My new story is about a 5-man group of survivors of a planecrash who all have amnesia as to who they are. I'll post my chapterxchapter synopsis once I finish it. But what I really want to know is...Should I do this in first person or 3rd person? I know that they're almost all going to wind up dying, as in the story, two die from each other, and two die from wolves. I haven't decided if the last guy makes it off alive yet or not.
Hmm You could go with a first person view and change between the characters to give the reader a unique look at each individual mind and character. That would be interesting. For third person would play out the same but perhapse the use of a first person view can make the characters more personal? I don't know. I always write third person and it works for me so I've never tried first person that much. I don't think it matters much which POV you choose. Pick the one you think you can write best. Conversely post a section of the story in the review section and maybe some reviewers can nit pick which one may be more suiting. In the end though I think its a personal choice. How do you want to tell the story?
I am not a professional advice giver. However I think it would be cool if you wrote it in first person, because then the readers will learn only as much as the characters know. It would also be nice to also write different chapters from the point of view of the 5 survivors.
I am currently making the synopsis, and I've already desided that I will be writing at least one part in first person. A dream diary which the one who hasn't yet died is keeping. So far I have nothing but a plot and a chapterxchapter synopsis up to chapter 11.
That might not work out too well, as they die off pretty fast. The first two who die wind up dying in nearly the same chapter. The third person has gone missing already. He'll probably wind up dying a bit later on.
Has anyone ever called their characters by numbers to keep the story kind of secretive, because all of the castaways have no memory of who they are or anything. (severe amnesia) and I want to do it especially to freak the reader out with the ending.
I know it's not what you were asking, but, they all have amnesia? All 5 dudes? Is a good reason for this given?
Well, trauma, especially to the head, normally causes a temporary/permanent loss and/ore lapse of memory. After all, they do get in a plane crash at the begining of the story. They eventually gain tidbits of their memory back over time. In the story I'm giving a 3rd person limited point of view so that not even the reader knows thier names.
Amnesia is usually rare and it's usually very difficult if not impossible to regain the lost memories. So I kind of find 5 guys all getting knocked on the head and all winding up with amnesia implausible. Just my 2 cents.
I agree with my fellow hat wearer. That does seem improbably. Maybe you could have a guy or two pretending to have amnesia and they could be the ones behind the plane crash? Just a thought.
Well, the story is going to have a bit of a paranormal twist to it. Perhaps amnesia is just an effect of the island.
You can do this with third person as well, and it sounds more natural not to switch narrators periodically. At any point in time, you only show what the person in the crosshairs (the one you are following at the moment) experiences. It has the feel of first person without the awkwardness of the wording that comes with a first person narration. It also cuts back the temptation to tell the reader what the character is thinking. It's better to show the reader through the character's actions, and the reactions of those around him or her.
That's exactly what I was thinking, Cognito. I've got one more question however... Since they've all got amnesia, and I don't want the reader to know more than the characters know, I've been calling the characters by their numbers. One, Two, Three, Four, and Five. Now, I didn't just start that randomly, I had the characters themselves introduce it into the story, and I just narrate the way they talk. I'm pretty sure that is an unexplored way of writing, and I was thinking it seemed pretty original. No one ever knows the names of the 5 survivors, they do learn a certain relationship between two of them later on in the story (the very end)...but other than that, the people have no names.
Is it alright to, instead of name the characters Chris, Bob, James, Kevil, George, Sue, Mary, anne, and whatever else, to just call them by their number? One, Two, Three, Four, and Five?
sorry, but that all having amnesia bit just won't fly, if you'll pardon the pun... not unless you introduce some conspiracy element that has them all exposed to some memory-erasing aerosol-delivered drug, or whatever... as is, it's just plain silly to expect readers to believe all 5 got hit on the head in the first place, let alone all getting amnesia, as a result...
I take it you didn't read the entire topic. The reason they have the amnesia is because of the paranormal factors on the island. It's kind of like the bermuda triangle, only not. It is found out later that they don't have amnesia because of the plane crash.
It's not a problem. As long as you realize that you missed it. The only problem I will have is having readers who know also that it's not going to happen keep reading anyway, at least until later on when it is confirmed that it's the island.
Paranormal activity on an island? That kind of sounds like Lost. It seems with writing a story like that, the best way to keep readers interested is a quick glimpse at the bizarre and unique properties of the island in the beginning, and keep feeding them little bits until you end the story with something big.
