A pair of glasses bringing a blurred scene into focus.

Friday Focus #2

We made it through another week! Happy Friday. Thanks for joining me.

A pair of glasses bringing a blurred scene into focus.

On Wednesday, the word we discussed was “waken.”

In fiction writing, we can often have characters who are unaware of something going on around them because of an “unreliable narrator.” At its core, an unreliable narrator is a character whose credibility is compromised. In most books, the reader trusts the “I” of the story to be an honest lens. When that lens is cracked, warped, or intentionally tinted, the reader has to work harder to find the truth.

A good example is in my book, Saddled Hearts.

In this book, my protagonist is Colt Layne who owns and operates a horse ranch and rescue center. Then I have a character, Holden Thorpe, who plays with the reader’s (and the protagonist’s) expectations each time he appears in a scene. On the surface, Holden looks like the ultimate hero. He even springs into action to rescue a child from a cattle stampede—an act so brave it’s impossible to ignore. Yet, he is not what he seems and he has an ulterior motive for everything he does. It is a situation of deception vs. perception.

Sometimes writing an unreliable narrator is essentially a high-stakes balancing act. If you lean too far in one direction, the reader feels cheated. Yet, if you don’t lean far enough, the “twist” feels predictable.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on how you incorporate a unreliable narrator into your stories. It’s another way of bringing something into focus. Let’s talk.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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