azdak

For some reason (doubtless connected with Irony) Austenfic provides particularly rich pickings when it comes to examples of the traps the unwary writer can fall into.

This little gem was advertised on crack_van, and it illustrates perfectly how impossible - all right, not totally impossible - but how hard it can be to maintain a consistent narrative voice.

The narrator is Fanny Price:

"Dr. Martin says that I have poor circulation. He says my heart isn’t strong enough to pump blood to my extremities. That’s why my hands and feet are always icy. Even in summer, I feel cold. I forego plunging necklines, not out of modesty... all right, not totally out of modesty... but because I need the warmth of high collars and long sleeves and shawls to trap and conserve the paltry heat my body generates."