Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash
In the day 35 post, I explained that a narrative situation is a story the writer tells themselves and sometimes the audience to explain the existence of the story. You might say it’s the story behind the story. The narrative situation can be any circumstances in which someone is communicating the events of the story to someone.
I offered two examples in which the writer chose to share the narrative situation with readers. These are overt because the author is revealing the means by which the story is presented. Here are several more overt examples.
Overt Examples
A conversation: “How to Be the Other Woman” by Lorrie Moore. The story reads as if a woman is trying to explain how she came to have an affair with a married man to another person.
Epistolary: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Shaffer and Mary Ann Barrows. The story is told through letters and other documents. Other examples: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg and Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn.
Found manuscript: The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. This story purports to be a found manuscript recreated from memory.
Annotated books: S by J. J. Abrams and Doug Dorst or House of Leaves by Mark. Z. Danielewski. These stories feature extensive marginalia that create a separate and connected story in addition to the text.
Memoir: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar. These stories are written as if someone is telling their own story.
Diary or Journal: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon and The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick. These stories, like Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding, purport to be the protagonist’s personal diary.
Quite often, the writer doesn’t want to reveal the story behind the story in the text. These are covert narrative situations.
Covert Examples
Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín. Tóibín employs third person selective omniscient as if the protagonist, Eilis Lacey, is replaying recent events to make sense of them so she can decide what to do.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien employs third person omniscient as if a grandfather is telling a bedtime story to his grandchild.
The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher employs multiple selective omniscient point of view as if an etherealist is channeling AMS Predator’s core crystal to experience the show the events of the story.
“Wolves of Karelia” by Arna Bontemps Hemenway employs first person point of view, so we know who the Author is, but we don’t know who is listening. It’s written as if Simo is being interviewed about events in the distant past.
Because they are covert, we backpropagate the narrative situation based on the text including the details provided. In another post, I’ll explore how we get to the bottom of covert narrative situations.
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.