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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, 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 omniscient, meaning the narrator knows everything about the character, setting, events, etc...  There are clear boundaries between the two that require the 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 omniscient viewpoint makes it difficult to keep secrets from the narrator.

Combined with this is a sense of whether the story is being told as it unfolds in the present (tense) or in the past (tense), with the narrator looking back.  This adds another unique fold into the storytelling, with a new set of limitations.  Telling a narrative in the past tense means the narrator, who might be telling it after all events have occurred, 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 receives or figures out new 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 probably won't mix them very much.  There are several excellent articles on this topic, I suggest you read them and do further research until you have a firm grasp of how these influence your writing styles.