A Quick Question!

[clear-sarcasm.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone,

I believe this is my first time posting here.

I just had a question for anyone who may be able to assist me.

I'm currently working on a novel (fiction - thriller). The opening chapter is to begin with a 911 call being placed by a woman in distress. The novel is written in third-person perspective, past tense. So, how would the conversation take place?

Every time I try to play it out, I think of news segments or scripts in which it is written something like this:

Dispatch: 911, what's your emergency?
Caller: Someone's been shot.
Dispatch: Who's been shot? Where are you calling from?
...etc.

This, obviously, won't work in my novel...so...what are my options?

Any and all advice, criticism and/or opinions are welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks!

Comments

[clover71.livejournal.com]

you can still write it on a third person POV, but it can either be third person limited (writing through one character's perspective, but you can change perspectives from one character to another but it's best to do it by scene) or third person omniscient (writing through a narrator's perspective - meaning the narrator sees all).

you should, of course, write the dialogue part in sentence form. try describing what's happening and inserting the dialogue appropriately. i.e:

(insert name of character here) paced around the (room/ alley/ wherever the character may be), phone pressed against her ear. She was relieved when a voice came through. "911 emergency, may i help you?"

"Someone's been shot" were the words that instantly left her mouth.

"Who's been shot?" The voice remained calm and in control. "Where are you calling from?"

something like that... hope this helps.