were pale an watery and he could not seem to stop blinking, but perhaps that wa only the light." Third person limited <br /><br />A few paragraphs below that, I ran across this sentence: "yet it was not the sword that made Ser Cleos Frey anxious; it was the beast." This line sounds more omniscient to me than third person, mainly because it is a statement of fact than of opinion. <br /><br />As a reader, I prefer to read book that are third person limited. My leas favorite narration is first person. <br /><br />(Please excuse any strange grammar or autocorrects. Once I type into the comment box, my phone won't let me navigate bak to make any changes)<br />Anon in MS<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-8977966381518113482013-01-29T16:57:11.706-06:002013-01-29T16:57:11.706-06:00I enjoy uncertainty or an unreliable narrator rega...I enjoy uncertainty or an unreliable narrator regardless because it prompts the reader to evaluate if the POV is accurate or not. And isn't that the way of life? Do we really see things as they truly are?Weshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05906561689827434008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-69440256911832990022013-01-27T18:04:39.215-06:002013-01-27T18:04:39.215-06:00Of course Omni can wander in time and space, both....Of course Omni can wander in time and space, both. At the beginning of THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW, the (chatty) narrator says something like, 'This happened at the same time the Bastables were searching for treasure elsewhere in London.'<br /><br />/houseboat/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-10449633022424867132013-01-26T23:49:37.820-06:002013-01-26T23:49:37.820-06:00Good observation! "Roaming" is a real be...Good observation! "Roaming" is a real benefit to fictional narration.<br />AEdittorrenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14295505709568570553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-18451816776884825042013-01-26T21:42:23.131-06:002013-01-26T21:42:23.131-06:00Perhaps related. In first person, mostly you have ...Perhaps related. In first person, mostly you have to stick to things your narrator actually was sensing AND noticing at the time. Thus the infamous bit on the first page where she looks into a mirror so you can tell the reader what color hair she has. (This was even used in tight third in THE MAN FROM ST PETERSBURG; the agent had to contemplate his image in the dark window of the train as he was proceeding on a mission.)<br /><br />In third, you can pan back a bit from the tightness to openly tell basic things the character knows but is not focused on at that moment.<br /><i><br />"Sure, Dad, I'll go right over there."<br /><br />Blue-eyed, 18 year old Nancy Drew hopped into her blue roadster and drove off, her mind full of the latest mystery.<br /></i><br /><br />Otoh, in first person, with a little memoir-style hindsight the narrator can tell anything she wants to, in any order, whether or not she noticed it at the time (or EVER saw it first hand).<br /><br />Third can roam in space, first can roam in time.<br /><br />/houseboatonstyx/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com