Meta? Why that in the tag-line? Well, it's not a fic, nor is
is C&C for a fic, and it isn't a request either. On the other
hand I wouldn't call it spam either (and if I did, I wouldn't
post it to the list-- ain't I just great? ^_^ ).
	This _is_ related to fics though, namely on their creation,
and it is something I think is important.

	First off, let's get some definitions out of the way:

Who/what is the narrator?

	Simply put, the narrator is the one who tells the story. 
Sounds Simple, right? Wrong.
	Who your narrator is has a big impact on your story, and
I don't mean just "is it first person, third person (limited)
omniscience, use a reflector character (follows one character 
around, and the reader can see this character's thoughts/observations
of things/people/etc) either.... 
	What I do mean is which character is telling the story?
Isn't that what I just went through saying it wasn't just? Not
really. Even in a story which uses a third person narrator who is
omniscient, the narrator is a character. The narrator may even have
the same name as the author, and may espouse views the author holds,
but the narrator and the author are two different entities. So who's
telling the story if it isn't the author? the narrator.

	So maybe the narrator isn't the author, and maybe the narrator
has some different views than the author, so what? So everything, I
say. The narrator plays an important part in the story because it is
through the narrator that the reader finds out what is going on. 
	Now, we know that in a first person story that we shouldn't 
necessarily trust the narrator, because the narrator is a person, 
and people are not objective and are going to have a different view 
than what we might have. The same holds true for other narrators
though. With some, it is quite easy to see as they are very biased
and very intrusive, often coming up with remarks and opinions.

Take a look at this passage from "When Ranma Was Two" for example
(written by Matthew Lewis, maybeso@ican.net. Fabulous writer and
all around great man if you ask me ^_^ ):


"Well, here's the school. I'll show you to your class, since
mine's right beside it." Nabiki was being very nice to Ranma,
showing him to his class and all, incidentally passing by many of
the girls of the school, who then started wondering who was this
boy Nabiki was with, what his name was, how does he know Nabiki
(are they seeing each other? must be!) and so on and so forth.
Purely coincidental of course. Wouldn't want the rumour mill to
start saying that Ranma and Nabiki were an item now, would we?
Hah-hah! Perish the thought!


Now, take a look at the above. Do you see it? That whole bit
starting at: 'Purely coincidental....' right down to the end
of the sample is the narrator stepping in and saying something.
Do we really believe the narrator when he/she (because the
narrator is not necessarily the author, we cannot for a certainty
say the narrator is the same sex as the author) says it's a
coincidence? Of course not! Does the narrator mean for us to? Again,
of course not! The narrator is being a smart-ass here.

Sometimes the narrator speaks on the opinion of one of the characters
in the story, but which the narrator doesn't necessarily believe.

Take this excerpt from "El Hazard-- The World of Too Many Authors 
(part 1)" (written by Matthew Lewis, maybeso@ican.net) for instance:



	Matt never did get a chance to perfect tuning Andrew out because 
Dave took this time to lean out the window and shout, "Andy! You can 
stop now!"

	Andrew was not responding to Dave's call, perhaps because he didn't
hear it, still engrossed in haranguing Matt about, well, basically why 
Matt was wrong and Andrew was right


Now, the narrator even makes you aware that this is Andrew's view but
continuing on, saying:


(according to Matt. To Andrew, it was more of a calm discussion with 
the intention of correcting certain flaws in Matthew's logic. Matt's
inabilty to reply was irrelevant).
 

	Other times, the narrator might wish to deliberately try to
mislead the reader, sometimes by omitting something which the
narrator knows (like a name, for instance), or other ways, such as
by seeming to appear objective, lulling the reader into trusting
the narrator.

	So, even in a story where the narrator knows everything that
is going on, went on before, and will happen, he/she isn't
necessarily objective. The narrator might be very intrusive, might
even refer to him/herself, or the narrator may be more subtle.
As a reader, you should ask yourself how trustworthy the
narrator is, and to not always take what the narrator says as
gospel truth, even if he/she sounds objective and/or reasonable.
	As an author, the narrator can greatly influence your story.
How reliable is your narrator? What kind of personality does he or
she have? What characters does he/she (dis)like? How much does the
narrator know, and how much of that is the narrator willing to
reveal?
	All these question and more about the kind of narrator one
has in a story are going to affect it.


And now, the comedy!:

Story quotes were taken without the permission of their author,
Matthew Lewis (email at: maybeso@ican.net), and I hope he can
forgive me for doing so (but on the upside, it is some free
promotion for him, isn't it?)....
	Hey, wait a minute! That's me! I ain't gonna let myself
get away with that! Why me, I'm going to kill me!
	No, wait, free promotion is good, isn't it? ^_^
Hmmm.....
	So, if you saw the fic quotes and can't figure out where
the hell they came from, but it sure sounds interesting, just
gimmee a holler, an' tell me whatcha want....

Matthew "Maybeso" Lewis is:
That guy with "Maybe" and/or "Definitely" in his name on IRC
See him on FFIRC! [bachman.newberry.edu fanfic]
Sojiro_Seta on Kawaiimuck
	maybeso@ican.net
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"The world, however, is not for Fun," Khattam-Shud replied. "The
world is for Controlling."
	"Which world?" Haroun made himself ask.
	"Your world, my world, all worlds," came the reply. "They
are meant to be Ruled. And inside every single story, inside 
every Stream of the Ocean, there lies a world, a storyworld, that
I cannot Rule at all. And that is the reason why."
		--from Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman
		  Rushdie (p.161)
_________________________________________________________________