Comments on: Boy or girl? Clue Your Readers In http://writeabetternovel.net/boy-or-girl/ Practical wisdom for novelists and other storytellers Thu, 19 Apr 2012 03:32:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Bill Henderson http://writeabetternovel.net/boy-or-girl/comment-page-1/#comment-335 Bill Henderson Sat, 07 Feb 2009 21:58:26 +0000 http://truevoice-blog.com/?p=1167#comment-335 Actually, an extended tease, or any other unconventional strategy, can work as long as it's meaningful and done with intent--and skill. I kept myself clueless on purpose, but if I were writing a real story, that kind of not-knowing would be criminal--which of course is the point. As for taking it further, Lisa, I wrote it just for the post, without any larger designs. If anyone would like to grab it as a prompt and write forward, it's all yours. Actually, an extended tease, or any other unconventional strategy, can work as long as it’s meaningful and done with intent–and skill.
I kept myself clueless on purpose, but if I were writing a real story, that kind of not-knowing would be criminal–which of course is the point. As for taking it further, Lisa, I wrote it just for the post, without any larger designs. If anyone would like to grab it as a prompt and write forward, it’s all yours.

]]> By: Lisa Romeo http://writeabetternovel.net/boy-or-girl/comment-page-1/#comment-334 Lisa Romeo Sat, 07 Feb 2009 20:28:26 +0000 http://truevoice-blog.com/?p=1167#comment-334 I was pretty certain it was a woman speaking only because (1) the pink/blue illustration clued me in that gender was in question; and (2) a woman heightens the drama because she is saying something unexpected. But who's to say? Certainly not the writer, in this case! I agree that letting the reader know a narrator's gender in first-person. This is true for nonfiction too, of course, and as you say, just one word can clue the reader in without distracting. 'Course I suppose there are times when the writer might want the ambiguity, and then the question becomes how long can you tease out the reader before irritating him/her? By the way, since you've already started the opening to this clearly New Yorker-worthy story, I hope you'll finish it....whichever gender you choose for the narrator. I was pretty certain it was a woman speaking only because (1) the pink/blue illustration clued me in that gender was in question; and (2) a woman heightens the drama because she is saying something unexpected. But who’s to say? Certainly not the writer, in this case!

I agree that letting the reader know a narrator’s gender in first-person. This is true for nonfiction too, of course, and as you say, just one word can clue the reader in without distracting. ‘Course I suppose there are times when the writer might want the ambiguity, and then the question becomes how long can you tease out the reader before irritating him/her?

By the way, since you’ve already started the opening to this clearly New Yorker-worthy story, I hope you’ll finish it….whichever gender you choose for the narrator.

]]> By: spyscribbler http://writeabetternovel.net/boy-or-girl/comment-page-1/#comment-333 spyscribbler Thu, 05 Feb 2009 21:51:10 +0000 http://truevoice-blog.com/?p=1167#comment-333 Isn't that the truth? The entire time I was reading it, I was wondering if it was a boy or girl, LOL! It could work either way. :-) Isn’t that the truth? The entire time I was reading it, I was wondering if it was a boy or girl, LOL! It could work either way. :-)

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