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3rd then 1st and back to 3rd again

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  • 21-01-2016 11:49am
    #1
    twignme
    Registered Users Posts: 343 ✭✭


    Would it be ok to write the first and last chapters, about one character, in third person and the middle chapters about other characters in 1st person or would it sound too clumsy? It's all the same time frame but I want to differentiate in tone and mood between the people and circumstances involved and this seems to be a way of achieving that.


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    #2
    echo beach
    Registered Users Posts: 1,252 ✭✭✭echo beach


    It can be done but is hard to do well. It is fashionable at the moment to use different narrators, e.g. Girl on a Train, but it can be confusing and needs to be well-flagged to the reader by the chapter title or whatever.

    Best idea is to write it and get a few opinions. If it doesn't work then you still have the plot and it wouldn't be too much effort to rewrite.


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    #3
    twignme
    Registered Users Posts: 343 ✭✭twignme


    Thanks echo, it's not really the same format as Girl on a Train but I appreciate what you are saying about possibly causing confusion with the changes. It should be easier to see when I have something significant written and I can get some opinions.


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    #4
    echo beach
    Registered Users Posts: 1,252 ✭✭✭echo beach


    twignme wrote: »
    it's not really the same format as Girl on a Train

    I hope not. I fear its success means we are in for a rash of similar style books but the novelty may wear off quickly.


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    #5
    twignme
    Registered Users Posts: 343 ✭✭twignme


    Well rest assured that if mine was lucky enough to ever get to be published, it wouldn't add to that painful rash :)


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    #6
    Das Kitty
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 17,231 Mod ✭✭✭✭Das Kitty


    However you want to structure it, go for it. You never know in the writing what will come out.

    Don't stifle yourself at the beginning of the process.


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    #7
    twignme
    Registered Users Posts: 343 ✭✭twignme


    Thaks DK, being new to this and also being someone who usually likes to plan ahead, I find this part of the process quite difficult. I've never been one to just 'wing it' but I'm sure the more I practice and realise that it can always be changed, the better I will get at doing it.


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