I use third-person point-of-view, and I alternate points-of-view between the main characters. My stories are complex family dramas, often encompassing two or more generations. Like with a real family, every member has their own version of past events and I want to give each an opportunity to share their story.
Do you use present tense or past tense most in your fiction, or do you often switch tense for different stories, and why?
I write in past tense. My stories often involve events of the past visiting upon characters in the present. I want the story to have a sense of timelessness and past tense seems the most appropriate.
Pick one of your published stories. What combination of point of view and tense did you use for this story, and why?
In JUST THE WAY YOU ARE, sisters Alli and Tessa have been estranged since Alli seduced Tessa's boyfriend, who she has since married after becoming pregnant. The sisters and the man between them must confront the betrayal and lingering emotions when their grandmother falls ill. The story is told in third person and Alli, Tessa, their grandmother and Alli's husband all narrate from their points-of-view.
Because the story takes place a long time after a pivotal event – Alli's seduction of Tessa's boyfriend - it was important all the characters tell their version of the story. They each have differing ideas about who was in the wrong but these opinions change during the story. This growth and nuance would have been lost in a single or first-person point-of-view narrative.
To what extent is the vocabulary and manner of speech of the narration in this story different from your own everyday expression, and what does this contribute to the story?
The characters in JUST THE WAY YOU ARE come from a similar ethnic and class background to me, so to that degree our vocabulary and manner of speech are similar. However, my characters have very specific life experiences. Tessa is a single, jet-setting model and her sister Alli is a hometown girl with a family, so they see the world differently from me and from each other, and that specific worldview and life experience is reflected in their speech.
Did you tell this story with one narrator or multiple narrators, and why?
Multiple narrators, so each could tell conflicting versions of the same past event which has affected them all to this day.
Did you make the narrator of this story a character involved in the main action of the story, or did you make the narrator one which is not a character in your fictional story world, and why?
All my narrators are connected and involved to the main action. I like to write stories where the narrator has a stake in the outcome of events.
Do you usually provide direct access to the thoughts of characters in your stories? If so, do you usually provide access to the thoughts of one character or multiple characters in a single story or point of view, and why?
Almost all my stories provide direct access to the thoughts of multiple characters in their third-person point-of-view. I write stories that explore family drama and dynamics, and I like the important characters to have their moment to shine. Every reader also comes to the story with a unique point of view, and you never know which character- the black sheep, the matriarch, the golden boy - they'll relate to and root for.
To what extent does the narrative style of novels you read have an impact on why you read them, and why?
I like novels of all narrative styles, but complex family dramas are my favorite, which is probably why I write them. I like stories where nobody is wrong or right even though they might believe they are wrong or right. Real life is more complicated than that, and I like stories that reflect it.
Author website: http://barbarafreethy.com
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