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Is the journal-entry style of narration overplayed?



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Sat Sep 16, 2017 1:56 am
LittleFox says...



I wanted to know everyone's opinion on stories that are told kind of like journal entries. Honestly I haven't read a lot of stories written in this style, but I know a lot exist.

The short story I'm working on has the character facing a life and death situation, and I haven't quite decided which way I want it to end. I really wanted to write in in first person so that the reader can see the story through the character's eyes, but that would require him to live through it and the reader would know this from the beginning, ruining the whole point. So This idea of him writing about the events that happen occurred to me and then if he does die, his last entry could give a good suggestion to it, but I don't know if that style would come off as cheesy or something, so opinions or other ideas would be greatly appreciated. I could always just settle for third person, but I'd like to explore my options.

Thanks in advance!
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Sat Sep 16, 2017 2:34 am
birk says...



I think the fact that you haven't read any stories written in this style might show that it's not overplayed. Off the top of my head I've read two like this? Bridget Jones Diary and Flowers for Algernon.

Your idea sounds pretty interesting. Try writing it! :)
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Sat Sep 16, 2017 10:21 am
Tenyo says...



Do it =D I adore journal style stories. I love the whimsicality and disorder that the format allows because it means you can see the constant writing and rewriting of a characters thought process as they progress through the story. Also, thought tangents, and being able to see events forming in the peripheral of the characters perspective is a beautiful thing.

I suspect that journal-style stories are somewhat overplayed in online fiction because for a novice writer it's the easiest way to scribble down a story without having to think too much into things like linguistic style and structure. If you do choose to go a step further and take full advantage of the journal idea then make sure you apply your general story-writing expertise to it, things like structure, pacing, all that yada yada. You know the works. I'll emphasise though that manipulating the things in the centre of your characters attention and the things in their peripheral are particularly important, so don't forget those.

But yes. Journal style stories are a great and if you end up posting this one I'd be hugely grateful if you dropped me a link =]
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Mon Sep 18, 2017 12:31 am
LittleFox says...



Thanks guys! I'll give it a shot :)
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Tue Sep 26, 2017 7:49 pm
Rosendorn says...



The only genre I've seen a large amount of diary-style stories (I have read a lot of them) is historical fiction. I've read one fantasy dairy style (Provost's Dog by Tamora Pierce), but otherwise, nope. Historical fic is the place you find the diaries.

The thing about diary style stories is the voice has to be top-notch. Provost's Dog gets around the "usually doesn't take the time to describe things perfectly" by having her be training for police reports, so she has to. It reads like a first person novel where there's a little more interjection of what the narrator thinks about what happened to her. Most historical novels have the bulk of entries be summaries of scenes, because that's how people write in their diaries.

You have to really characterize people by how they'll describe something, moreso than any other type of writing. What they find important, what they find unimportant, what details they'll remember, when they'll take the time to write out details for every single little thing.

It requires an approach that characterizes people based on their view of the world, instead of simply narrating events and added in voice later.
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