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ALL_WRONG

                                          October 30, 2005

  In addition to choice
  of "person", there's the       POV
  the old "ominiscient
  narrator" question.

  A relatively common narrative
  choice is "third person                    "First person omniscient"
  omniscient"... the voice telling           is rare, except as an
  the story knows *everything* about         intentionally blasphemous
  the story, including every little          joke, but it's not unheard
  detail that every character thinks.        of.  For example, there's
                                             the framing narration of
  This voice presents the fact of            the film "American
  the matter with a completely               Beauty".
  unscientific scientific air:
                                                        AMERICAN_BEAUTY
     The real scientist is
     entirely aware of the     "Omniscience" is
     large areas of            an impossibility,
     uncertainty that          even in the
     remain (and perhaps       knowledge of your    A fiction
     always will remain)       *own* motivations.   based on the
     in our knowledge of                            device that
     the world.                                     that there
                                                    exists a clear
                                                    reading of the
        This is one of the                          interior of
        distinguishing                              every skull
        characteristics of                          is perhaps
        the scientist and                           worthy of a
        the charlatan: the                          stronger word
        scientist is                                than just
        comfortable with                            "fiction".
        uncertainty.

        The goal is to reduce the areas
        of certainty, to define as well              
        as can be the boundaries of               Oh, that strange
        the uncertain, but never to deny          hunger for      
        that it exists.                           absolute truth        
                                                  that drives so         
                                                  many into the       
                                                  arms of obvious 
                                                  lies...         
                                                                     



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