Storytelling 103
There are many points of view an author can tell the story from. what works best for the genre?
most of the romance novels i've read are third person, because there is another part of the plot that the heroine doesn't see, sometimes another part of the hero's life that she only finds out about later. But the reader will need to know this information, because it is part of the other plot.
most PI/mystery novels are first person, from the PI's viewpoint. Robert B. Parker, Janet Evanovich, Kim Harrison, Sue Grafton, and Sara Paretsky - to name a few - write this way. in a sense it's more limited, and the narrator of the story doesn't know what's going to happen until it actually does. you're right there with the narrator, along for the ride, finding things out as the narrator does.
an observation here: it seems a lot of fanfiction -- especially Supernatural -- is written in the present tense. this is another way of conveying to the reader that the story is happening right now. a First-Person Present Tense fic will put you right there in the story -- whether it's a published novel, fanfic... or tv show.
you could interpret a TV show as being in the here and now - even though it was filmed months ago, it's on our tv and happening right now. granted, someone somewhere will be able to tell you what's going to happen, but that's in the future, not the here and now.
but at a moment in time, in a weird, lurid, Frontierland-landscape, one brother clutches his younger brother -- the younger one had been stabbed in the back in a twisted "Survivor"-style game directed by a Demon. who could know what the older brother would do? in that moment, one brother was dead; the other was grieving. what would tomorrow hold? the POV is now from the older brother's view -- we don't know what he's going to do until he does something.
in another moment in time, the younger brother is now stuck in a time loop, watching his older brother die over and over again....and once that time loops is broken? the older brother dies at the hand of a mugger. there is no time-loop do-over. now, the younger brother's mission is to find the one responsible and make him fix it. but while he frantically searches, devoting his every waking moment to the search, he knows there is a way out, a chance for that do-over. but what if he lives his entire life before finding it? the POV is now from the younger's view -- we don't know what he's going to do until he does it.
and in the most recent moment in time, the older brother is gone, his debt paid to the Demon holding his soul, and the younger one is left behind. knowing there's no diety to bring his older brother back, no do-over this time, the younger brother remembers what those six months were like, and maybe resolves to do things differently while looking for a way to save his brother -- his only family left -- from The Pit. maybe this time there is no coming back -- you can only cheat Death so many times. maybe this time, the younger brother will realise there is no way to bring his brother back, and move on with his life. or maybe he won't give up, and become the hardened hunter he was once before. and once again, we're seeing it from the younger brother's point of view -- we don't know -- won't know -- can't know -- what's going to happen until it actually does happen.
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most of the romance novels i've read are third person, because there is another part of the plot that the heroine doesn't see, sometimes another part of the hero's life that she only finds out about later. But the reader will need to know this information, because it is part of the other plot.
most PI/mystery novels are first person, from the PI's viewpoint. Robert B. Parker, Janet Evanovich, Kim Harrison, Sue Grafton, and Sara Paretsky - to name a few - write this way. in a sense it's more limited, and the narrator of the story doesn't know what's going to happen until it actually does. you're right there with the narrator, along for the ride, finding things out as the narrator does.
an observation here: it seems a lot of fanfiction -- especially Supernatural -- is written in the present tense. this is another way of conveying to the reader that the story is happening right now. a First-Person Present Tense fic will put you right there in the story -- whether it's a published novel, fanfic... or tv show.
you could interpret a TV show as being in the here and now - even though it was filmed months ago, it's on our tv and happening right now. granted, someone somewhere will be able to tell you what's going to happen, but that's in the future, not the here and now.
but at a moment in time, in a weird, lurid, Frontierland-landscape, one brother clutches his younger brother -- the younger one had been stabbed in the back in a twisted "Survivor"-style game directed by a Demon. who could know what the older brother would do? in that moment, one brother was dead; the other was grieving. what would tomorrow hold? the POV is now from the older brother's view -- we don't know what he's going to do until he does something.
in another moment in time, the younger brother is now stuck in a time loop, watching his older brother die over and over again....and once that time loops is broken? the older brother dies at the hand of a mugger. there is no time-loop do-over. now, the younger brother's mission is to find the one responsible and make him fix it. but while he frantically searches, devoting his every waking moment to the search, he knows there is a way out, a chance for that do-over. but what if he lives his entire life before finding it? the POV is now from the younger's view -- we don't know what he's going to do until he does it.
and in the most recent moment in time, the older brother is gone, his debt paid to the Demon holding his soul, and the younger one is left behind. knowing there's no diety to bring his older brother back, no do-over this time, the younger brother remembers what those six months were like, and maybe resolves to do things differently while looking for a way to save his brother -- his only family left -- from The Pit. maybe this time there is no coming back -- you can only cheat Death so many times. maybe this time, the younger brother will realise there is no way to bring his brother back, and move on with his life. or maybe he won't give up, and become the hardened hunter he was once before. and once again, we're seeing it from the younger brother's point of view -- we don't know -- won't know -- can't know -- what's going to happen until it actually does happen.
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