Alex Bledsoe - Author Interview: Narrative Style

Which narrative point of view (first person, second person or third person) do you use most in your fiction, or do you often use different points of view for different stories, and why?

I use first-person in my Eddie LaCrosse fantasy/mystery novels for a couple of reasons. One, it’s a mystery genre convention, and the best way to subvert those is to first embrace them. Two, I enjoy writing in the character’s voice, showing the readers only what he knows, and allowing his observations to color the reader’s opinion. We see the world through his perceptions, and since he’s our only point of view, we have to share it.

I use third person in my other two novel series. The advantage to this is that you expose the reader to multiple views of the same people and events, and allow them to comprehend all the characters from the inside.

Do you use present tense or past tense most in your fiction, or do you often switch tense for different stories, and why?

I’ve done that in some short stories, where I’ve been more experimental, style-wise. But my novels are pretty straightforward technically. I pick a voice, I pick a tense, and I stick with it.

Pick one of your published stories. What combination of point of view and tense did you use for this story, and why?

My most recent novel, “The Hum and the Shiver,” is in third-person and jumps among several characters. There are three major characters, but if I need to devote a scene to a minor character, I have no problem digging into their heads as well. The reason is always clarity: making sure the reader understands why the characters do what they do, and hopefully allowing the reader to see a little of themselves in even the worst character.

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 Hum and the Shiver” takes place in the American South. I’m a native, so the speech patterns come naturally to me. Conveying them is trickier, though, because the last thing you want to do is write in vernacular. I try to do it through word choice and rhythm, which I think works pretty well.

Did you tell this story with one narrator or multiple narrators, and why?

Multiple narrators, because I wanted the reader to empathize with all the characters as well as experience the society as much as the story.

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 storyworld, and why?

The main character/narrator is luckily (for the story) in a position of being simultaneously an insider and outsider. She left home deliberately, and now she’s coming back damaged; she has to relearn some things and reconnect with her former friends and family. That allows me to “introduce” things to the reader without having to break from the narrative voice.

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?

“Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad is a terrific use of perspective and narration. The story is told by a nameless narrator who relates the first-person narrative of Marlowe, the main character. Since the nature of perceived truth is one of the themes, this is brilliant.

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 do, because I feel that if you don’t do that, then there’s no point in relating the character’s actions.

To what extent does the narrative style of novels you read have an impact on why you read them, and why?

That’s hard to say. I love mysteries, so it seems only natural to embrace their first-person style when I began my own fantasy/mystery series. But at the same time, I get annoyed by narrative styles that draw attention to themselves, and have no plans to emulate them. For example, a book in second person, like “Bright Lights, Big City,” is trying to impose depth and meaning on a story that doesn’t have much on its own, and I think that’s true of most narrative tricks. If you’ve got a solid story, get out of its way as much as you can and the narrative style will take care of itself.

Author website: http://www.alexbledsoe.com/



Susan Vaught - Author Interview: Narrative Style

Which narrative point of view (first person, second person or third person) do you use most in your fiction, or do you often use different points of view for different stories, and why?

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/



Vicki Delany - Author Interview: Narrative Style

Which narrative point of view (first person, second person or third person) do you use most in your fiction, or do you often use different points of view for different stories, and why?

I write three completely different styles and sub-genres of crime fiction, and the narrative style varies depending on what suits the book. The Constable Molly Smith books (From Poisoned Pen Press) are in the style of the traditional police procedural/village format. A multi-person, third-person POV works best, I think, to show the situation from many angles and how individual characters are responding to the situation.

The Klondike Gold Rush books (From Dundurn Press) are primarily first person, as they are quite light-hearted. It’s much easier to write comedy in first person – you can poke fun at your protagonist without appearing to be mean-spirited. The protagonist in these books is intended to be somewhat, shall we say, confident in her abilities, so I think she might be a bit over-bearing if presented in third person. On the other hand, because of the time and the setting of the books, I needed another character’s POV to go to places that a woman of the times would not. So the character of her 12 year old son and the NWMP officer are in third person.

My newest standalone, More than Sorrow, is one person, first person POV, because I am attempting to achieve an intimacy between the reader and the character.

Do you use present tense or past tense most in your fiction, or do you often switch tense for different stories, and why?

I always use past tense. I find present tense very rarely works in fiction.

Pick one of your published stories. What combination of point of view and tense did you use for this story, and why?

I’ll pick my forthcoming book, More Than Sorrow (Poisoned Pen Press, Sept 2012). The main part of this book is almost exclusively first person POV, past tense. The book is standalone suspense, a modern Gothic. I am hoping to achieve an intimacy between the reader and the character. The character is a journalist wounded in an IED explosion in Afghanistan attempting to recover at her sister’s organic vegetable farm. She suffers from TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) and her injury is central to the story and to the character’s actions and development. I never considered telling it in anything but first person, because first person is the best medium to give the reader a glimpse into what is happening inside the woman’s damaged brain, and her attempts to deal with it.

I said ‘almost exclusively’ because there are a couple of very short passages in which we see Hannah Manning, the protagonist, as others see her. Damaged and struggling.

There are, however, flashbacks in this book to a Loyalist woman, a refugee from the American Revolution. This story is told in third person, deliberately to avoid confusion with the main story.

As in all of my writing, the tense is past tense. As a reader, I find that present tense unless done extremely well, can be off-putting and have an air of unnaturalness about it.

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 character in this book is a modern middle-class Canadian woman, same as me. Her speech and vocabulary is therefore very similar to mine. I have written books where the narration is historical or for someone much younger than me, so it was a relief not to have to worry about the character’s speech patterns or words. In the flashback sequences, the narration is slightly more formal than I would use, as the character is a well-educated, upper-class woman of the 18th century. Care needs to be taken that the language is formal but not so stilted or proper as to be off-putting to the modern reader.

Did you tell this story with one narrator or multiple narrators, and why?

In this book there are two narrators for each section of the book (18th century and contemporary). That, I believe, leads to an emotional intimacy between the character and the readers that is difficult to achieve if other characters keep popping up.

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 storyworld, and why?

The narrator(s) is the central character. We see all of the action and all of the other characters exclusively through her eyes. Again, this was necessary to achieve a strong degree of emotional intimacy. The reader (I hope) can really feel this woman’s pain and her terror that she will never get 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?

In all of my books, whatever type, I provide direct access to the thoughts of the POV character at the moment. Whether it’s Molly Smith worrying that she’ll never make a good cop, or Fiona MacGillivray reflecting on her tumultuous past, or any one of my other characters worried that they’re making a mistake, or even what to make for dinner, I believe that the most important action of fiction is to give a glimpse into another person’s mind.

To what extent does the narrative style of novels you read have an impact on why you read them, and why?

Narrative style is critical. I don’t usually read a book for the action or the dialogue, but for the characters and what they have to say.

Authore website: http://www.vickidelany.com/



Darren Groth - Author Interview: Narrative Style

Which narrative point of view (first person, second person or third person) do you use most in your fiction, or do you often use different points of view for different stories, and why?

I use different POVs. The story tends to let me know who should have a narrative voice. Sometimes the characters are pretty insistent, too.

Do you use present tense or past tense most in your fiction, or do you often switch tense for different stories, and why?

Tense is also dependent upon the story and the sort of emotional experiences you want to deliver to the reader.

Pick one of your published stories. What combination of point of view and tense did you use for this story, and why?

My 2010 novel 'Kindling' was told in the present tense, using the POV of father and son. Due to the nature of the tale - a runaway child with parent in pursuit and the spectre of a bushfire - present tense was the best choice. It lent the narrative immediacy and emphasised every moment for the reader. The dual POV permitted the reader to meaningfully connect with the two protagonists and assisted in creating narrative tension.

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?

Vocab and speech for any story needs to be believable; if it isn't, you may lose the reader and fall short of the emotional pitch desired. In 'Kindling' the boy, Kieran, is autistic. It was essential his voice be authentic to my own experiences as an autism parent and to the vast readership with some similar measure of personal insight. At a narrative level, Kieran's walk and talk was in sharp contrast to his father, thus generating sympathy for the characters and contributing to the 'razor edge' demanded by the plot.

Did you tell this story with one narrator or multiple narrators, and why?

Father and son alternately narrated 'Kindling'. Both had tremendous responsibility in delivering the story's emotional quotient to the reader.

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?

The narrators were absolutely front and centre to, and of, the story. Their journeys needed to be told by them and as it happened.

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?

'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak is a great example of creative and accomplished narration. Entrusting the voice of the story to Death was a monumental challenge, but its success engineered a detachment and melancholy that was masterful. It also spawned a most unlikely emotional response in the reader: sympathy for the Reaper.

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?

Again, it is dependent on the story. I am yet to write a novel in which only one character's inner terrain is laid out for the reader. But I wouldn't ever rule it out.

To what extent does the narrative style of novels you read have an impact on why you read them, and why?

Good writing is good writing, good story is good story. Narrative style doesn't influence why I start reading a novel. It has a huge impact on whether I finish reading it, though.

Author website: www.darrengroth.com