With the FenCon 2022 live episodes behind us, this week, hosts/authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia return to the more nuts-and-bolts side of things with a discussion of First-Person Narrative. What is the best time/way to use it and when should you NOT use it.
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This week’s episode is sponsored by D.A. Brock’s Texas at the Coronation–
For seventy years after a devastating war, the Republic of Texas kept to itself. But it would be rude not to attend the international naval review celebrating Britain’s new king, George VI. So with war clouds over Europe, Texas sends the elderly armored cruiser, San Antonio, and her new captain, Karl von Stahlberg.
While making new friends and meeting Texas’ ancient foe, can Karl and his men avoid sparking a war?
available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3xEnz8g (affiliate link)
For inactive participation by first-person narrators: What about an narrator that engages in eavesdropping? Is using the information gained to determine their later actions (“The bad guy is going to Saint-Cloud in order to steal the kilogram? I better call the BIPM to warn them!”) enough for their presence to be “interesting”, or do you ALWAYS have to do things like “character overheard something but missed the key words that change it from an evil plot to a surprise party”?
I’d steer clear of any rule for yourself that includes “always” or “never”. As far as eavesdropping specifically, just take care with it. Use it sparingly. Readers tend to get bored or frustrated with plots where too many things happen conveniently without action from the lead character(s).
For that matter, I personally dislike the “misheard a thing while eavesdropping and messed it up” trope, but not everyone does. Even then, I still enjoy a few stories that use it, even if I want to throttle the characters sometimes.
I like the misunderstanding trope in comedy and I hate it in drama.
Oh! A really funny sketch would be someone deciding to plant lies so they arrange to be overheard by the person they’re trying to manipulate but the person mishears every attempt and is certain that they’ve said good things instead.
Or, in a drama Lois Bujold managed the perfect upheaval of a similar trope when someone was trying to get Miles and Gregor to turn against each other and it didn’t work because, “Did you think we were amateurs?”
Is there a spot for putting those writing assignments up for people to read and comment on? And if so any guidelines for using WIPs to supply the original scene?