How close or far the narration feels from a character's thoughts and experience - like a camera that can zoom in or pull back.
Narrative distance describes the perceived gap between the narrator and the character. At close distance, the reader is practically inside the character's head, feeling their emotions in real time, absorbing their vocabulary and thought patterns. At far distance, the narrator pulls back to observe from above, offering perspective, summary, and perhaps a wider view of events. Most skilled writers shift narrative distance constantly within a scene, zooming in for emotional peaks and pulling back for transitions or context. It's one of those invisible craft choices that readers feel without being able to name.
Controlling narrative distance is how you control the reader's emotional experience. Zoom in too much for too long and the story becomes claustrophobic and exhausting. Stay too far out and the reader never connects emotionally. The magic is in the movement - learning when to pull the reader close and when to give them room to breathe. Once you start noticing narrative distance in books you love, you'll see it everywhere.
Woolf constantly shifts narrative distance within paragraphs, pulling close for interior moments and drifting outward to observe London street life.
Rooney maintains a close middle distance that lets readers feel what Connell and Marianne feel while preserving enough distance for irony.
McCarthy often works at far cinematic distance - observing violence without entering anyone's head - which makes the horror feel impersonal and inescapable.
Vary your distance deliberately. Use close distance for emotional peaks and far distance for transitions, time jumps, or establishing context.
Smooth your transitions. Move gradually from far to close (or vice versa) rather than jumping abruptly between distances.
Pull the reader close during the moments that matter most to the character. Push back during moments of reflection or summary.
Write the same moment - a character receiving bad news - at five different narrative distances. Start with the most distant ('A woman received a phone call that changed her life') and end with the closest (inside her head, in her voice, feeling what she feels). Notice how each version creates a different emotional effect.