Photo by Hannah Olinger on Unsplash
The narrative situation of a story consists of the fictional circumstances we can create when we begin to consider how we will present our story to readers. As film and literary critic Seymour Chatman explains, narrative situation is “how the illusion is achieved. By what convention does a spectator or reader accept the idea that it is ‘as if’ he were personally there on the scene, though he comes to it by sitting in a chair in a theater or by turning pages and reading words.” I think of the narrative situation as a story the writer tells themselves and sometimes the audience to explain the existence of the story. It provides useful constraints to help us make decisions and stay on track. It is directly connected to the story’s essence and its primary message.
One of the most important macro choices we have to make is point of view. Point of view describes the mode of presentation (first person, third person omniscient, etc.), but it’s really about perspective. From what perspective are the events of the story presented? This includes when and where but also from what level of experience and knowledge, and through what worldview.
To begin to wrap our minds around this concept, it helps to understand that a story is communication. Communication simply involves someone sending a message to someone else. With a story, we’re thinking about this on multiple levels.
First, the writer presents the story to a mass audience of readers. Knowing a little about the audience will eliminate some options that won’t work for our story. For example, if I’m writing middle grade fantasy fiction, my ideal reader might be a ten-year-old girl. With that assumption, I know I shouldn’t include expletives in the dialogue. That’s important, but it doesn’t immediately help me to make decisions like which events do I need to dramatize in the story, in what order should I present them, and within those scenes, what details of the characters and story world are relevant? That’s where the narrative situation comes into play.
Let’s take a couple of clear examples.
Bridget Jones’s Diary is a story presented in the form of a diary that Bridget keeps to keep track of how well she is sticking to her New Years resolutions. It’s a contemporaneous account of her life that Bridget writes to and for herself.
Treasure Island is presented as an account by Jim Hawkins of his encounter with pirates for the authorities after he returns home safely.
In both of these stories, the writer has made up a situation that explains the existence of the story, and they have chosen to share that with readers. The narrative situations create constraints that help the writer make decisions.
In future posts, I’ll continue exploring narrative situation and how we can use it to make effective story decisions.
This post is part of a 75-day writing challenge and experiment. From September 9 through November 22, I'll be posting daily thoughts on writing, storytelling, and creativity based on recent readings or reflections. While my intention was to keep them very short—250 to 400 words—I've found that this range doesn't give me enough space to cover these topics adequately. I aim to keep them brief enough to be read quickly, but they will often be longer than 400 words.
At the end of the challenge, I will organize and revise the material with intention. For now, the object is to explore and share.