I always try for third person, then end up back in first. It's just my natural voice, I guess. Sometimes I'll write a piece in first, then slowly switch it to third, if it just has to be third (like, say, for adult romance, where that's more the convention). I think first is my natural voice because I tend to see the story through the character's eyes.
Do you use present tense or past tense most in your fiction, or do you often switch tense for different stories, and why?
Present tense, usually. I have done some pieces where I switch tenses , but mostly I stay with first-person present--again, my natural voice. As I noted, I see the story through the character's eyes, and I also see and feel it unfolding in real time, and I ask myself how my character would react, what emotions they might feel, how they would express those emotions, what they might do, and lots of other questions. That's how I stay true to my characters, and let the characters drive the story.
Pick one of your published stories. What combination of point of view and tense did you use for this story, and why?
In Going Underground, my most recent release, I switch time periods, but the narrative voice stays the same. I chose to switch time periods but keep the point of view and tense the same so readers could see and feel the character's world before bad things happened to him, and after. I hope readers get a sense of his confidence and innocence and dreams in the past chapters, and then get a sense of what's changed for him, and perhaps more importantly, what hasn't.
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?
Since I tend to write in first person, my characters have their own voice and style of speaking, which is all different from mine. In real life, I have a Southern accent and I'm not fast with one-liners like some of my fictional creations. I tend to get distracted mid-sentence, but none of my characters do that. I think distinct voices and styles of speaking make stories crisper and more readable, make the characters more real to readers. I know I value those elements when I read.
Did you tell this story with one narrator or multiple narrators, and why?
One narrator. I've rarely done young adult fiction with two viewpoints, because the story belongs so much to the character who tells it. I've done adult pieces (mostly romance) with alternating points of view so readers get the interplay of each character falling in love or experiencing the big events. My son JB and I wrote a fantasy piece together, Oathbreaker: Assassin's Apprentice and Oathbreaker: Prince Among Killers, which alternates between three points of view because all three views were necessary to bring in the events and the richness of the otherworld JB and I developed.
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?
My point of view characters are always directly involved in the story's action, because of how stories develop in my head--through that character's eyes and experiences. My character filters the world and words I'm writing. I've never tried a narrator-type piece, where the narrator isn't involved in the action--but it miht be interesting!
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?
Tamora Pierce's stories are among my favorites, probably because the narrative voices and female characters are so strong. Even when her characters have special powers or abilities, they have emotional reactions and weaknesses I relate to, and that comes through each sentence and paragraph when they're speaking.
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?
With first-person present, readers have as much access to my characters' thoughts as the character does, and usually only one character. This makes the stories as engaging and strong as the character, but also means that the reader will have the characters' blind spots. Even though readers know everything the characters know, they still don't know everything--because people are limited in what they see, hear, and understand.
To what extent does the narrative style of novels you read have an impact on why you read them, and why?
I usually read a sample and see if the voice/story/situation engages me, so narrative voice often determines whether or not I keep reading--and definitely whether or not I buy the book!
Author website: http://www.susanvaught.com/
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