(This one is fairly straightforward. It’s the devil and angel on the shoulder concept. Not sure what triggered it back then.)
Don’t you want it?
Aren’t you tempted?
I’ll help you decide
Just a little
Don’t resist it
I’ll be by your side
Do you trust me?
Then ignore her
I know what you need
And it isn’t that
Put faith in my words
I’ll never leave your side
Did you hear him?
He wants to trick you
You don’t need that kind of friend
Stick with me
Let’s have some fun
He’ll leave you in the end
She’s talking about herself
You know her type
Don’t fall for her lies again
She will lead you to fun
Then abandon you in need
Without bail money
Ha! Common sense?
Its a given right
To enjoy the path you choose
Take the risk
Just once wont hurt
It’s win/win -you cant lose
Maybe you’ve forgotten
You promised you would stop
This is a path you left
Proud to cast it to your past
I insist that you tell her to shut up
Before you fall back down
You let him talk to you like that?
Sounds desperate
Stick with me
I’m more relaxed
No pressure here
What will be will be
Don’t come bitchin’ to me
When your belt explodes
And your gut blocks your toes
I’m sure your wife will be fine
It’s only a broken promise
And a decimated diet
The Harley Quinn series is what prompted this topic. I stumbled onto people complaining about how some villains were being shown in the series. They thought they were too goofy or made to be stupid. Other people eventually arrived to point out that this series is probably from Harley’s perspective. She’s not sane, which makes her a rather unreliable narrator. So, that’s how I started thinking about this topic. Now, let’s see if we can get a few tips on how to do this.
You can’t make it 100% obvious that the narrator is being bias or unreliable. People can figure it out from clues, but there needs to be some level of faith in being told some real facts. If the audience knows that they are being lied to entirely then they can lose both interest and investment in the story.
An unreliable narrator doesn’t always have to be confident. Their shaky perspective can stem from uncertainty instead of a desire to manipulate. This works best in first person where they can have thoughts and lines admitting that they are not sure about an event. They might admit to overreacting or not wanting to get more information in a situation. This doesn’t make them a full liar, but it shows they aren’t coming from a neutral position at all times.
Don’t get upset if the audience claims you have an unreliable narrator when you don’t have one. This happens at times. If multiple characters have solid reasons for what they are doing then some readers might side with someone other than the central POV character.
Unreliability doesn’t only come from what they are telling the audience. Much of this position can stem from what they aren’t mentioning. They will be describing a situation and making themselves out to be either the good guy or at least an innocent party. Doing this requires that they leave out any negative/bad/evil actions that they have taken. For example, a hero might talk about firing back at the bad guys, but they leave out that they shot first. Yeah, they’re the hero, but now you see that they have provoked an incident and tried to play the victim.
I know I said that you can use an unreliable narrator in various POV styles. Yet, it is easiest in first-person POV because you are restricted to only one perspective. There is less of a chance of the narrator being blatantly outed by the opinions and thoughts of another. So, first-person is your best bet if you want to make things both easier and more solid.
Consider the personality of the POV character because an unreliable one should have some level of charm. These people are trying to get the audience to believe them, which means they are putting themselves in the best light. At least they would be if they’re being unreliable on purpose. So, make them likeable, polite, or anything else that would garner trust.
While not a necessity, you can make the other characters be hints that the narrator is unreliable. If the hero is nearly perfect while everyone else is heavily flawed without a clear reason then the audience might start to suspect there is something going on. The supporting cast should still be helpful and effective, but maybe they also create a bunch of problems. The narrator might be the only one to come up with plans or save the group in a pinch. This stems from a possible narcissism, which causes the narrator to paint others in a negative light to make themselves look better.
Going to revive a some old teasers to draw attention back to the series. Maybe a few eBooks or paperbacks will sell. Here we have a fun one from Legends of Windemere, which will probably take up a bulk of the revivals. Enjoy.
The terms ‘Narrator Bias’ and ‘Unreliable Narrator’ come up from time to time. In general, they denote that a story is being told with a skewed point of view. You get a sense that you aren’t seeing events as they really happened or there are aspects that are being left out. Either the narrator didn’t have this information or they are purposely leaving things out that don’t fit their version. I’m sure I’ve already got a few people ready to bring this issue into reality.
I’ve noticed that you can’t always tell if narrator bias is happening. Not only the audience, but the author as well. If you’re working with one perspective then you’re not going to have any outside information. This is especially true for 1st-person POV, but can happen in 3rd-person as well. One could even say it’s inevitable since you can’t write a story that shows everyone’s perspective at the same time. That would lead to mind jumping every paragraph and it being difficult to keep track of who is showing you what. This is why authors tend to choose a specific POV for a story/scene/chapter.
Now, you might be ready to argue that a POV character isn’t always the narrator. You’re right, but the narrator bias falls on whoever is showing the events. If the narrator is simply doing exposition and describing the physical scene then the doubt would be aimed at whoever is speaking. It is harder to believe in narrator bias here since it would be primarily through actions and dialogue. One could shift the suspicion back to the formless/nameless narrator again. This is what makes this rather confusing.
It doesn’t help that an author doesn’t have to intentionally add narrator bias. By making deep and multidimensional characters, one can inadvertently get the audience to think they’re being lied to. This happens a lot when you write a villain who is supposed to be sympathetic or make some kind of sense. For example, the villain is trying to help humanity deal with limited resources by going on a murder spree instead of trying to create more resources. A reader who thinks this is a good idea might think the heroes, who would be the main source of information, are skewing reality. They’ll look for hints that this isn’t the real story, which can make for interesting conversations.
Now, say that you want to make a narrator come off as unreliable. There are several tricks that you can use, which I’ll go over on Wednesday. You need to garner some level of trust even if you also want some doubt. This tactic works best if the audience isn’t sure that they’re being tricked. Of course, this isn’t easy to pull off and you may need to do edits specifically to make sure you’re both hiding and revealing the truth. It does help to decide on if the narrator is being honest or not too. If the author isn’t sure on some level then the whole thing can fall apart.
Yeah. Let’s not look at the goals I set for this past week. Homework with son, puzzles, and tax stuff were the only accomplishments. It took me all week to write one chapter section because of what I’m going to get into in a bit. Biking happened once and I paid for it in spades later. Everything just kind of fell apart . . . Those who pay attention to me on Facebook probably know why.
Even now, I’m exhausted and struggling to stay awake. It’s only 8:30 PM on Friday night too. Didn’t take Zzzquil or these Ashwagandha gummies either. This is all physical and mental exhaustion from a long week. I’m hoping to still be asleep when this post goes live, especially since it’s single digits around here. No desire to get out of bed when it’s so cold out. Now, what went wrong?
Last weekend wasn’t as relaxing as I’d hoped. An encounter on Saturday stressed me out and then I got news about a schedule change on Sunday. My nerves were already at their peak, but this may have caused another odd snap. It’s clear that I’ve got insomnia because I can’t stay asleep for longer than 4-4.5 hours. Even with Zzzquil, I’m waking around 2 or 3 AM and not falling asleep again. The problem is that my mind starts racing and I have a weird anxiety issue. It’s not even panic attacks right now. All I can say is that I can’t tone my mind down enough to go back to bed. Five nights in a row and I’m hitting Friday night like a zombie.
I couldn’t get an appointment with my doctor, but I think I know what’s going on. The anxiety is only happening at night when I wake up. This makes me think it’s a cortisol level issue. Cortisol is a hormone that comes from the adrenal gland and it increases with stress. It also rises as you sleep and is supposed to be what gently wakes you up. If you go to bed with high levels then you can get panicked awake, which seems to be what is happening to me. Within an hour or two of being awake, I’m no longer anxious, but I’m physically drained. I’m hoping the Zzzquil and Ashawa . . . Winter Cherry gummies help me here. Probably see the results in the comments.
Thanks to the sleeping issues, I didn’t do much beyond work and parenting. I did show my son ‘Blazing Saddles’ and ‘The Fifth Element’ last weekend. That was before the chaos started. Once the week began, I focused on getting through the important things like work and helping my son. Television was watched as I fell asleep. I tried to relax by finishing a puzzle, which you’ll see in the collection tomorrow. Don’t think my body and mind needed much of an urge to get into bed. There was one night where I mustered the energy to finish a chapter section I attempted last weekend. It was driving me nuts for a while, so I felt like I had to. Unfortunately, all of that is what I have to report as far as my week.
This week is looking to be just as busy too. My goal is to finish chapters 6 and 7 of Darwin & the Demon Game this weekend. We’ll see if I can because a lot will depend on my sleeping ability and what I’m taking. It’s only 5 sections though, so it should be doable. For some reason, writing seems to drain me more than anything else, so I’m going slow. It might be that I can only write one book per school year. Not a great concept, but it isn’t like I’m looking to publish any year . . . decade . . . This issue really does sting lately.
The wind is howling right now, so I don’t see much of a reason to go outside. That means more writing time though. Another thing that keeps killing me is the weather. I don’t know why bad weather is now making me feel like I’m about to die. It was never like this before. Breathing becomes labored and my sinuses ache every time it rains or gets really cold. I can’t figure it out. Keep wondering if my bout of covid in the summer did more damage than I realized. The symptoms do mimic the long covid I was limping through for a few months. It’s possible that I still have it, but it doesn’t show up unless I push myself too far for too long. No way to really figure that out from what I can tell.
Well, that’s really it. Anxiety and sleeping issues were the major events of the week. I hope next week is better. Only time will tell. So, what are the goals?
Legends of Windemere 