Writing the unreliable narrator

What’s good, family?

While you’re here, let’s talk about the unreliable narrator in writing. 

The unreliable narrator is one who intentionally or unintentionally withholds information from the reader. 

A lot of narrators and characters are unreliable because they are human, and humans tend to bend stories to fit their narrative. Sorry, we do. 

But when a narrator does it, it adds a little spice to the work. Your reader isn’t sure if they can trust your narrator and what they say, and that’s kind of fun for you and the reader. 

What an unreliable narrator can do is give a reader a twist or a shock when they find out they have been lied to or misled. 

Now, that doesn’t mean you flat out lie to your reader and send them all over the place. No, they don’t like that. 

What this is is a character trait or flaw that drives a narrator to tell a story in a way that benefits them. Think of it as the difference between writing memoir and writing an autobiography. A memoir is your story, so you have a little more freedom to tell it the way you want to. And there are plenty of examples of authors who’ve taken liberties with their story. The autobiography means you have to play it straight because everything has to be backed by a source. 

The unreliable narrator adds a mystery to the narrative because the reader soon finds out the person telling the story is telling it slant, in a way that either mitigates they damage they’ve done or embellishes the accomplishments. Maybe a narrator has a bone to pick with another character and presents that character in a rough light. 

All stories aren’t right for unreliable narrators, but this is another thing for you to play around with to hide that ulterior motive from your reader and let them have a little fun with it.