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The Unreliable Narrator



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Tue May 10, 2016 7:49 am
MicrohieraxFT says...



I wanted to ask about using unreliable narrators in a story. I've heard that they're hard to use because most of them are written in first person. :smt002
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Tue May 10, 2016 8:07 am
Vervain says...



Hey there!

I'm, uh, not exactly sure what you're looking for in terms of information. There's a lot to be said on unreliable narrators, and it would help if we knew what question you're asking specifically. So, what do you want to know?
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Tue May 10, 2016 9:01 am
MicrohieraxFT says...



Lareine wrote:Hey there!

I'm, uh, not exactly sure what you're looking for in terms of information. There's a lot to be said on unreliable narrators, and it would help if we knew what question you're asking specifically. So, what do you want to know?


How do I use them in a story without accidentally slipping in?
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Tue May 10, 2016 1:10 pm
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Tenyo says...



The hardest thing about writing from the perspective of an unreliable narrator is making things obvious without making it obvious that you're making them obvious. A lot of it depends on the genre, since the approach you would take with, say... a character in a crime novel who doesn't know his alter ego is the killer, would be completely different to the character in a romance novel who isn't aware that their one true is in love with them. There are some things that might help.

Create solid characters
In order to make your characters ignorance believable, you need a believable character. Give them a goal or an ideal that completely blinds them; something that can consume them so much it hurts to read. The more extreme you make this, the more you can get away with. Also, intelligent characters are important in this, since it gives purpose to their unreliability rather than struggling with a character who is just a bit ditsy.

Harness the uncanny
Description is a great tool for the unreliable narrator, mainly because it allows you to create a sense of something amiss without directly referring to it. My favourite example of this is in "Don't let me go" by Catherine Hyde, in which a young girl talks about how her mother 'falls asleep' for hours, during which time it's as if she's disappeared and nothing can wake her. You can take every day activities but describe them in a way that isn't quite what they're supposed to be, so that your reader will notice, but it's clear your character has no idea why this isn't normal.

Use it sparingly
Using an unreliable narrator is great for the plot, but don't let the fun of having an oblivious character take away from the importance of what that character does with their misinformation. As readers we're smart because we try to be, we look for the subtle hints and clues that tell us what's going to happen, so all you really need is one powerful description or statement that sticks out as being odd and it will linger for chapters later.

Research!
Because it's fun. It all depends on your genre, but I'd say some good areas to research would be looking up a bit on psychological bias and a few case studies. Doctors are quite likely to hold the first few symptoms they've been told with a heavier weight than the later ones, even to the point of misdiagnosis. Innocent people get convicted because the investigators find evidence against them and are less willing to search for other leads. People enjoy things that they've paid more for because they assume it's a higher quality, but also to subconsciously justify the price. It's a really interesting topic to look into and will give you a lot more insight into how to get into your characters head.

Hope this helps!

Also, did you have a style or genre in mind?
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Tue May 10, 2016 2:51 pm
MicrohieraxFT says...



Tenyo wrote:The hardest thing about writing from the perspective of an unreliable narrator is making things obvious without making it obvious that you're making them obvious. A lot of it depends on the genre, since the approach you would take with, say... a character in a crime novel who doesn't know his alter ego is the killer, would be completely different to the character in a romance novel who isn't aware that their one true is in love with them. There are some things that might help.

Create solid characters
In order to make your characters ignorance believable, you need a believable character. Give them a goal or an ideal that completely blinds them; something that can consume them so much it hurts to read. The more extreme you make this, the more you can get away with. Also, intelligent characters are important in this, since it gives purpose to their unreliability rather than struggling with a character who is just a bit ditsy.

Harness the uncanny
Description is a great tool for the unreliable narrator, mainly because it allows you to create a sense of something amiss without directly referring to it. My favourite example of this is in "Don't let me go" by Catherine Hyde, in which a young girl talks about how her mother 'falls asleep' for hours, during which time it's as if she's disappeared and nothing can wake her. You can take every day activities but describe them in a way that isn't quite what they're supposed to be, so that your reader will notice, but it's clear your character has no idea why this isn't normal.

Use it sparingly
Using an unreliable narrator is great for the plot, but don't let the fun of having an oblivious character take away from the importance of what that character does with their misinformation. As readers we're smart because we try to be, we look for the subtle hints and clues that tell us what's going to happen, so all you really need is one powerful description or statement that sticks out as being odd and it will linger for chapters later.

Research!
Because it's fun. It all depends on your genre, but I'd say some good areas to research would be looking up a bit on psychological bias and a few case studies. Doctors are quite likely to hold the first few symptoms they've been told with a heavier weight than the later ones, even to the point of misdiagnosis. Innocent people get convicted because the investigators find evidence against them and are less willing to search for other leads. People enjoy things that they've paid more for because they assume it's a higher quality, but also to subconsciously justify the price. It's a really interesting topic to look into and will give you a lot more insight into how to get into your characters head.

Hope this helps!

Also, did you have a style or genre in mind?


Thanks, detailed answers are highly appreciated. :) I guess it already checked in some areas, you see, my story actually has more than 1 narrator (I think maybe around 5) and one of them is supposed to be unreliable. The character in question is actually my most developed OC in terms of: backstory, personality, and relationships with other characters (I also already came up with some of his opinions of serious topics). He is also very intelligent and deceptive, mostly telling lies by saying the truth (sounds impossible but it can happen). This is actually why I wanted to write it in a good way because they're hard to use in stories.

One tip I learned is by leaving clues that people need to go a few pages back. As for the genres, I'm not too sure but one of them is supernatural, the said narrator is a demon.
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Thu May 12, 2016 9:30 pm
Tenyo says...



That's really cool! I've never read a book that uses multiple narrators as well as an unreliable narrator, but I imagine you can play about with it in so many different ways. I hope it works for you, since I'm really curious to how it will turn out. Good luck!
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Thu May 12, 2016 9:44 pm
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MicrohieraxFT says...



Tenyo wrote:That's really cool! I've never read a book that uses multiple narrators as well as an unreliable narrator, but I imagine you can play about with it in so many different ways. I hope it works for you, since I'm really curious to how it will turn out. Good luck!


Thanks. I haven't written this story for a long time. I came up with this 2 years ago. The people in this site gave me some confidence that I began writing the first three chapters. I've also done some research on unreliable narrators but I haven't thought of looking up psychological bias. Again, thanks! :D
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