Question: Should the first person narrator be authentically telling the tale or is the first person narrative a tool of the writer to merely tell the story?
Hey all!
Random question to ask and no one to ask it to so I’m asking here.
I’ve been getting back into reading and I’m finding it super frustrating to read first person narratives where it feels unrealistic that the character would ever write or tell this tale. Is that just me?
When writing a character’s perspective, do you as a writer take into consideration the authenticity of the tale from the perspective of the character? Or do you just write the story and use that first person perspective as a way to tell the story?
I feel like the character’s voice needs to be consistent throughout the story so that we don’t feel like the story is really a book written by an author, as opposed to a real story (even if it’s fictional). I’m quite a harsh critic when it comes to writing so I can’t tell if I’m over-reacting but it’s incredibly frustrating! It really pulls me out of the story.