Today’s consultation challenged conventional point of view and arrangement. Most stories revolve around a protagonist who is changed at depth over time by the dramatic action that happens to her. The story is arranged into chapters and told through either:
First person present — I revel in the balmy ocean breezeĀ
First person past — I reveled in the balmy breeze
Third person present — she revels in the balmy ocean breezeĀ
Third person past — she reveled in the balmy ocean breeze
Today’s consultation revealed a story more about the transformation of a culture which is changed over time by the dramatic action that happens to the characters who live in the culture than to one particular character.
Some of the most difficult aspects of writing a story, be it a screenplay, novel, or short story, are deciding where the story begins, who’s tells the story — POV, and how best to arrange the overall flow the story.
We seem to gravitate toward a favorite way of telling a story. First person allows the writer and thus, reader closer access to the character. Third person allows the writer and thus, reader less intimate access to the protagonist from her point of view but more access to information beyond the character herself.Ā
What’s your favorite?
I typically do first-person past, but I’m venturing into present tense on this latest. Talk about scary!
I’m writing my novel in third person present, but there is plenty of opportunity for third-person past during the telling of the back stories. Of course, I’ll need to tighten up all the past perfect places for consistency that are sneaking in there too.
The way my story is evolving, I may need to jump over to another character’s home. Had I written in first person, I’d be unable to pull that off. That is the challenge for today.
Second person can be good too, if used well and sparingly. Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead is a beautiful example of one kind of (epistolary) second person.
beckylevine, I believe experimenting with all the different forms is helpful, both to find what’s best for the story, but also what feels most natural to us as the writer. Tough thing about writing in one tense of the other is if you decide you don’t like it and want to switch back — not easy and often very time consuming, but taking the risk is always worth it.
Good luck, DJ Lane!!
Never tried second person, readingwritingliving. Never even thought of it. You’ve piqued my interest and now I’m curious to try. Will let you know how it goes.
Thanks for this great post! I’m posting it on my blog.