The Unvanquished
The Unvanquished, by William Faulkner, is a great example of "importance," revealing the world of your story in order of importance to the main character.
The story starts with a description of two young boys playing a game of war out by the wood shed. From the game, we understand the story is set during the time of the Civil War. If we know our history, we can also easily deduce the story is set on a Southern plantation. The war is not important to the main character, but the game is, so we learn about the setting through the game.
Faulkner does not leave it up to our knowledge of history, though, to reveal the world of the story. He refines the setting through the main character's remembrances of his father. Again, the war itself is not important to the main character, but the fact that his father is away fighting in it is very important.
The relationship between the main character and is friend is another great example. At first, we see a young boy playing a game with his friend, Ringo. Later, we discover, through inference, that the friend is actually the son of slaves, which puts a completely different spin on their relationship. The fact that Ringo likes to play war is far more important to the main character than the fact that he is black.
The Unvanquished is written from first a first person point of view, so you would think the concept of "importance" would be a necessary by-product. This isn't always true, however. Some writers, especially inexperienced writers still try to add in too much irrelevant description, even when writing in first person.
Next time, I will address the idea of "importance" when writing from a third person POV, using Agatha Christie's The Mirror Crack'd as an example.
The story starts with a description of two young boys playing a game of war out by the wood shed. From the game, we understand the story is set during the time of the Civil War. If we know our history, we can also easily deduce the story is set on a Southern plantation. The war is not important to the main character, but the game is, so we learn about the setting through the game.
Faulkner does not leave it up to our knowledge of history, though, to reveal the world of the story. He refines the setting through the main character's remembrances of his father. Again, the war itself is not important to the main character, but the fact that his father is away fighting in it is very important.
The relationship between the main character and is friend is another great example. At first, we see a young boy playing a game with his friend, Ringo. Later, we discover, through inference, that the friend is actually the son of slaves, which puts a completely different spin on their relationship. The fact that Ringo likes to play war is far more important to the main character than the fact that he is black.
The Unvanquished is written from first a first person point of view, so you would think the concept of "importance" would be a necessary by-product. This isn't always true, however. Some writers, especially inexperienced writers still try to add in too much irrelevant description, even when writing in first person.
Next time, I will address the idea of "importance" when writing from a third person POV, using Agatha Christie's The Mirror Crack'd as an example.
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