Most of my fiction has been written in the first person, though lately I’ve returned more to the third. I’ve only written one (very short) piece in the second person. It’s rare for me to change point of view in a short story; in novels, I tend to stick to one or two points of view.
Do you use present tense or past tense most in your fiction, or do you often switch tense for different stories, and why?
I’m avoiding the present tense and have been doing so for some time because I think this tense is being over-used in contemporary fiction. (Those interested in my views on this could have a look at my essay in the Sydney Morning Herald, January 2011.) I think an occasional use of the present can be very effective, but I’ve become wary of narratives that are saturated with it.
Pick one of your published stories. What combination of point of view and tense did you use for this story, and why?
I have chosen a story titled ‘Two Wrecks’. The point of view is that of an adult looking back on events that shaped her way of seeing things when she was quite a young girl. It’s told in the first person, and in the past tense. The main character’s sister’s and mother’s points of view are alluded to, but not explored directly.
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 vocabulary and manners of speech are more formal and reflective than everyday speech. In the story, I recount legends to do with shipwrecks, and the effects these have had on the narrator; the legends have to function in several different ways.
Did you tell this story with one narrator or multiple narrators, and why?
I told this story with one narrator in mind; it was complicated enough for me to move backwards and forwards between the child and the adult, and the narration was layered in other ways as well. I felt it would be confusing to introduce another narrator, and indeed I had no interest in doing so.
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 charcater in your fictional storyworld, and why?
Yes, the narrator is involved in the main action, though in many ways it’s the mother who’s the instigator of it.
What is one of your favourite fictional stories, in which you think is narration is written well, and how would you describe what makes the narration work so well for you as a reader?
One of my favourite fictional stories is ‘The Great Gatsby’. The narration of this novel has taught me an enormous amount. Ever since I can remember, I’ve been drawn to the insider/outsider narrator, and to me Nick Carraway is a perfect example. He’s just a wonderful prism for viewing Gatsby and the other characters; he’s intelligent; and he has his own kind of narrative centre as well.
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?
Yes, I usually provide direct access to my characters’ thoughts. I like reading stories that get inside characters’ heads, but when I come to write them, I tend to concentrate on one or two points of view. The main reason for this is that I don’t consider myself skilled enough to enter the minds of several characters at once. When I’ve tried, I’ve never been able to do it well enough. So I imply what other characters are thinking through the thoughts and actions of my main one.
To what extent does the narrative style of novels you read have an impact on why you read them, and why?
Well, of course the narrative style has an impact on what I read and the way I read it. Sometimes I don’t notice it so much with the front of my brain, and its influence gradually becomes apparent; at other times, I become excited by what the narrative structure is teaching me right from the first page. Then I might stop and take notes. I think a great deal about structure; I often think about it when I’m playing the piano. I think of musical structures and try and relate them to linguistic ones. I also think about different instruments as voices, and then try and transpose this to fiction, but, as I said above, I’ve never been very good at multiple voices, and I usually abandon these attempts quite soon.
Author website: http://www.dorothyjohnston.com.au
No comments:
Post a Comment