I'm working on a story in which the two protagonists are aware that they are indeed inside a story. Having both been viewpoint characters at some point, they reach a moment where they badly need the chapter to end. To do so, they plan to figure out which of them is the current VPC, then send the other one forward alone. That way, the viewpoint would change, and they would effectively end the chapter. Now, the killer question: How could they do that? Ideally, the solution would be quick and would use as few props as possible, or at least use props that could be easily found anywhere and wouldn't be too weird being found right on the spot
Well, not sure if this would work or not, but maybe they both decide to think of something and whichever one the narrative picks up on is the one that goes ahead?
(massaging my brain cramp) That's a good one. I have no idea. You could have them tell each other that each of them should think of their favorite food or something and see which thought ends up on the "page." Is there a page? Probably not. What you've implied is that they have some control over the outcome of the "story," but if they both realize they're in a story that would further imply that each has their own thoughts, so delineating the POV might not work that way. Could you have them both say something like "My favorite actress just walked through the door" and see which actress actually does? Or maybe they could explore the "setting" for clues that might indicate which one of them is interpreting the world.
Could one of them close their eyes? And then if the description becomes non-visual, they'd know THAT was the POV character...
They can't really know what's happening on the page, that's the issue. They became aware of their place in a story because a secondary character realized that she has no backstory whatsoever. So far, I thought of two possibilities, both using deceit from a character: - Knowing that my story includes a unpractical-yet-manageable way to measure a chapter's length (in words) for the characters, I thought that one of them (I'll call him A and the other one B for simplicity) could pretend to find a clue, then show it to B, who would reflect on it for quite a while. Then, A could tell B that it was BS, and based on the length of the chapter (a B-oriented chapter would be longer, since his whole thought process would be depicted), they could deduce which of them was the viewpoint. I'm not sure if it would be funny or annoying for the reader to discover that the last two pages were BS though (I'm aiming for a funny book, so I think it could be managed). Of course, A could be the viewpoint, in which case the chapter would remain short and B would simply be pissed off after learning the facts. - B stages a betrayal. The scene is from A's point of view and builds towards a big climax. Then, just as B looks like he'll act, he stops and says something like "Do you feel that? That climax building. That means it's your POV, otherwise the reader would know from the start that I was not going to do it." Both of those "solutions" feel like I'm betraying the reader, so I'm hoping to find something else. But would any of you be alright with either options?
How about.... they try to knock themselves out with some kind of drug, assuming the viewpoint character would have to be the one who remains conscious, else the narrative can't continue. Then the viewpoint character administers the antidote and they move on.
A drug would be nearly impossible to acquire, but I like the idea of them trying to knock themselves out by some means. The last one standing could deduce from his ensuing actions if he is the VPC or not. I'm definitely adding that line of thought to my list of possibilities. Thanks terobi!
I only suggested a drug because it might be easily reversed with an antidote - clocking yourself in the head probably isn't so easily reversed.
That is a fair point. My main problem with a drug would be the delay for it and then the antidote to take effect. I like the idea of knocking someone out cold though. The hows and whys could be managed if I decide to go that way. Thanks for that