Writing Focus: Unreliable Narrator

Real life and fiction often mirror one another, and just as there are people we find unreliable in real life, the narrators of our favourite books can come across as unreliable too!

What Is an Unreliable Narrator?

An unreliable narrator is as simple as it sounds — the narrator for the piece is incredibly untrustworthy. This can often be due to a compulsive lying trait, an underlying mental illness or something else that causes the narrator’s views on things to be inaccurate or misrepresented. This style of narration is often prevalent in tall tales and crime fiction. For instance, a story narrated by a criminal may omit important information that incriminates them in order to make the reader feel like they are on the same side.

Although an unreliable narrator is traditionally written in first-person, it is also possible for a third-person narrative to be unreliable.

Tips

It is important to think about why your narrator is unreliable before you start. Are they obstructing the truth in order to make themselves look better, do they lie continually or is there an underlying condition that causes them to misconstrue things? It is important to choose this beforehand, as it will make the unreliability easier to write as you continue onwards.

Another important thing to consider is if you want your character to appear as unreliable right away, or if you want the district for the narrator to slowly build in the mind of the reader. For many crime and mystery stories, the latter is better as it lures the reader into discarding the narrator as entirely innocent, whereas the former has a more comical effect that may work better in a comedy story.

Prompts

Looking to use an unreliable narrator to tell your story? Check out these prompts!

1. Write a story centred around a pathological liar’s view on their own life.
2. Your character has committed a crime, and it is their only mission to convince the reader that they did not do it. Using omission of key facts and events, write the story of the crime itself.

Although unreliable narrators are not used often, they can be a terrific addition to a story, whether to add comedic effect or to add mystery to a tale. If you’re interested in writing either of these, then it’s definitely worth looking into using an unreliable narrator to tell your story!

Special thanks to losing control. and cleopatra. for editing!