Choosing Voice and Tense

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Submitted by admin on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 19:32

Choosing your voice and tense
Voice and tense carry a lot of weight in storytelling.  Though the choices are largely subjective to the writer and the story they are attempting to tall, there is one requirement all stories must contain: consistency.  Typically, most stories are told from a first or third person perspective, differing in whether the voice of the narrator is the protagonist or another character within the same world.  Sometimes the third person perspective is omnicient, meaning the narrator knows everything about the character, setting, events, etc...  There are clear boundaries between the two that require teh narrator's view of the world remains consistent: a first and third person narrator's knowledge base is limited to their direct experiences and writing a third person omnicient viewpoint makes it difficult to keep secrets from the narrator.

Combined with this is a sense of whether the story is being told in the present tense, as it unfolds, or the past tense, with the narrator looking back.  This adds another unique fold into the storytelling, with a new set of limitatinos.  Telling a narrative in the past tense means the narrator, who might be telling it from after events have occured, knows the outcome.  This requires a careful weaving of what the narrator tells the audience as you progress.  Present tense can be easier, as the audience gets information at nearly the same time the character gets the information.

The combination of voice and tense are yours to choose and even mix, if you mix them with forethought and planning.  Mostly, you want to focus on remaining consistent and, given the length of most RT stories, you won't mix them very much.  There are several excellent articles on this topic, I suggest you read them all until you have a firm grasp of how these influence your writing styles.