Sights
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Challenge stories are my specialty. Even though I don't take challenges yet. :P
Posts: 238
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Post by Sights on Oct 24, 2008 14:24:17 GMT -5
Okay, I'm not sure how to explain this, but here goes:
I'm writing a bit of a story on another forum. I'm planning for the story's format to be told through a minstral who bumps into the reader (whoever it may be). Only problem I have at the moment is that three of the people who post on this forum are in the story themselves, so it wouldn't make sense for the minstral to tell them about something they already know.
Any hints on how I can work my way around this problem?
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Post by Forci S. on Oct 24, 2008 15:18:04 GMT -5
My suggestion to you is to include a middleman; tell the story from the perspective of a person that said official is talking to. Then you can reference these people freely in the story and get the added benefit of adding observations or details as necessary. It shouldn't require a tremendous amount of editing, either.
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Sights
NormalNavi
Challenge stories are my specialty. Even though I don't take challenges yet. :P
Posts: 238
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Post by Sights on Oct 25, 2008 15:19:22 GMT -5
My suggestion to you is to include a middleman; tell the story from the perspective of a person that said official is talking to. Then you can reference these people freely in the story and get the added benefit of adding observations or details as necessary. It's a thought. More than a thought, it's a pretty swell idea. I only have one gripe: It makes the story seem less authentic (if that's the right word). When I origionally came up with the idea, I thought it would have a little more power if the reader felt like they were being talked to by the narrator. Doesn't exactally pack the same punch if the narrator's just talking to someone else, y'know? All the same, I appriciate the suggestion and will take it into consideration. It actually could work.
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Post by Forci S. on Oct 25, 2008 15:48:18 GMT -5
It's a thought. More than a thought, it's a pretty swell idea. I only have one gripe: It makes the story seem less authentic (if that's the right word). When I origionally came up with the idea, I thought it would have a little more power if the reader felt like they were being talked to by the narrator. Doesn't exactally pack the same punch if the narrator's just talking to someone else, y'know? All the same, I appriciate the suggestion and will take it into consideration. It actually could work. But the narrator wouldn't be the official anymore; it would be the person (s)he's talking to. You could still have that person talking directly to the reader, if you want to.
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Sights
NormalNavi
Challenge stories are my specialty. Even though I don't take challenges yet. :P
Posts: 238
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Post by Sights on Oct 25, 2008 15:57:41 GMT -5
It's a thought. More than a thought, it's a pretty swell idea. I only have one gripe: It makes the story seem less authentic (if that's the right word). When I origionally came up with the idea, I thought it would have a little more power if the reader felt like they were being talked to by the narrator. Doesn't exactally pack the same punch if the narrator's just talking to someone else, y'know? All the same, I appriciate the suggestion and will take it into consideration. It actually could work. But the narrator wouldn't be the official anymore; it would be the person (s)he's talking to. You could still have that person talking directly to the reader, if you want to. Wow. Well, that's a different story then. Sorry, I thought you meant something else. That is a pretty odd concept. It might drag the intro out a little longer, but it's a pretty solid idea. It kinda brings the whole "story within a story" device one step further. Only question is, would it make things too convulted? I'll have to test it out a bit, see how well it flows.
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Post by Forci S. on Oct 25, 2008 16:05:08 GMT -5
Depends on how you went about it. You could just touch on the existence of your actual narrator and leave it at that ("Hey, listen to this story I heard:") or involve the narrator in the story, adding in extra observations from the narrator's point of view and such. It could honestly go either way.
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Sights
NormalNavi
Challenge stories are my specialty. Even though I don't take challenges yet. :P
Posts: 238
|
Post by Sights on Oct 25, 2008 16:32:01 GMT -5
Depends on how you went about it. You could just touch on the existence of your actual narrator and leave it at that ("Hey, listen to this story I heard:") or involve the narrator in the story, adding in extra observations from the narrator's point of view and such. It could honestly go either way. Hmm. The first idea is kinda what I origionally had in mind, only without the middleman. Plus, there's the possibiility of the telephone game: How would you know everything the middleman was saying is accurate? Or am I missing your point entirly? As for the other idea, it's nice, but it kinda removes some of the mystic qualities of the narrator. I also think it might be a bit confusing to switch between the narrator talking and the actual story. Sorry if I'm being a bit difficult, by the way. Don't get me wrong, Syaro, your ideas are all very good. It's just the way I am when it comes to writing something. So again, sorry.
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Post by Forci S. on Oct 25, 2008 16:45:39 GMT -5
Hmm. The first idea is kinda what I origionally had in mind, only without the middleman. Plus, there's the possibiility of the telephone game: How would you know everything the middleman was saying is accurate? Or am I missing your point entirly? As for the other idea, it's nice, but it kinda removes some of the mystic qualities of the narrator. I also think it might be a bit confusing to switch between the narrator talking and the actual story. Sorry if I'm being a bit difficult, by the way. Don't get me wrong, Syaro, your ideas are all very good. It's just the way I am when it comes to writing something. So again, sorry. It's okay. Those were actually meant to be examples of how you could go about it, not set choices. You should try it a few different ways and see what works out for you. As for the telephone problem, though...I actually consider it a writer's tool that the speaker should be taken at face value unless the reader is somehow told that what's being said isn't true (the main exception here being mystery, but that's a whole other ball game). But, if you're really that concerned about the reader calling the narrator's accuracy into question, just toss in some sort of disclaimer.
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