A Question of Voice

Hello all!

Thank you once again for stopping by! Today I figured I’d share a bit on the current conundrum I find wriggling its way through my mind. I’m in the earliest process of planning my next work in progress (WIP). I’m branching into multiple new genres (Science-Fiction, Young Adult, and Romance) and I’m not really sure of the best voicing for the story.

For those who aren’t familiar with the generally used narrative voices, they are as follows:

• 3rd Person (Omniscient/Semi-Omniscient) – The narrator in this voice has a distant quality, and is capable of moving around scenes much like a camera would in a movie. Depending on the limitations placed upon that camera, it can either be incredibly distant, viewing the scene without a direct connection to any particular character (omniscient), or can ride along as though it was over the character’s shoulder (semi-omniscient). The ladder option provides limited access into a character’s thoughts, but more-so than the former.
• 1st Person Past-Tense – From this perspective, the narrator recounts a story from their past to you. It often reads as though the narrator is telling a tale, but that may not always be exactly the case. You get direct access to their thoughts at that time, but the scope of the story is limited to specifically what that character observed or thought about.
• 1st Person Present-Tense – This perspective is very similar to the one above, but the events are relayed to the reader as they occur. It is the most immediate of the listed viewpoints, but also the most limited in its understanding of any particular occurrence. There is limited ability to relay more than what the reader observed except through internal dialogue after the fact as the character thinks through what (s)he’s observed.

Most of the stories I’ve written, as well as most of the stories I’ve read, have been written from third-person, semi-omniscient, perspective. I feel most comfortable with that tone of narrative voice. It is fun to follow multiple characters and have the option to navigate the camera across perspectives, revealing what aspects of the plot I’d like, and just as easily concealing others. The perspective transition between characters also allows for good, short-term, cliff-hangers.

The unfortunate truth I face now is that my upcoming story has only one viewpoint character. If I wanted, I could still write from a Third Person Semi-Omniscient perspective, similar to “Harry Potter” but I don’t feel that is the best path for this narrative.  I know I’m going to write it in first person, I just don’t know if it’ll be past or present-tense. The decision is difficult for me as I’m unfamiliar with both styles for the most part. On the past-tense side, I’ve read such awesome entries as “The Dresden Files”, but I’ve not read anything that uses a present-tense perspective. (In fact, I tend to close a book immediately when I find it’s written in that voice.) This needs to be remedied.

Enter both “Divergent” and “The Hunger Games”. I’m going to try to write Young Adult Sci-Fi, should I not read some of the most familiar entries in the genre?

Exactly, there’s no reason not to. (You’re smart!)

You can read my updates on “The Hunger Games” from my Goodreads profile! I’ll catch you all there!