The Quarantine Blog Day 8
Here's what I mean. You've decided. With table-thumping confidence, that you are telling the entire story in third person narrative when a secondary character pops up with an important story to tell. It's all part of the narrative so you let it through the gate. Does anyone remember the medium Doris Stokes? She had a tart rejoinder for unruly queue-jumping spirits: not now ducky you can see I'm busy and you'll just have to wait your turn.
Of course you can allow this subordinate tale to emerge through extended dialogue. That's been done. But you sense it's rather too long and involved for that. So why not give him a complete chapter of his own?
And if you are doing that, why not let him tell it in first person?
Here's why not: because he might steal too much energy from your projected narrative line, the drum-beat of which is already waiting to march you on. Secondly, if you do that, then another secondary character might suggest herself to offer a competing perspective. They'll all want some. Give in to that sort of nonsense and before you know where you are there is a babble of voices and you've got a rowdy and disputatious courtroom of a novel on your hands.
Who's in charge here anyway? I mean it's my novel. I'm the judge and the jury, thanks very much. So you know you shouldn't give in to that.
But you do.
That's why this game is so inspirational.
And you're happy because it nets you 2663 words today. And even if you have to lose some of it later you're not going to argue with that right now, are you?
(For the previous Quarantine blogs click on "archives".)
