Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash
In the day 59 post, I offered an example of a covert narrative situation, Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire, along with questions we can ask to try to discover what the narrative situation could be.
We can’t know exactly what McGuire had in mind when crafting the story, but we’ll use the clues in the text to come to a hypothesis supported by the evidence.
Here are answers to the first four questions posed in the prior post.
Who could the narrator be?
Who might want to tell this story to help someone? It could be a counselor, trusted teacher, or possibly a female relative. It’s not a parent or guardian because, except for Antsy’s father, the parental figures are not portrayed sympathetically. In fact the story is about what to do when the people entrusted with the care of a child are untrustworthy because of abuse or neglect. I have a hunch that it would be an adult who survived or witnessed similar childhood trauma.
Who might they want to share the story with?
A young person who is facing similar dangers but might not have the vocabulary or framework to understand what's happening. Someone who needs to know it's okay to protect themselves, even if it means leaving. It’s unlikely to be someone as young as Antsy is in the story because, although the prose is quite accessible, seven-year-olds typically read shorter chapter books and graphic novels.
Young adult and middle grade fiction often has a protagonist a little older than the kids reading it, so what might be going on here? Abusers disempower the people they target no matter their age, and so the person who receives this story likely feels an emotional resonance with the young protagonist.
What clues are there in the tone of the narrative about who the narrator and narratee are?
The tone feels like it’s being told by someone who understands both the practical and emotional challenges of the situation. In the passage shared in the day 59 post, the methodical yet hasty preparation to run away is illuminating. This is someone with experience who has thought a great deal about the task and is pointing out what’s important to take (e.g., clothing, money, stuffed animal for comfort) but also what the risks are (e.g., being discovered escaping), and therefore what to leave behind (the piggy bank). Not every passage is this detailed, but how Antsy acts on her decisions is crafted with precision as if they are detailed instructions.
What kinds of details are emphasized in the text?
This is what I would call a character or portrait story, and so the text emphasizes is on individual actions. Like those of Jason Taylor in Black Swan Green (day 57), the actions we see here are a product of Antsy’s immediate sensory experience, her internal processing, and her interpretation of events. In other words, her actions reveal her shifting understanding of the context and how well she is predicting what she should do based on what she knows.
Beyond that, our attention is drawn to what Antsy perceives, the sense she makes of it in the moment, what he options are, and how she enacts her decision. Of course these are steps in the structure of any story or scene. But there is something a little different that McGuire accomplishes here. We get lost in the narrative dream at times, but when Antsy enacts a pivotal decision, McGuire slows down so we get every single step.
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.