FOR EDITORS, PROOFREADERS AND WRITERS

Find out what narrative distance is and why fiction editors and authors need to pay attention to it.

• What is narrative distance?
• Are narrative distance and psychic distance the same thing?
• How is narrative distance related to narrative style?
• Why writers and editors need to learn about narrative distance
• Using a visual framework to understand narrative distance
• Related resources for you to dig into

Narrative means story. It’s the part of a novel that isn’t dialogue.
 
A narrator is the person who tells the story. They can be a character in the book or an entity that stands outside it.

There can be multiple narrators in a book, too. That allows the author to present events from multiple perspectives.

‘Narrative distance’ describes the space between a novel’s narrator and the reader.

• If we, as readers, feel deeply connected to the narrator and their experience of the fictional world they inhabit, narrative distance is tiny.
• If we feel dislocated from them, more like we’re looking out on the story’s landscape objectively, the narrative distance is wide. 
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Yes, narrative distance and psychic distance are the same thing. Some writers and editors use one term, some the other. They’re interchangeable. Use whichever you feel comfortable with.

You might find one or other useful depending on what issues you’re dealing with when you’re writing or editing. I like the word ‘narrative’ because it reminds me what part of the prose I’m dealing with.

Then again, I sometimes use the word ‘psychic’ because it reminds me that although I’m dealing with fiction, and therefore something that’s not real, the narrator within that creative realm still has their own lived experience and a raft of emotions that come with that.
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Narrative style refers to the way in which the narrator offers their perspective. Common narrative styles include:
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• First-person limited
• Third-person limited
• Third-person objective
• Third-person omniscient

Each of those narrative styles come with a certain degree of distance between the narrator and the reader.

For example, first-person narrations always feel a little more intimate because the pronoun ‘I’ is used. Second-person narrations can feel equally intimate, but in a voyeuristic way.

Third-person narrations – and the pronouns that come with them – are what we’re used to using for those not being directly addressed, so in prose they naturally put space between readers and narrators using the third person.

When we move beyond a framework of narrative style and start to think specifically in terms of narrative distance, we’re able to analyse the effectiveness of prose in a more nuanced and flexible way. 
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Take a book off your shelf and read a couple of pages. Even though the entire section might be written in a single narrative style – for example, third-person limited, it’s likely that the narrative distance still changes. 

Perhaps you’ve never noticed before, and if that’s the case, the author and their editor have done a great job because the movement is seamless.

If that movement is jarring and too obvious, it could be an indication that narrative distance isn’t being controlled sufficiently. Editors and writers who can recognize narrative distance and evaluate its effectiveness are better equipped to solve the problem, and justify their solutions.
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Are you confused by narrative distance? Don’t worry – you’re not alone! It’s a complex topic. Even experienced line editors and authors can struggle to get their heads around it. 

My solution was to structure my own learning as a visual framework. I presented that framework at the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading’s annual conference in September 2021 and then for the Society of Authors in October 2021.

The framework I shared at those two events garnered fabulous reviews and convinced me to record a webinar that everyone could access.

Narrative Distance: A Toolbox for Writers and Editors is available now to anyone who wants to lift the curtain on narrative distance and use it to craft prose that offers a better reader experience.
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Use the button below to find out what’s included in the course. 

• Blog post: 7 reasons why I’m not the right editor for you
• Blog post: How to avoid repeating ‘I’ in first-person writing
• Blog post: How to show the emotions of non-viewpoint characters
• Blog post: What’s the difference between a viewpoint character and a protagonist?
• Book: Editing Fiction at Sentence Level
• Book: Making Sense of Point of View
• Course: How to Write the Perfect Fiction Editorial Report
• Course: Switching to Fiction

Subversive copy editor Carol Saller offers yet more top tips on blogging for editors, proofreaders and writers! Join Carol, Louise and Denise on The Editing Podcast to find out more.

• In #1: Carol's blogging journey: The Subversive Copy Editor blog; Lingua Franca (for the Chronicle of Higher Education); Editor's Corner (for The Chicago Manual of Style); Fiction+ (for The Chicago Manual of Style)
• In #1: Blogging goals
• In #1: Coming up with ideas: two tips
• In #1: Blog promotion strategies
• In #2: Repurposing blog content
• In #2: Analytics, and how to avoid the rabbit hole
• In #3: Monetizing your blog
• In #3: Understanding the sales funnel
• In #3: Managing reader engagement
• In #3: Blogging trajectory: Deciding who to write for and when to stop

• About Carol Saller
• Blogging for Business Growth (course)
• 'Blogging for writers' (Jane Friedman)
• But Can I Start a Sentence with “But”? (University of Chicago Press Editorial Staff)
• Content Chemistry (Andy Crestodina)
• 'Getting the Most from LinkedIn' (YouTube tutorial)
• 'Google Analytics Tutorial 2021 – Learn Google Analytics 4 (GA4) & Universal Analytics Step-By-Step' (YouTube tutorial)
• How to Build an Editorial Blog (book)
• 'How to promote your blog' (Blogging Wizard)

‘Vivacity’ Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Subversive copy editor Carol Saller offers more top tips on blogging for editors, proofreaders and writers! Join Carol, Louise and Denise on The Editing Podcast to find out more.

• In #1: Carol's blogging journey: The Subversive Copy Editor blog; Lingua Franca (for the Chronicle of Higher Education); Editor's Corner (for The Chicago Manual of Style); Fiction+ (for The Chicago Manual of Style)
• In #1: Blogging goals
• In #1: Coming up with ideas: two tips
• In #1: Blog promotion strategies
• In #2: Repurposing blog content
• In #2: Analytics, and how to avoid the rabbit hole
• In #3: Monetizing your blog
• In #3: Understanding the sales funnel
• In #3: Managing reader engagement
• In #3: Blogging trajectory: Deciding who to write for and when to stop

• About Carol Saller
• Blogging for Business Growth (course)
• 'Blogging for writers' (Jane Friedman)
• But Can I Start a Sentence with “But”? (University of Chicago Press Editorial Staff)
• Content Chemistry (Andy Crestodina)
• 'Getting the Most from LinkedIn' (YouTube tutorial)
• 'Google Analytics Tutorial 2021 – Learn Google Analytics 4 (GA4) & Universal Analytics Step-By-Step' (YouTube tutorial)
• How to Build an Editorial Blog (book)
• 'How to promote your blog' (Blogging Wizard)

‘Vivacity’ Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/