High-concept storytelling in Gone 4: Speaking for the group

See you next time

That's it! A quicker lesson than the other ones in this course.

We've looked at using one or two people to show the mob's feelings or position on a matter.

This is effective when:

  • your characters are away from the mob, but you want to remind the reader how things are going (which is what Gone's snippet is doing)
  • you don't want the mob to shout their feelings all at the same time, so the writer uses one or two to be the spokespeople

When you're amongst a large group (maybe a school assembly, or a cinema, or even watching a crowd on TV), try to describe the group feeling. 

Now imagine one or two people representing that group being interviewed. What do you think they'd say?

Look for times when someone who isn't a main character (or possibly even a minor character) speaks. Do you think they're just telling you their feelings? Or do you think the writer is using them to represent the feelings of the people around them?

gone book cover
The Gone series by Michael Grant is a about kids living in a supernatural dystopia (Source)

Gone is the first book in a bestselling series of nine(!), by Michael Grant.

It's set in the fictional town of Perdido Beach, where Sam and friends deal with the fantastic events mentioned in this group of lessons and more, besides! 

It has drama, action, superpowers, heroes, villains, power struggles, talking coyotes, mutant arms... there's a lot to take in.

The next lesson looks at the emotional high point of the first chapter of Gone (or the low point if you're thinking about things from the characters' point of view).

See you then!

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