: Re: Can overwriting be made to look intentional from a first-person narrative? I am an aspiring author, trying to get my 80,000-word traditionally published, though I will self-publish it if that

@Frith254

You're conflating two unrelated issues. When it all boils down, a first person account is basically all dialogue (others, no doubt, will disagree). You cannot run a character voice through grammar software - people don't talk like the OED.

I hate to burst everybody's bubble but novel writing is not an academic exercise. After marketing, the success of the work is not dependant academic excellent but narrative voice.


Did the reader 'like' the storyteller and characters?


The narrator is a person who talks the way they talk. e.g. One of my narrators is "Katlyn" - she sits down next to you and tells you "everything" (half of it has nothing to do with the story). She would say . . .

Today is Monday. I don't like Mondays. That's a song, isn't it? Sure it is. It's about that girl who shot up half a school. When asked why she did it, she told them she didn't like Mondays. I lost my virginity on a Monday. His name was Bob . . . or maybe it was Dave? Dave had nice hair . . . but so did Bob. Anyway, we were in my Dad's garage and whoever it was he had no idea was he was doing. Bygones. I hate Mondays because I have to collate the weekend's reports. It's not that bad. I'm not going to shoot anybody. I don't own a gun and I don't even know where the nearest school is.

This type of rambling, off-key narrative is popular in chic-lit. But that's not typically what "overwritten" means. Overwritten generally means you over-describe things and dwell on irrelevant issues.

I suppose the answer is yes. If the narrator is engaging - they can talk about whatever they like.

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