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Lesson 2 : Continuity
Back to: Lesson One : Grammar Next: Lesson 3 : Making it Interesting
Lesson Two : Continuity.

Let's start a story.

"Hi my name is Missy and this is the story of my life. One day Missy met a handsome young man named Jack."

NO! But why not?
Because Missy starts off telling the story with her voice and then the story suddenly shifts into a third-party telling the story. It's no longer Missy speaking directly to the reader. Imagine how unsettling it would be if you went from talking to your best friend about what he was doing over the weekend and suddenly POP! you're watching him do those things instead of hearing about it! What we've done here is the literary equivalent of that.

Where would this be appropriate?
-In situations where the reader would be more impacted by a disembodied feel to the story rather than a personal feel. You should usually make an effort to visually separate the two sections, however.
-Where there's a strong transition that makes sense between the two methods of storytelling.

Impact:
"Hi, my name is Missy and this is the story of my life! One day I met a handsome young man named Jack. Things were just going great. We eloped to Vegas only a few hours after we met. This turned out to be a big mistake.
As we stepped inside our honeymoon suite, Jack shut and locked the door. "Come to bed, honey," I told him.
The last thing I remember is the pain as his fist hit me square in the nose.

Jack stared down at Missy's motionless body. She lay battered and bruised on the floor. The blood on his knuckles felt good, and the stolen money in his pocket felt even better."

Strong Transition:
"Hi, my name is Missy and this is the story of my life! One day I met a handsome young man named Jack. Gosh, my heart just felt like it was going to leap out of my chest when he leaned in to kiss me. As our lips touched, it felt like it couldn't be real, like I was floating above us watching it happen. Oh, look. There's Missy and Jack. They kiss."

Click Next: Lesson 3 : Making it Interesting to continue...

 
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