Justin
11-19-2008, 01:04 AM
I'm nearing the end of the storyline in my novel. I just switched to first person to see how it feels, and my wife and I both agree it's better writing. The problem is that there are a few scenes that are written well that don't involve the protagonist. Is it ok to have those scenes written in third person, while keeping most of the scenes in first?
I'm not sure because I can't reconcile how the protagonist would know about those parts in the story. I'm thinking about The Brothers K (David James Duncan), in which the story is told in first person. There's plenty of scenes that the character is not involved in but still tells about. It works, though, because all of the characters are part of a family, so I assume the narrator would learn all the scenes from his family.
In my story there are parts that can only be told in the third person. Is it okay to switch around within the same novel?
I'm not sure because I can't reconcile how the protagonist would know about those parts in the story. I'm thinking about The Brothers K (David James Duncan), in which the story is told in first person. There's plenty of scenes that the character is not involved in but still tells about. It works, though, because all of the characters are part of a family, so I assume the narrator would learn all the scenes from his family.
In my story there are parts that can only be told in the third person. Is it okay to switch around within the same novel?