Elements of Fiction (77)

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the characters, is narrative (including the ‘he said’ and ‘she said in a trembling voice’ between the dialogue lines). From the standpoint of structure, however, narrative is that which is not dramatized.”</p><p id="2ed7">She goes on to say, “To dramatize something is to show it as if it were happening before the reader’s eyes, so that he is in the position of an observer at the scene. To narrate, by contrast, is to synopsize: you tell the reader about something which has happened, but you do not let him be a witness.”</p><p id="ea4f">“When you synopsize a conversation in narrative, you can quote a single sentence to feature the essence of the conversation, or to sharpen some salient point.”</p><p id="6b48">As for Flannery O’Connor, “In any fiction where the omniscient narrator uses the same language as the characters, there is a loss of tension and a lowering of tone.”</p><p id="9c83">Percy Lubbock observes, “And yet, the novelist must state, must tell, must narrate — what else can he do? His book is a series of assertions, nothing more. It is so, obviously, and the difference between the art of Defoe and the art of Flaubert is only in their diff

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erent method of placing their statements.”</p><p id="7054">“It is the method of picture-making that enables the novelist to cover his great spaces of life and quantities of experience, so much greater than any that can be brought within the acts of a play.”</p><p id="a9f8">Let’s wrap this up with Ursula K. Le Guin’s observation, “Stowe is not what’s called a “great stylist”, but she is an absolutely first-rate storyteller. Her prose does what she wants it to and carries us right along with it.”</p><p id="5114">Happy writing.</p><p id="9a64">© Wolfstuff</p><div id="f7af" class="link-block"> <a href="http://wolfstuff.com"> <div> <div> <h2>Wolfstuff</h2> <div><h3>So, who am I? Really really. I could tell you that I was born in northern Sweden during a snow storm, and subsequently…</h3></div> <div><p>wolfstuff.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*3DyeB7MiVorp31um)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Element 77: Narrative

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Narrative, as a fictional element, is all-pervasive throughout the story; it’s just about everything that is not dramatized either by action or dialogue.

Still, it is not that much commented on by writers but I’ll share what I have found.

Like this from Philip Gerard, “Order of event is the key to all narrative, because the order in which you tell the events, true or fictive, is the order in which they happen for the first time to the reader.”

John Fowles admits, “I admire Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene. Their philosophies of life horrify or bore me, but I think that, technically, they are both masters, especially in narration, which is the key to good novel-writing.”

Ayn Rand submits a great definition, “From the standpoint of form, narrative is that which is not dialogue; everything said by the author, as opposed to the characters, is narrative (including the ‘he said’ and ‘she said in a trembling voice’ between the dialogue lines). From the standpoint of structure, however, narrative is that which is not dramatized.”

She goes on to say, “To dramatize something is to show it as if it were happening before the reader’s eyes, so that he is in the position of an observer at the scene. To narrate, by contrast, is to synopsize: you tell the reader about something which has happened, but you do not let him be a witness.”

“When you synopsize a conversation in narrative, you can quote a single sentence to feature the essence of the conversation, or to sharpen some salient point.”

As for Flannery O’Connor, “In any fiction where the omniscient narrator uses the same language as the characters, there is a loss of tension and a lowering of tone.”

Percy Lubbock observes, “And yet, the novelist must state, must tell, must narrate — what else can he do? His book is a series of assertions, nothing more. It is so, obviously, and the difference between the art of Defoe and the art of Flaubert is only in their different method of placing their statements.”

“It is the method of picture-making that enables the novelist to cover his great spaces of life and quantities of experience, so much greater than any that can be brought within the acts of a play.”

Let’s wrap this up with Ursula K. Le Guin’s observation, “Stowe is not what’s called a “great stylist”, but she is an absolutely first-rate storyteller. Her prose does what she wants it to and carries us right along with it.”

Happy writing.