When I started writing, I admit, I knew little about narrative styles. I simply started telling the story from the voice in my head–that of my seventeen year old narrator, Grace Ann Miller.
When I submitted my manuscript to my pre-editor at The Editorial Department for editing, I learned something I had never considered or expected. My narrator, Grace is unreliable–and that is a professional term. Apparently, writing in first person is difficult enough without adding the point of view of an ‘unreliable narrator’ on top of it.
To paraphrase the more than forty-five minute discussion I had with my pre-editor, an unreliable narrator is someone who cannot be relied upon to recall the true or best version of events. This can be for any number of reasons and will depend, of course, on your story. In my case, Grace is confused, somewhat incoherent, unaware of her surroundings and suffering from a wicked headache. Thus she cannot possibly be considered a reliable narrator–yet, there she is, filling us all in on her version of rather important events.
Being thrust into the mind of an unreliable narrator can be jarring for a reader. As such it is important to stabilize the reader to ensure that (s)he is not lost in the mind of the narrator and eventually trust the narrator’s version of events. OR, even if the reader never comes to trust the narrator’s version of events, (s)he can learn to trust her own instincts about what is happening because you the writer has grounded her and made her feel as if she can in fact trust her own instincts about what she is experiencing.
By doing so, you make it easier for the reader to believe in the story they are being told and in many cases, believe in and root for the character. Without that very important piece, your reader will not feel a connection to the story or the main character thus limiting her ability to fully engage with your book.
Remember, you know what you’re talking about, your narrator knows but you don’t want your readers scratching their heads. Below are some tips you can use to make your unreliable narration easier on your reader.
- Let your readers know upfront that your protag is an unreliable narrator as early in the story as possible by making sure they know that not everything that comes from the person’s mouth is to be trusted. This creates a sense of trust between the author and the reader. Remember, your narrator may consider her/himself completely reliable.
- Use creative methods to confirm or deny the unreliable’s accounting of what is happening for the reader when something is in question. This can be done using dialogue (other characters), epilogues, journal entries, flashbacks, flashforwards, etc. Sometimes simply describing a character’s physical response to the unreliable narrator can do the trick.
- Whatever you do, don’t take the easy way out and say, “it was all a dream.”
Have fun with your unreliable narrator. Don’t be afraid to experiment with her/his POV.
Good luck!
www.facebook.com/georgiamcbride
www.twitter.com/Georgia_McBride
Georgia used to produce websites for a living. Then she quit that job to follow her passion and manage rock bands and market music.
She is an avid music lover, a songwriter and singer. So, when she writes, music finds a way in her stories.
She did lot’s of freelance work feeling completely out of sorts and utterly without direction. So in August 2008–Praefatio was conceived and her official life as a young adult author began. Now, she writes urban fantasy/paranormal books for teenagers.
NOT OFFICIAL COVER
photo credit: Mariana Britto
![[del.icio.us]](http://giveagirlapen.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://giveagirlapen.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://giveagirlapen.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[kirtsy]](http://giveagirlapen.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/kirtsy.png)
![[MySpace]](http://giveagirlapen.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/myspace.png)
![[Reddit]](http://giveagirlapen.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/reddit.png)
![[Squidoo]](http://giveagirlapen.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/squidoo.png)
![[StumbleUpon]](http://giveagirlapen.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/stumbleupon.png)
![[Technorati]](http://giveagirlapen.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/technorati.png)
![[Twitter]](http://giveagirlapen.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
![[Email]](http://giveagirlapen.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
15 Comments so far
Leave a comment
Thanks for the tips on the unreliable narrator. I haven’t yet worked with one, but I’ll keep it in mind. It might be a good way to add a new twist to a story.
[Reply]
By Cat Moleski on 08.08.09 10:36 am | Permalink
Never realy thought about this. Very helpful post!
[Reply]
By damyanti on 08.08.09 11:01 am | Permalink
Georgia, this is a great topic for me, because I write mostly first person. And my characters accounts aren’t always what’s going on. I’ve had people tell me that I need to let the reader know things that my mc doesn’t know. I give hints through dialogue and body language, as you suggested, but I can’t tell what the mc doesn’t know.
This is great, I’ll make sure that I do just as you recommended. And thank you for joining us.
[Reply]
By Sarah on 08.08.09 11:45 am | Permalink
One additional comment–on your first rule to have the narrator establish upfront her unreliability. In some works, that is essential. For example, Mary Pearson’s THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX certainly needed to establish how unreliable she really is.
BUT–in some works, I think the exact opposite is true. Think of THE SIXTH SENSE–we trust the doctor and what he says/does, but he is, ultimately, an unreliable narrator.
Not only that, but consider Megan Whalen Turner’s THE THIEF. Throughout the whole book, we think the first person POV of Gen is a reliable narrator–the only reliable character in the book, actually. But in the final chapters, Turner turns that idea on its head, and that is really what makes that book so brilliant.
[Reply]
By beth on 08.08.09 11:45 am | Permalink
Thanks everyone for your comments and embracing my post. It was my pleasure to share what I’ve learned during this year-long process of the writing and editing of PRAEFATIO.
BETH- great examples. It is certainly easier to do with film than with books. That is, to surprise the reader with a twist at the end. In the case of the The Sixth Sense – it was simply brilliant. As a book, hints would have needed to have been given (was this a book first or merely a screenplay?) in order to help the reader along.
It is also fine to change course in the middle, say, or towards the end even; as long as you help the reader along.
A twist is great but readers don’t like to feel betrayed. A last-minute twist done right is called a “bestseller” and there are always smart, subtle hints!
[Reply]
By Georgia McBride on 08.08.09 12:01 pm | Permalink
Grrrr. My URL is http://www.georgiamcbridebooks.wordpress.com Sorry about that!
[Reply]
By Georgia McBride on 08.08.09 12:03 pm | Permalink
Great advice.
And dang it! I’m always tempted to end with “it was all dream” – that way I don’t have to fix any plot holes
[Reply]
By Sarah on 08.08.09 4:25 pm | Permalink
LOL Sarah. I should do that too. My holes get pretty big in my plot sometimes.
[Reply]
By Sarah on 08.08.09 6:29 pm | Permalink
I think unreliable narrators can be fun sometimes. But when I write I use 3rd person traditional. Is there such thing as an unreliable 3rd person narration?
[Reply]
By Colin Matthew on 08.09.09 12:16 am | Permalink
Follow this awesome link for more on The Unreliable Narrator. Great examples for usage in novels, film and even music! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unreliable_narrator
[Reply]
By Georgia McBride on 08.09.09 8:39 am | Permalink
My unreliable narrator is believable at first, not that his life story isn’t absurd (both his great grandparents were war criminals in World War Two, but he’s half Japanese, half German, the truth of it by all means, but the stuff he says about him being innocent of being an internet troll is a complete lie).
It’s also a ghost story, so once the ghosts start being seen by normal people, even the main character’s shrink starts getting scared that he’s not sane EITHER.
So he’s less unreliable narrator at some times than at others, which is the point of the book, he is “trolling” the reader, just like he “trolls” the person he is responsible for the death of, in a really twisted but non-arrestable offense way.
[Reply]
By Jacob Martin on 08.09.09 9:00 am | Permalink
Thanks for sharing your experience. Obviously, you were successful in handling your narrator’s unreliability. How lucky you are to have a talented editor and, how wise and talented you are to have made this advice work. You have your book in hand. Many congratulations!
[Reply]
By Bonnie on 08.09.09 11:47 am | Permalink
I’m working with a very unreliable narrator right now, because what she’s dealing with is impossible, a corpse that somehow disappeared from where the narrator left it. But she has very human observations, very relatable experiences, so hopefully, in spite of her unreliability, she has enough likability.
[Reply]
By Amy on 08.10.09 3:37 pm | Permalink
This is really interesting and a great help!
I remember unreliable narrators from school when studying literature, but I haven’t thought about it as a writer. I’ll definitely keep this post on hand. Thanks =)
[Reply]
By Eden Tyler on 08.10.09 6:17 pm | Permalink
javascript codings can prevent people from seeing the code, but when the browser is about to execute it, it has to have a copy. People can simply disable Javascript or they may look in the browser cache files to see the source codes.
Tools gratis´s last [type] ..ASCII – EBCDIC Converter
[Reply]
By Tools gratis on 12.13.10 3:05 pm | Permalink
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>