OK, within my WIP I have a couple of sailors telling a folk tale "Captain Dirk and the Black Demon." One of the sailors is doing the telling, while the other (a mute) is miming.
Now, the thing is that the story is "oral tradition" and very likely never written down because not many people can write on this planet. In the WIP it's all "blah blah blah," the sailor said.
What I have done is to pretend that the sailor told me the tale and I wrote it down verbatim as a separate piece. Being as it's an oral folk tale there will be some "rough edges" to the narration. The problem is that there is a lot of "this happened, that happened, something else happened" narrative, which I need to break up a bit with odd writing styles and structures, including the dreaded passive voice. I take the view that a character can say what they like how they like, including using a bit of passive voice, as long as it bears at least some resemblance to grammar rules. BUT of course that does not apply for (my) narration.
I was thinking of putting it up in "Share My Work" but I know I'll get the comments about passive voice etc etc. Should I make it clear that "it's an oral folk tale written down as spoken"?
Or should I "polish it up"? I don't know, because then it will lose its oral qualities.
Or should I not bother writing it down at all? That would be a shame, because it's quite fun.
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Spoilers: it's a story about a Pirate Ship, the Knight of the Spoon and a demon called Zareth the Unspeakable.
Now, the thing is that the story is "oral tradition" and very likely never written down because not many people can write on this planet. In the WIP it's all "blah blah blah," the sailor said.
What I have done is to pretend that the sailor told me the tale and I wrote it down verbatim as a separate piece. Being as it's an oral folk tale there will be some "rough edges" to the narration. The problem is that there is a lot of "this happened, that happened, something else happened" narrative, which I need to break up a bit with odd writing styles and structures, including the dreaded passive voice. I take the view that a character can say what they like how they like, including using a bit of passive voice, as long as it bears at least some resemblance to grammar rules. BUT of course that does not apply for (my) narration.
I was thinking of putting it up in "Share My Work" but I know I'll get the comments about passive voice etc etc. Should I make it clear that "it's an oral folk tale written down as spoken"?
Or should I "polish it up"? I don't know, because then it will lose its oral qualities.
Or should I not bother writing it down at all? That would be a shame, because it's quite fun.
----
Spoilers: it's a story about a Pirate Ship, the Knight of the Spoon and a demon called Zareth the Unspeakable.
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