LiamKerrington
Aug 8th, 2012, 06:44 AM
Hello everyone,
for quite some time (actually since I read WWZ a few years ago) I have kind of a "story-arc" on my mind which would be told only from the perspective of a single person. And the way the story is supposed to be told would be like this:
The narrator answers imaginary questions of (an) imaginary person(s) - but not imaginary from her perspective, because she actually answers real questions, but only imaginary from the perspective of the listener. Example:
"...
I'm fine thank you.
...
No clue, how this could happen. Only that it happened. It felt like ...
...
Well, as if I had a blackout or something? I remember walking down the floor to the stairs. And when I turned around ... It's all dizzy ... I have no ...
...
No, no voices or sounds or anything. Mh ...
..."
This is what the reader would get; the dots mark what would be the remarks and questions of the other person(s) in the dialogue. For the reader it is an aid to get along with the reading in order to understand the "flow" or "streams" of the topics; so they would be able to understand that the narrator is not jumpy and does not senselessly speak about different things in a long monologue and therefore does not obey the rules of a stream of consciousness technique, but that there seems to be kind of a leading partner in this conversation giving the whole thing a structure.
The original text could be like this:
"
Are you alright? How do you feel?
I'm fine thank you.
What happened? How did you fall down the stairs?
No clue, how this could happen. Only that it happened. It felt like ...
Yes? Like what?
Well, as if I had a blackout or something? I remember walking down the floor to the stairs. And when I turned around ... It's all dizzy ... I have no ...
Easy. Just relax. Take a sip. Was there, like, kind of a sound you may have reacted to?[/b]
No, no voices or sounds or anything. Mh ...
..."
But since there are dots, the original text could be like this as well:
"
[i]How do you feel?
I'm fine thank you.
How could this happen? AGAIN, like last week.
No clue, how this could happen. Only that it happened. It felt like ...
Like what? You drive me crazy. We want to help you, and then this! What was it this time? Explain!
Well, as if I had a blackout or something? I remember walking down the floor to the stairs. And when I turned around ... It's all dizzy ... I have no ...
I don't buy this 'I have no'! Again voices? Or another distracting voice? Like the last time?
No, no voices or sounds or anything. Mh ...
..."
The ideas behind this concept would be different things:
- First and foremost you would learn about a story - the facts as well as opinions as well as right/ wrong perspectives of the narrator without having the chance to double-check the content.
- Additionally you would need to think about the way the questions are asked and what exactly they are. Here you may keep in mind that the narrator may misunderstand questions and answers completely wrong.
- Finally it would be an invitation to "guess and play" with different imaginations about the situation of the dialogue, the attitudes and personality of the imaginary dialogue-partner ...
Do you think, this could work as a text? Actually, two days ago I started writing a first text "like" this ... Would you be interested in reading it and "trying" this "reading-game"?
All the best!
Liam
for quite some time (actually since I read WWZ a few years ago) I have kind of a "story-arc" on my mind which would be told only from the perspective of a single person. And the way the story is supposed to be told would be like this:
The narrator answers imaginary questions of (an) imaginary person(s) - but not imaginary from her perspective, because she actually answers real questions, but only imaginary from the perspective of the listener. Example:
"...
I'm fine thank you.
...
No clue, how this could happen. Only that it happened. It felt like ...
...
Well, as if I had a blackout or something? I remember walking down the floor to the stairs. And when I turned around ... It's all dizzy ... I have no ...
...
No, no voices or sounds or anything. Mh ...
..."
This is what the reader would get; the dots mark what would be the remarks and questions of the other person(s) in the dialogue. For the reader it is an aid to get along with the reading in order to understand the "flow" or "streams" of the topics; so they would be able to understand that the narrator is not jumpy and does not senselessly speak about different things in a long monologue and therefore does not obey the rules of a stream of consciousness technique, but that there seems to be kind of a leading partner in this conversation giving the whole thing a structure.
The original text could be like this:
"
Are you alright? How do you feel?
I'm fine thank you.
What happened? How did you fall down the stairs?
No clue, how this could happen. Only that it happened. It felt like ...
Yes? Like what?
Well, as if I had a blackout or something? I remember walking down the floor to the stairs. And when I turned around ... It's all dizzy ... I have no ...
Easy. Just relax. Take a sip. Was there, like, kind of a sound you may have reacted to?[/b]
No, no voices or sounds or anything. Mh ...
..."
But since there are dots, the original text could be like this as well:
"
[i]How do you feel?
I'm fine thank you.
How could this happen? AGAIN, like last week.
No clue, how this could happen. Only that it happened. It felt like ...
Like what? You drive me crazy. We want to help you, and then this! What was it this time? Explain!
Well, as if I had a blackout or something? I remember walking down the floor to the stairs. And when I turned around ... It's all dizzy ... I have no ...
I don't buy this 'I have no'! Again voices? Or another distracting voice? Like the last time?
No, no voices or sounds or anything. Mh ...
..."
The ideas behind this concept would be different things:
- First and foremost you would learn about a story - the facts as well as opinions as well as right/ wrong perspectives of the narrator without having the chance to double-check the content.
- Additionally you would need to think about the way the questions are asked and what exactly they are. Here you may keep in mind that the narrator may misunderstand questions and answers completely wrong.
- Finally it would be an invitation to "guess and play" with different imaginations about the situation of the dialogue, the attitudes and personality of the imaginary dialogue-partner ...
Do you think, this could work as a text? Actually, two days ago I started writing a first text "like" this ... Would you be interested in reading it and "trying" this "reading-game"?
All the best!
Liam