The benefits of a split narrator plot
As stories get less original as more and more works get published, authors are looking for unique ways to keep the reader intrigued. One of my favorite new concepts of writing is a split narrator plot. Now what this means is the author switches which perspective the writing is from. Many authors are adapting this new style such as Gillian Flynn, Veronica Roth and Paula Hawkins. Gillian Flynn the author of Gone Girl does a wonderful job of splitting up the plot and distributing information to the reader at the perfect timing. Veronica Roth the author of the Divergent series, splits the plot up of her final novel, Allegiant between the main characters Four and Tris. Paula Hawkins, author of Girl on the train, soon to be a motion picture, divides her first thriller between the three female roles who were abused by the same man.
The relationship between these three authors is that all three choose this style of writing. How an author goes about doing this is often different. The authors of Gone Girl and Girl on the Train approached this in a similar style. You could even say Paula Hawkins copied Gillian Flynn since Gone Girl was published three years before Girl on the Train, but that is beside the point. How they divided the plot was keeping each characters plot to themselves, meaning when reading one chapter from the perspective of Racheal it doesn’t flow into the chapter written from Meagan's perspective. This made it easy to follow each character individually. Gone Girl was divided between Amy and her Husband Nick and their interesting relationship. Each telling about the same event in real time to get both Nick and Amy’s perspective.
Writing this way the reader can easily tell what is happening in each characters life. Now the plots of each character did overlap creating irony for the reader, because we could compare what each person thought about the same event. The use of date stamps at the begging of each chapter made it easier to follow. After reading both of these books I found myself flipping back and looking at the date to piece together exactly what was happening to the characters.
Veronica Roth however did not do as good as a job using the spilt narrator plot. Her style created confusion and disinterest for the reader. Her style had one plot line and just divided what point of view it was written from. This added no additional information for the reader.
When done correctly a split narrator plot adds information from both perspectives and lets the reader discover the climax for his or herself. Both Gone Girl and Girl on the Train, in my option does a wonderful job of p the information between the characters to give the most useful information to the reader. This made me want to read more of their books, like Sharp Objects, which is also divided up similar to Gone Girl. You can check out all of Gillian Flynn’s books here and Paula Hawkins books here. As always the options stated in this journal are my personal options and I hope you find interest in them.
As stories get less original as more and more works get published, authors are looking for unique ways to keep the reader intrigued. One of my favorite new concepts of writing is a split narrator plot. Now what this means is the author switches which perspective the writing is from. Many authors are adapting this new style such as Gillian Flynn, Veronica Roth and Paula Hawkins. Gillian Flynn the author of Gone Girl does a wonderful job of splitting up the plot and distributing information to the reader at the perfect timing. Veronica Roth the author of the Divergent series, splits the plot up of her final novel, Allegiant between the main characters Four and Tris. Paula Hawkins, author of Girl on the train, soon to be a motion picture, divides her first thriller between the three female roles who were abused by the same man.
The relationship between these three authors is that all three choose this style of writing. How an author goes about doing this is often different. The authors of Gone Girl and Girl on the Train approached this in a similar style. You could even say Paula Hawkins copied Gillian Flynn since Gone Girl was published three years before Girl on the Train, but that is beside the point. How they divided the plot was keeping each characters plot to themselves, meaning when reading one chapter from the perspective of Racheal it doesn’t flow into the chapter written from Meagan's perspective. This made it easy to follow each character individually. Gone Girl was divided between Amy and her Husband Nick and their interesting relationship. Each telling about the same event in real time to get both Nick and Amy’s perspective.
Writing this way the reader can easily tell what is happening in each characters life. Now the plots of each character did overlap creating irony for the reader, because we could compare what each person thought about the same event. The use of date stamps at the begging of each chapter made it easier to follow. After reading both of these books I found myself flipping back and looking at the date to piece together exactly what was happening to the characters.
Veronica Roth however did not do as good as a job using the spilt narrator plot. Her style created confusion and disinterest for the reader. Her style had one plot line and just divided what point of view it was written from. This added no additional information for the reader.
When done correctly a split narrator plot adds information from both perspectives and lets the reader discover the climax for his or herself. Both Gone Girl and Girl on the Train, in my option does a wonderful job of p the information between the characters to give the most useful information to the reader. This made me want to read more of their books, like Sharp Objects, which is also divided up similar to Gone Girl. You can check out all of Gillian Flynn’s books here and Paula Hawkins books here. As always the options stated in this journal are my personal options and I hope you find interest in them.
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