Love your videos.. 😁..My dog will sleep like a log.. until I start talking to the camera or a call.. then she will start pestering me, and pestering me.. when that doesn’t work.. the keening whine starts 🤦♀️ .. she’s a fuzzy toddler.. 😂 ..I don’t NEED your attention.. until it’s obvious that you are paying attention to something/someone else .. then I NEEEEEED your attention!! Mooooom! 🐶🐶 (She actually looks a lot like the emoji) 😂 I’m going to restart the video.. so I can actually listen to the quality information.. Ive been far too distracted by the charming and dramatic profile popping in and out of bottom left.. 😂❤ Thanks.. Genuinely appreciate your content 😂..
Great video! This made me think about of the best stories involving an unreliable narrator: Dom Casmurro, by Machado de Assis. In the story, we have this narrator character, Bentinho. He's a bit crazy and throughout the plot, he tries to convince us that his wife, Capitu, cheated on him. The only problem with this is that you really can't believe him. Because at the same time that he brings curious evidence, he doesn't help himself. It's as if he were a saint and she wasn't. The book is almost 130 years old and even today there is this discussion about "did she cheat or not" in Brazil. Sometimes even used as a joke. It is a literary classic and one of the most important in Brazilian literature. With that said, I think is such a wonderful book for those who want create an definitive unrealible narrator. It can help a lot :)
Honestly, I almost feel like you made this video for me :) I mean, I'm heavily relying on my POV character being an unreliable narrator. Although, he has no motivation behind the lie other than the fact that whole world around him also belive "the lie". So he has no reason the question it, at least until the plot hits the fan and it gets all over the place.
There is one thing I've thought of which might make for at least a semi-reliable 3rd person narration; Writing mysteries, since when writing a mystery not everything can be known to the reader without spoiling the ending so the narrator would have to not mislead strictly speaking but to present the events in such a way as to give multiple meanings that then the reader pieces together and sees if they solve the mystery.
I wish you could see my wall. Bout 15 feet floor to ceiling covered in poster sheets that are covered in stickynotes. Entire book outlines. A 3ftx5ft map I drew myself (obviously) of the world. For perspective, Earths realm (on my flat UNIVERSE[not world] concept), takes up about 1.5 inches in circumference on a 3x5ft map, so you get an idea of how endlessly massive the oceans and lands are. I also use Scrivener as my Draft and publishing software, industry standard accepted.
This got into my brain. I'm writing a multi pov third person sci fi. I already have one unreliable narrator character, but he was unreliable not from lying , but because he can't remember himself. ( memory proble,) When you were talking about unreliable narrators, did you use the term " lying" to mean all the ways a character can be unreliable? Sometimes they are unreliable because they don't have all the info themselves like the MC in Daphne Du Mauriers Rebecca. Anyway...great topic as always. Love the dating joke. Yeah she is just not that into you or has a lot of cars, Carl 🤣
Oops....got distracted and forgot my point. Ha! I am unreliable. Anyway TODAY I ended up writing something thakes makes one character unreliable I am going to need to foreshadow this by editing what I alrwady have, but watching this video a couple of days ago got into my subconcious and I added more unreliabilty because this topic was in the back of my mind because of yoh lol Funny how that happens, but I'm glad as I was bored with the idea of writing that chapter until it wrote itself with that element
My favorite author, Kazuo Ishiguro, has created lots of unreliable narrators. When I pick up his books I am hugely suspicious of all said and done in the books because of this knowledge, and it creates much suspense. Atonement by another favorite, Ian McEwen, is another example.
I think you can do third person unreliable narrator if you make the narrator the author with thier own biases. Sort of your book is written by someone else and that someone else either doesn't have all the information or has their own goal, but is not the part of the story itself.
CARL DUNCAN!!!!! I have begun……… Draft 1 of book 1 of the main series in The Ancient World 24-book universe. I wrote like 1500 words without much batting an eye. Didnt even feel like I wrote anything. But WOW! The…. The its just so amazing. Its so amazing. It made me cry, the end of the first scene in chapter one. Just relates to what every single you boy and man feels in todays society. Ugh. And the boy doesnt realize yet…. The man will be dead by the end of the chapter. And he will be lost, alone, and scared all over again. Ooohhh…… it breaks my heart. My prose is ‘mental health.’ Yeah try and incorporate that into a YA fantasy. A lot of bookshelf holder YA books focus a lot on these weird world building aspects…. And its nearly a rinse’repeat for all fantasy books. The only things that seperate modern YA fantasy from each other…. Are the magic systems. Theyre all full of the same plot device, and its boring. Worldbuilding and magic systems, similar to LotR, is secondary. The main prose is the psychology of character interaction. Many people dont know that. Tolkien put his magic and world building very secondary. It was how the world reacted and interacted with its environment was the main focus for Tolkien, similar to me. Its like, theres maps and indexes for worldbuilding and magic systems. It doesnt need to be the entire novel. Make the novel….. about people, interacting with people. Thats how a magnificent book is written.
The Egyptologist by Arthur Phillips is my favorite novel with an unreliable narrator. The narrator is definitely delusional and, by the end, is just bat s*** crazy.
A female first person narrator must be unreliable to be realistic. We lie to ourselves all the time. We lie like a man writing his autobiography. We lie to ourselves about how much we eat, how much we spend, how much we exercise and especially and constantly, why we do the things we do “I wanted to invite Celia, but she can’t come. She’s too busy right now,” I said, tearing the picture of Jacob and Celia in half, then fourths and eighths, shredding the last bits into dusty confetti.
I am at 2,000 words and currently at scene 4 of 6 in chapter one of book 1 of the main series. I feel like thats tood. With three more scenes to write, plus 3 more Drafts, I feel like it’ll be a pretty full 10-12k wordcount chapter. And thats not being gumptious. I feel that is good. Bout to start scene 4. Into, I go.
But I am omnipotent third person. I am very RELIABLE as a narrator. Hahaha. It definitely needs to be done very right when you switch perspectives and swap reader perspectives on the dime. It needs to be extreeeeemely right. Or the readers will hate it, and my (future) editor (Carl Duncan) tells me I need to single-perspective each chapter at a minimum. Who knows. But Draft 1 has a total omnipotent third person.
Frankly, I love it when your unreliable co-star upstages you. 😶
Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "headbutt"
Two words: Roger Ackroyd.
That's a classic story with an unreliable narrator.
Love your videos.. 😁..My dog will sleep like a log.. until I start talking to the camera or a call.. then she will start pestering me, and pestering me.. when that doesn’t work.. the keening whine starts 🤦♀️ .. she’s a fuzzy toddler.. 😂
..I don’t NEED your attention.. until it’s obvious that you are paying attention to something/someone else .. then I NEEEEEED your attention!! Mooooom! 🐶🐶
(She actually looks a lot like the emoji) 😂
I’m going to restart the video.. so I can actually listen to the quality information.. Ive been far too distracted by the charming and dramatic profile popping in and out of bottom left.. 😂❤
Thanks..
Genuinely appreciate your content 😂..
"Jealous like a dog" is a saying in Serbia.
The cat around the 5:20 minute mark has a great profile that reminds me of the classic Alfred Hitchcock “logo”.
You can’t fool me. That cat’s beard is real.
Great video!
This made me think about of the best stories involving an unreliable narrator: Dom Casmurro, by Machado de Assis.
In the story, we have this narrator character, Bentinho. He's a bit crazy and throughout the plot, he tries to convince us that his wife, Capitu, cheated on him.
The only problem with this is that you really can't believe him. Because at the same time that he brings curious evidence, he doesn't help himself. It's as if he were a saint and she wasn't.
The book is almost 130 years old and even today there is this discussion about "did she cheat or not" in Brazil. Sometimes even used as a joke. It is a literary classic and one of the most important in Brazilian literature.
With that said, I think is such a wonderful book for those who want create an definitive unrealible narrator. It can help a lot :)
Honestly, I almost feel like you made this video for me :) I mean, I'm heavily relying on my POV character being an unreliable narrator. Although, he has no motivation behind the lie other than the fact that whole world around him also belive "the lie". So he has no reason the question it, at least until the plot hits the fan and it gets all over the place.
Delightful and instructive. Grazie.
There is one thing I've thought of which might make for at least a semi-reliable 3rd person narration;
Writing mysteries, since when writing a mystery not everything can be known to the reader without spoiling the ending so the narrator would have to not mislead strictly speaking but to present the events in such a way as to give multiple meanings that then the reader pieces together and sees if they solve the mystery.
I wish you could see my wall. Bout 15 feet floor to ceiling covered in poster sheets that are covered in stickynotes. Entire book outlines. A 3ftx5ft map I drew myself (obviously) of the world. For perspective, Earths realm (on my flat UNIVERSE[not world] concept), takes up about 1.5 inches in circumference on a 3x5ft map, so you get an idea of how endlessly massive the oceans and lands are.
I also use Scrivener as my Draft and publishing software, industry standard accepted.
Narrator: This foreign bow was new to him but it was easy to imitate.
Chief: What an ugly bow, boy!
Technically, every narrator should be unreliable... Literally everyone lies to themselves.
I have been considering going the unreliable narrator route with a memoir.
Perfect Clue reference 👌
This got into my brain. I'm writing a multi pov third person sci fi. I already have one unreliable narrator character, but he was unreliable not from lying , but because he can't remember himself. ( memory proble,)
When you were talking about unreliable narrators, did you use the term " lying" to mean all the ways a character can be unreliable?
Sometimes they are unreliable because they don't have all the info themselves like the MC in Daphne Du Mauriers Rebecca.
Anyway...great topic as always. Love the dating joke. Yeah she is just not that into you or has a lot of cars, Carl 🤣
Oops....got distracted and forgot my point. Ha! I am unreliable.
Anyway TODAY I ended up writing something thakes makes one character unreliable
I am going to need to foreshadow this by editing what I alrwady have, but watching this video a couple of days ago got into my subconcious and I added more unreliabilty because this topic was in the back of my mind because of yoh lol
Funny how that happens, but I'm glad as I was bored with the idea of writing that chapter until it wrote itself with that element
My favorite author, Kazuo Ishiguro, has created lots of unreliable narrators. When I pick up his books I am hugely suspicious of all said and done in the books because of this knowledge, and it creates much suspense. Atonement by another favorite, Ian McEwen, is another example.
I think you can do third person unreliable narrator if you make the narrator the author with thier own biases. Sort of your book is written by someone else and that someone else either doesn't have all the information or has their own goal, but is not the part of the story itself.
CARL DUNCAN!!!!! I have begun……… Draft 1 of book 1 of the main series in The Ancient World 24-book universe. I wrote like 1500 words without much batting an eye. Didnt even feel like I wrote anything. But WOW! The…. The its just so amazing. Its so amazing. It made me cry, the end of the first scene in chapter one. Just relates to what every single you boy and man feels in todays society.
Ugh. And the boy doesnt realize yet…. The man will be dead by the end of the chapter. And he will be lost, alone, and scared all over again.
Ooohhh…… it breaks my heart. My prose is ‘mental health.’ Yeah try and incorporate that into a YA fantasy. A lot of bookshelf holder YA books focus a lot on these weird world building aspects…. And its nearly a rinse’repeat for all fantasy books. The only things that seperate modern YA fantasy from each other…. Are the magic systems. Theyre all full of the same plot device, and its boring. Worldbuilding and magic systems, similar to LotR, is secondary. The main prose is the psychology of character interaction. Many people dont know that. Tolkien put his magic and world building very secondary. It was how the world reacted and interacted with its environment was the main focus for Tolkien, similar to me. Its like, theres maps and indexes for worldbuilding and magic systems. It doesnt need to be the entire novel. Make the novel….. about people, interacting with people. Thats how a magnificent book is written.
The Egyptologist by Arthur Phillips is my favorite novel with an unreliable narrator. The narrator is definitely delusional and, by the end, is just bat s*** crazy.
Wicked Old Testament burn!
Bullied by the cat....
"i may have just described the old testament"
😂
A female first person narrator must be unreliable to be realistic. We lie to ourselves all the time. We lie like a man writing his autobiography. We lie to ourselves about how much we eat, how much we spend, how much we exercise and especially and constantly, why we do the things we do
“I wanted to invite Celia, but she can’t come. She’s too busy right now,” I said, tearing the picture of Jacob and Celia in half, then fourths and eighths, shredding the last bits into dusty confetti.
I am at 2,000 words and currently at scene 4 of 6 in chapter one of book 1 of the main series.
I feel like thats tood. With three more scenes to write, plus 3 more Drafts, I feel like it’ll be a pretty full 10-12k wordcount chapter. And thats not being gumptious. I feel that is good.
Bout to start scene 4. Into, I go.
But I am omnipotent third person. I am very RELIABLE as a narrator. Hahaha.
It definitely needs to be done very right when you switch perspectives and swap reader perspectives on the dime. It needs to be extreeeeemely right. Or the readers will hate it, and my (future) editor (Carl Duncan) tells me I need to single-perspective each chapter at a minimum. Who knows. But Draft 1 has a total omnipotent third person.