Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Illusive

I'm excited about today. So. Freaking. Excited.

Why?

Because today I'm basing my post on one of my absolute favorite movies -- one that blew my mind the first time I watched it.

The Illusionist



But what can writers learn from this movie?

That would be my favorite type of main character: the unreliable narrator.

This is a narrator that doesn't tell the reader the truth, essentially. It's a narrator who lies, and frequently doesn't even realize they're lying.

And they're incredibly fun and challenging to write.

My hope is that in the three points below, you'll have a basis of where to start in the creation of your own unreliable narrator:

1. Create two truths


The real truth, and the truth as your narrator sees it. For example, Eisenheim tells us two truths throughout the whole of The Illusionist. There's the truth of what's really going on, and the truth as he would like us to know it (if you've seen the movie, you'll know what I mean -- if you haven't, you really need to cause it's so good!)

That's what your narrator needs to do. You, the writer, need to know the real truth (and never lose sight of it), while your narrator needs to be focused upon what they see as the truth.

Usually, this involves delusions of grandeur for your narrator, ones that your reader won't always realize right away.

2. Charisma 


People believe other people who are charming. That was one of the big draws for The Illusionist. Edward Norton is a charming guy, in pretty much everything I've ever seen him in. He has that way of making you believe what he's doing is real.

That's what your narrator needs to do. They must charm your reader into believing them, into trusting them, even while you (the writer) know from the beginning that your narrator couldn't be more wrong.

3. Remember that sometimes the illusion can be the real thing


In some cases, the illusion, the unreliability, is the actual truth. I know, it's confusing. I'll try to explain. For your narrator, this is real. This is truth. Sometimes, in order to write that, you'll need to think it's the truth as well.

I want to use an example from the movie, but I don't want to spoil the ending, so I'll just say this:

Sometimes, what's real is fake and what's fake is real.

It's our job to determine it, and to make sure the reader isn't confused in the end.

[love]

{Rani D.}

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