I dreamed I invented a narrator, a new main character, who spoke in the first person to a therapist about his depression. He showed the therapist his “notes” which were the comic strip pages already drawn. I drew the narrator's thumb on the right side of the pages holding the comic book for his therapist to read. I also inserted snap shot drawings of the students like when someone takes a photo in a movie and the picture freezes and turns momentarily to black and white. I was freed from strict linearity and could time travel with ease. It was quite liberating, actually.
This dream was also disconcerting because I was trying to do math in my sleep…how can I add pages/panels with as little re-editing as
possible? Each day lecture needs an even number of pages, and I CAN’T
disassemble each Publisher Page and relocate the existing word balloons.
Random Thoughts about Narration
Currently, there is no narrator. Readers listen in on the images/dialog that some unnamed person (the cartoonist) provides. An invisible entity chooses camera angles, what to leave out between panels, who says what, etc. I think this is what tires readers. They are borne along with little time to breathe during the journey. A narrator would (if my dream was correct) assist readers in plot.
A narrator talking to a therapist is too 1960s and Woody Allen-ish.
Who was the narrator is Metamorphosis? "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect-like creature."
Are narrators omniscient? They must be in order to convey the plot to the audience. Wiki says,
"The narrator may be a fictive person devised by the
author as a stand-alone entity, or may even be a character. The narrator is
considered participant if an actual character in the story,
and nonparticipant if only
an implied character, or a sort of omniscient or semi-omniscient being who does
not take part in the story but only relates it to the audience."
I need a narrator who is not enveloped by Dr. Q's philosophical musings.
Some narrator options
- a demon “taking photos” of each character rooting for skepticism, doubt, atheism, and/or nihilism to take over.
- an angel “taking photos” rooting for faith/hope/love to take over.
- a hapless student (not me) musing about depression
- a hapless student (me) musing about depression
- God
- Fly on the wall
- Alien
- Solomon
The narrator could
“reflect” at the end of each day’s lecture/riffs. If the joke was stupid he
could say so. His “stance” would be objective. Unlike the students who whine
about Dr. Q’s repetition and gloominess, the objective narrator could respond
logically and clearly, without emotion.
Narrators narrate, but to whom is my narrator speaking?
Readers, of course, but are the panels then supportive documentation for his monologue? If so, fine.
But how then do I segue into the classroom pages? In other words, what is the
narrator saying that would lead him to “show” students talking?
I'm wary of adopting a Screwtape plot; Lewis gets the credit for that bit of brilliance. Plus, I don’t want to bludgeon readers with supernatural-ism, demonic or otherwise.
Do omniscient narrators ever show emotion?
Voice-over while images zoom in from outer space into classroom
(thanks, Google maps).
Given the fact that 428 Publisher pages have been set up with thousands of dialog boxes tediously put in place and filled with correct font and text, I can’t have the
narrator insert his (her, its) voice into an individual page. He/she/it can only speak
before and after each day.
But this poses another huge problem….what possibly
can the narrator say that would fill up an entire page?
I could invent a new student whom the narrator watches outside of class and makes comments about….or the narrator could observe and make comments about all the students. Perhaps the narrator could comment on several of the characters between classes. I can almost visualize a second “plot” outside of the classroom.
Does
the narrator have access to the character’s mind? I the cartoonist have access to the classroom lecture
complete with sound and visuals. I’m enabling viewers to eavesdrop on a
classroom. I do not have access into the psyche of any student (other than any
conclusions we draw from attire, vocabulary, reactions, etc). Perhaps an omniscient narrator would know what students are thinking.
Does the narrator observe Dr. Q between classes? That would
be fun speculation but I’m afraid I'd contaminate the pure text of Eccl
with fiction. My main characters are
the students who listen and react to Dr. Q’s lecture.
A narrator could make the narrative flow more explicit.
He/she/it could turn those talking heads into real persons with whom the
audience could (hopefully) relate. The narrator would "model" for readers curiosity, interest, tedium, astonishment, empathy, etc.
The narrator could show the pictures and biography of each
student like Base Ball Cards.
Narrator in the tone of Rod Serling: “Observe one Karenoia, plagued by OCD, and anxiety- reducing rituals. She thought her life was manageable ... until she
entered Ecclesiastes University [the Twilight Zone].”
The narrator could end each of his/her/its comments with,
“Day one.” But 50 times? Yikes. Perhaps I could reduce the number of days/lectures
by combining them (stretching same color over many pages).
ALIEN DIALOG
Setting: inside space ship
Characters: two aliens, father and son
Plot: son taking dad on outing for bonding (dad agreed to
let son chose the activity)
What planet are they from?
How old are they?
How’d the son know so much about earth?
How could this ever be turned into a stage play?
No comments:
Post a Comment