Friday, June 12, 2015

Narrative devices in fiction and nonfiction.

How do we tell a story?

Writers of stories do not follow a formula. Instead, they make deliberate choices that will engage and entertain readers. Sometimes, narrators tell stories from strange or unusual viewpoints. Sometimes, authors choose to tell their stories through flashback or flashforward. Sometimes, authors throw out red herrings to distract, confuse, or surprise the reader.

What conflicts drive a plot? Who will the characters be? Against what backdrop will the story develop? Beyong these considerations, a writer must make two critical choices when crafting a story: who tells the story and how the story unfolds over time.

What is point of view? POV is the narrative lens through which a story is told. A narrator is who is telling the story. It is the voice of the piece. POV is the angle of considering things. Sometimes, the POV shows us opinions or feelings of the author.

There are three major points of view:

First-person, second-person, and third-person.

Basic choices like point of view and choice of narrator influences the sotry's tone and how the reader feels about a character.