In a mosaic novel, every chapter is part of a linear story told by a different narrator. If you repeat a narrator, is it still a mosaic?
My novel is following the mosaic format with a different perspective in each chapter, but one narrator was repeated. What format is it now? Is it just a compilation of short stories? Since the chapters need to be read in order and wouldn't work individually, I tend to think it isn't.
Mosaic novels are relatively uncommon so it's hard to find much information. I didn't set out to write a mosaic -- it just kind of happened -- and I'd just like to get a better understanding of my own writing style.
Answers ( 3 )
These share some similarity to chain novels or round robin stories, where authors take turns writing sections of a larger work. The idea with all of these cooperative forms of fiction is to allow a number of authors to contribute a chunk of fiction, like adding cars to a train rather than a traditional collaboration. A mosaic novel can be written by a single author, but many of them are collaborative works.
Most collaborative writing involves working together to create characters, working out a story outline, and quite frequently alternating turns writing sections and then editing the other author's sections. One or both will do a polish pass to create a consistent voice and shave off irregularities. A friend of mine who is a screenwriter does this with his writing partner.
Mosaic fiction is a sort of relay race with everyone's efforts intended to create a sensible linear story, but unlike thise athletic events you are under no obligation to contribute only once. This refers to characters telling the story as well as authors. There will be people who are purists and insist that each author writes only once or that each character is heard from obxe, (because it is part of the novelty of the form) but you have to decide whether to be bound by their expectations. Characters need to tell the pieces of the story that work best through their perspective, which can include overlapping narratives - characters retelling the same event from radically different perspectives. If you plan to approach a regular publisher, check with them about their expectations.
A mosaic book that ends with writing done by the same character who spoke in the beginning could create a nice type of bookend effect.
to answer your question i have to ask 1.. :
A) Have you read any of these tyes of novel / books/ formats u are trying to emulate? if so... what were they?
were they B) lord of light by r. zelazny
c) d une f. Herbert
d) b. herbert?
e) none of the above please statethe one or ones u read im tired of typing willl answer as soon as i can.... if u answer me... im @ papadiablos gmail ok?
Does it matter what it's called? Most novels these days jump around between different narrators, different moods, different styles, even different worlds! Readers are used to it. Write to please yourself! No one else's opinion matters.