The Mechanics of Writing Fiction

[SF_and_Coffee]

It doesn't bother me at all. I realize that the convention for written language is not to use contractions except in speech, but my eyes glide over them without any problem at all.

Not to use them except in speech? That isn't a rule I've heard. I think it depends on the formality of what you're writing. For example, to go back to the idea of limited third-person narration or even first-person, where the narration is from the POV of a character, you'd use contractions even in narration if your narrator-character is the type of person who would use them in speech, whereas if your narrator-character is a person who speaks very formally and doesn't use contractions, then you wouldn't use them in narration given from that character's POV.

I think it depends on context. For 3rd person POV, I don't remember too many written works that use contractions. However, this also depends on the overall tone established by the narrative. If something's more informal from the get-go, then I think it's fine.

If your narrator isn't a character at all, as in omniscient third-person (which I think is the POV you're referring to, isn't it, CF?), then the choice of whether to use contractions in narration depends on the overall tone you want for the story. If it's very formal, then no, you probably don't want to use them. However, if the story has a more informal feel, it makes sense to use them.

I'm fairly sure that I've read a few novels written in the past 30 - 40 years in omniscient 3rd that did use contractions in narrative. Didn't Douglas Adams use them in the Hitchhiker's Guide novels? (Drat, now I'll have to go and look!)

For my fic, it's in 1st person POV so it's a little bit different. I'd say the narrator's tone tends to lean towards sophisticated language much of the time because that's the way he thinks and writes. There's plenty of contractions in appropriate places. With dialogue, he's as informal as the next person so contractions abound but he also tends toward sophisticated language sometimes. Piss him off though, he can be incredibly coarse.

Heheh. Frank is my narrator in most of ATWLB, which is written in 3rd-person limited. And if he's irritated, agitated, worried or angry, he is given to the use of rather 'colorful' language as well. Flora, who uses him as narrator in the first two books of her anthology, gave him that tendency, and I find it both useful and... well, very realistic for a character like him.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Contractions should be used as a reflection of the viewpoint character. Some use them only in conversation; some use them all the time. Some go beyond the simple "wouldn't have" and "shouldn't have" to "wouldn't've" and "shouldn't've" which is yet another device to tell us about the narrator without being using stilted descriptions.

Seaboe

[Goose]

I tend to not use contractions aside from in speech or internal thoughts, but then I'm used to academic writing where contactions are frowned upon. But I don't mind seeing them in fanfics, as long as they're used reasonably and not overdone. Remember, just because you can contract a phrase, doesn't mean that it's best to.

[Whytewytch]

Contractions--I usually only use them in character speech, although I may sometimes sprinkle them in with my non-dialogue, as well. An author friend once said that contractions are like spice--overly done spoils the flavor but sprinkled here and there can enhance it.

[Starfist]

In the 'Blood of Kerensky' Battletech books by Michael A. Stackpole. He introduced the 'Clans' and they did not use contractions in their speech.

[Whytewytch]

I should have been more specific. I don't use them in every character's speech. Teyla, for example, does not use contractions if I remember right. If the character would use contractions, I use them when I'm in their dialogue or in their head; if not, I do not.

[fems]

I also use contractions in third person narration if that fits the character (Jack, Sam, Daniel less and Teal'c hardly ever) and in speech of course, but I was wondering about how you guys did it when I was reading over a scene and realized I had quite a few "'d" for either 'had' or 'would'.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Fems, are you asking whether it makes a difference whether the 'd stands for would or had? I can say it doesn't to me, since which one works is a matter of context. I generally don't contract had, although I contract have all the time.

Seaboe

[fems]

No, I'm not really asking because one should be able to determine what the "'d" stands for looking at the tenses used, but I just sort of noticed that I used them quite a bit and was wondering if I was the only one.

[mathpiglet]

Theme and Character Development

I had a wonderful mentor who always asked me to identify where the characters were at the beginning of a story and to make sure they had developed in some way by the end. If left unchanged, something is wrong with the story.

She also suggested that a story have a theme as well as a plot. I thought about this whilst reading Believing the Lie by Elizabeth George. A wonderful lesson in the theme of lies; to family, to oneself and to the world. Carefully interwoven through multiple threads, all connected in some way. I highly recommend this novel to anyone interested in mysteries. It is the latest in a series, but it is not imperative that you read the previous books in the series.

[fems]

I was just wondering if anyone here has any experience with writing in first person, kind of memoir style? If so, do you have tips?

[SF_and_Coffee]

I've written passages that way, but not entire stories. I've read three very well-written fanfics done in that style, though.

[Cold Fuzz]

I was just wondering if anyone here has any experience with writing in first person, kind of memoir style? If so, do you have tips?

My current fic is in first person and does come off as memoir style in many places. The reason I chose first person was I wanted to tell a narrative that was more personal, visceral, and deeper than a third-person POV. However, there are limitations to the first person POV. First, the POV is limited only to the narrator. As a writer, you must be careful to only portray the perceptions and knowledge belonging to the narrator, not any other characters. After a while, these limitations can create many drawbacks for writers which is why many fiction writers employ third person for their POV in their stories. My next writing effort after Broken Silence will be in third person.

There are ways around these limitations though. The narrator in my fic--Bainbridge--happens to be a powerful telepath. When the story first begins, his abilities are still quite latent. He has only limited perceptions of people's thoughts around him--more impressions and instinctual feelings than anything else. That and his chosen profession--a sheriff's deputy--makes him quite student of behavior, particularly criminals. As his abilities develop, so does the amount of information he perceives. As his abilities develop over the course of the story, he is able to sense the thoughts and perceptions of virtually everyone in his line of sight. This creates what I call a pseudo-omnisicient POV.

The amount of detail he can gleam from another person's thoughts is purely dependent on how deeply he probes thoughts. After a certain point in the story, he can sense virtually every surface thought in a person's mind just by looking at them. If he probes more deeply, he can peruse people's memories and he'll eventually know your entire life experience. If he probes very deeply, he has the ability to imitate skills other people have acquired, such has how to operate machinery, and make the skills his own. For example, if he were to perform a particularly deep scan of an electrician, Bainbridge could re-wire his home without hiring an electrician and simply do it himself. He also has the ability to telepathically project his consciousness through space and time, giving the reader insights into goings-on elsewhere and he becomes like an invisible fly on the wall.

Again, normally all of this wouldn't be possible in a first person POV. But, with a telepathic character, I've found a lot of ways to circumvent these limitations. He can't see everything, as that would be a true omniscient POV. But Bainbridge comes close a few times.

There's one interesting drawback to Bainbridge's situation. There are times when he knows he's not at all objective about his own perspectives and knows he needs the views of others to keep himself in check.

[SF_and_Coffee]

The first three stories in this fanfic anthology are written in first person, and the author did a very good job of capturing the internal thoughts and memories of the protagonist. If I were ever to attempt writing an entire story in first person, I would likely emulate her work.

[mathpiglet]

I've done chain stories/role play in first person, but find it awkward to sustain throughout an entire story. I also find them difficult to read.

[fems]

Thanks, guys. For my next fic I'm planning to write it as a book, written by the main character (and thus his narrative in first person) so it's a bit different than the examples you've given. Although I'm still contemplating whether it's going to be solely that style or if there will be third person chapters too, where we see him doing the research for the book. Can't seem to make up my mind about that yet.

[SF_and_Coffee]

Diana Gabaldon mixes first-person and third-person in her Outlander series, and it's a very effective blend -- at least the way she does it. Basically, any chapter where the focus isn't on Claire (her protagonist and the POV character through whom the first-person sections are experienced) is written in third-person limited POV through the eyes of one of the other characters.

[mathpiglet]

*shudders*

Diana Gabaldon - I absolutely hate her style of writing.


*shudders again*

[SF_and_Coffee]

Really? I actually like it. What part is it that you dislike?

[mathpiglet]

I did not mind the first one when they were in Scotland. After the first one, I found the plots predictable and slow. I know she's enormously revered, but her style did nothing for me.