Not wanting this to be a
lesson in English Grammar – I’m certainly not qualified to do that! However,
there are certain aspect of English grammar that writers need to be aware of
when writing fiction. Tense being one of them.
You need to decide what
tense you’re writing that particular story in. The tense being the form taken
by a verb to indicate the time of action. The major tenses basically are Past,
Present and Future. There are many more, but let’s stick to these main ones.
Writing in the Past
Tense is the most common and
versatile tense to use for your fiction writing. Here, the character, for
example: walked in, took off his coat and smiled.
The Present
Tense is another commonly used
tense, but I’d say much more difficult to sustain. Here, the character: walks
in, takes off his coat and smiles.
Should you attempt to
write an entire story in the Future Tense, that sentence would be along the lines of: you
walk in, take off your coat and smile.
Although in everyday life
we talk a great deal in the Future Tense, it doesn’t come naturally to write in that tense –
apart from dialogue: “I’ll do that, dear.” “Shall I drive?” The future
tense refers to a time ‘later than now’. As far as I know, there are very few
books – if any, written in the future tense. The reason being that the essence
of telling a story, is to relate things that are happening or have happened.
The whole tradition of storytelling goes back to distant times when our
ancestors sat around the campfires telling stories of things that had happened.
It’s not easy to tell a fictional story about something that hasn’t yet
happened. But don’t let me stop you!
Still on the subject of
tenses, we use Past Perfect or the Past Perfect Continuous when we write a
flashback: It had been a beautiful
summer… It’s feasible that we might want to use the Future Perfect or
Future Perfect Continuous in a scene where your character is daydreaming about
an event they hope, or dread will happen – maybe a premonition type of scene.
The great thing about
writing is that you can be adventurous. See what works for you. However, don’t
change the tense in your story unless it’s deliberate and to intentionally
create some kind of effect – don’t change it because you’ve made a mistake.
Understanding viewpoint
It’s really important to understand viewpoint. Viewpoint is through whose eyes, ears, thoughts and emotions the story is told. Be sure that you’re writing through the viewpoint of your main character – your protagonist. It is important that the conflict in the story affects this main character personally, so that the reader experiences all their joys and sorrows. If the reader fails to connect with this character they may not read on.
Your story or book may just have one viewpoint character (single viewpoint), or you may decide that you want some scenes or chapters told through the eyes and heart of another important character or characters (multi viewpoints). Either is fine but avoid head-hopping. Don’t jump willy-nilly from one character’s head to another. Give each viewpoint character their own scene or chapter. In your layout you could indicate a change of viewpoint by adding some extra white space between paragraphs. Make it clear at the start of the new scene that we are now in another character’s head.
Short stories tend to be single viewpoint – two at the most. Longer stories and novels could have multi viewpoint characters because the story is more complex. Be selective however, the reader doesn’t need to see the story through every character’s eyes.
There’s also the omniscient viewpoint, which is a kind of God-like approach that’s all seeing and all knowing. So, the reader gets to see what every character is thinking and feeling. However, unless you’re a very experienced writer – and the story warrants it, writing in this omniscient viewpoint can come across as amateurish. You are aiming for readers to connect with your main character and if you are constantly skipping from one character to another, the reader will not be able to identify with any of the characters and undoubtedly lose interest in the whole thing. If you decide on using everybody’s viewpoint, beware that it is the perfect way of making your story nobody’s.
Theme
To describe what is meant by the ‘theme’ of the story, I would describe this as being a simple sentence or two that sums up what your story is about. For example, it might be a rags to riches theme, or a love conquers all theme, or a revenge is sweet theme.
However, while other writers might disagree, I’d say that you shouldn’t worry too much if you don’t know the theme of your story. In my experience, very often the theme doesn’t become apparent until you’re halfway through or have even finished writing your story.
When you do finally understand the theme, then you can re-work to enhance that theme, making it stronger through the dialogue, narrative and description as you polish and edit.
Which Person to
write in?
You also
need to decide whether you’re writing in the 1st Person, 2nd
Person or 3rd Person viewpoints.
Writing in the First Person
Some stories work best when written in the 1st
Person. Here you write from the perspective of ‘I’. However, writing in the 1st
Person does not mean it’s you, the author, unless it’s autobiographical.
Otherwise, you need to create a fully rounded fictional protagonist.
Don’t think you can get away with not doing this,
just because the main character is referred to as I, me and my. There are no short-cuts to be gained by writing in the
1st Person. And exactly as when you’re writing in the 3rd
Person, the protagonist can’t know what’s going on in someone else’s thoughts,
so viewpoint rules still apply. Remember, no head-hopping
Writing in the Second Person
Writing in the second person it’s as if you
are talking to the reader and you would use the pronouns ‘you’ or ‘yours’.
Writing fictional stories in the 2nd Person although possible, is
not very popular amongst editors or even readers.
Yet, writing fiction from the 2nd
Person perspective could be just as intimate and engaging as if writing from
either of the other two perspectives. Maybe more so, if done well, as the
author is literally inviting the reader to feel and experience what’s going on
for themselves.
When writing non-fiction, particularly
articles and instructions, writing in the 2nd Person is the perfect
way of drawing the reader in to what you’re saying. E.g. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see your book on the
library shelves…
Writing in the Third Person
This is probably the most popular and easiest to
manage. Writing in the 3rd Person is when the protagonist is referred to by
name or by the pronouns: he, her, she, he, his, hers, they, theirs, them etc.
Exactly the same as if writing through the 1st Person, the story unfolds through their
eyes, emotions, actions, thoughts and feelings. You can get just as close
emotionally to the character whether you’re writing in the 1st or 3rd
Person.
Again, the viewpoint rules apply. When writing in
the 3rd Person (and 1st Person) you can only know what’s
going on in this character’s head. Your protagonist might surmise or guess what
other characters are thinking and feeling but won’t know for sure. So, don’t go
jumping into other character’s heads (head hopping).
Today’s Exercises:
·
Practice writing in the 1st
Person, as if the protagonist is the ‘I’ / ‘Me’ character. Write a short scene,
perhaps showing the character running for a bus or train or walking through the
park. Keep it simple as the emphasis is on getting the viewpoint of the 1st
Person correct. You will also need to decide whether you’re writing in the
Present Tense or Past Tense. See what feels most natural to you.
· Write another scene in the 3rd
Person, so the protagonist is referred to by name or he/she, his/her,
theirs/they etc. Again, you will need to decide whether to write in the Present
Tense or Past Tense. Your choice.
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