Yeah these are the words i've been having the most problems with, since everytime I come to a point where I need to use them I must come to a complete halt since i'm not sure what to use. Which is better for use of the narrator; Dunno or Don't know? What about one of the characters? And how exactly is it spelt; No one, no-one or knowone? The spell-check has been really bugging me about this.
I'd personally use don't know rather than dunno with the narrator, but using dunno with a character is fine so long as it fits the character's voice. In regards o the second question, I use no one, but no-one is equally valid. Knowone is just wrong.
'know' and 'no' are two different words with different meaning. 'No one' = not one person e.g. No one WAS there. No one IS in. Dunno = (I) do not/don't know. It is suitable for dialogue IF that is the way your character speaks.
Yeah I only put knowone on there because my auto-changes no one AND no-one to that. Bah, thanks for the help.
Narration can reflect character speech patterns (character-driven narration), so you could use either dunno or don't know. Each gives a different impression of the character. For neutral narration, you should stick with don't know. Dunno is phonetic slang rather than a "real" word.
I would generally only use "Dunno" in dialogue, but if it's first-person narrative, there are times when it might fit.
I completely agree here. "Don't know" should be used when the narrative voice is not first-person. "Dunno" is completely acceptable if a first-person narrator speaks with such slang.
Character driven narration need not be first person. The Sherlock Holmes stories are primarily third person, told from the perspective of his associate, Dr. Watson. You could have an anonymous soldier telling the story of an extraordinary platoon leader, as amother example, with little or no first person presented to the reader, and yet the narrative voice would speak idiomatically.
