Most writers assume authority on the page comes from sounding certain: from declaring conclusions firmly, from using impressive language, and from making the narrator appear fully in command of every fact.
But readers are more perceptive than that…
…and they don’t actually need certainty. What they need is a narrator who knows where they stand in relation to the material. So, when that position is clear and steady, the prose carries an innate authority.
But when it wavers, even beautiful sentences can feel strangely ungrounded.
This week’s focus is narrative stance: the position your narrator holds toward what they are describing, and how that position creates authority on the page.
Below you’ll find the lesson about it, exercises to help you with it, a prompt for each day of the week, and books to add to your shelf that do narrative distance well.
