I’m well aware that the main point of this ‘Notes’ section is for me to keep track of things I’ve read, rather than anyone else actually reading these little posts. I’ve fallen behind a bit and now am in the position of having to collate a few things and try to work out what I think about them.
I’ve been working on a long piece of fiction for ten months and I think I’ve reached the end of the first draft. It’s a cobbled together thing that doesn’t always make a lot of sense, but I’ve reached the end of this phase of development. This is a difficult spot for me. Usually, I look at a first draft and wonder how to fix its many problems, while keeping the things I found interesting in the first place.
One of the decisions I have to make regards the tense used in the narrative. I went for a third person past perspective, even though it might have made a lot of sense to use first person present. It’s possible I will still do this. One of the reasons for it might be to give the main character more of a voice.
I was thinking of the Gillian Flynn story ‘The Grownup’, which I remembered for its kind of sarky, don’t-give-a-shit narrator. Recently I also read Otessa Moshfegh’s short story collection, ‘Homesick for Another World’, which from the off featured similarly messy protagonists with more than a little bit of snark about them. Then I read Tony Tulathimutte’s ‘Rejection’ and I came to realise that these kinds of stories are best - for me - in smaller doses. I can’t imagine living with this sort of voice for another ten months. All the books have their merits, but a little goes a long way.
Buy ‘The Grownup’ by Gillian Flynn at bookshop.org
Buy ‘Homesick for Another World’ by Otessa Moshfegh at bookshop.org