"Narrative Distance is the proximity of a reader's experience ot the character's thoughts. How close will we get? A close-up narrative would allow us to share the character's complete thought process, hear their heartbeat, feel their discomfort. A mid-distance narrative would give us key insights into pertinent thoughts the character has, but not bother us with every detail; we would see the character going into a coffee shop and have to surmise their mood and personality by observing how they react and interact. This is more a film director's vantage point. And for a long-distance narrative, we only see the character from a distance-in the midst of other people, operating in a vast and complex society. We would come to understand them from the way they move through the world and the opinions that other characters have of them. It's a bird's eye view."
The assignment: Write a character in three separate narratives, one close up, one mid distance, and one long distance. If it helps, write the close up in 1st-person, with that character also serving as narrator. Write the mid-distance narrative in 3rd person limited omniscient. Finally, write the long-distance one in 3rd person objective, perhaps told by several different people observing the character from a distance.
Guidelines:
Keep these narratives short, definitely no more than a page each and no less than half a page. Then write a short (50-100 word) paragraph on what you got from this activity.