Considerations Old and New

I found this old note about Star Runner stories. It's always interesting to me to look back on ideas I have had in the past. This one is particularly timely.

"I have often considered writing one of the Star Runner stories in the third person for 3 reasons:

"1. they are harder to write. this is, of course, stupid. many great novels are written in the 1st person. Robinson Caruso and Huckleberry Finn come to mind.

"2. I could be more descriptive.

"3. I could change narrative perspective.

"The downside of another narrative perspective is writing Star Runner more objectively. What exactly does Star Runner look like? Is it as graceful & magnificent as it thinks it is? Or is it pathetic or comical?

"Part of the "charm" of Star’s narrative voice is it's arrogance which is tempered by its obvious naivete."

I've just finished reading Josephine Tey's novel "The Man in the Cueue" in which there is a very reticent narrator. Basically, the story is told in the third person. The first person narrator is not identified and does not play a role in the narrative: no Watson or Hastings She. Isn't it curious how many of the detectives of yester year needed someone to ask questions and run errands. Melrose Plant is a more modern day sidekick for Richard Jury.

I've become very leary of third person narrative for telling Star's story since Star itself provides much of the comic relief as I strive to lighten up and play inside the story. After all, my writing is just play I enjoy the challenge of telling a story, coming up with characters and plot, but I don't take any of it too seriously so why write the tale seriously?

yet every once in a while I want to slip into third person, to explain something or describe something. It occurs to me that this very quiet other could slip in from time to time to do this. The ruse would be the editor of Star's memoirs, perhaps a journalist on Hypatia.