There are three main persons that you can use in storytelling:
- First Person – ‘I did, I do, I will do’
- Second Person – ‘You did, You do, You will do’
- Third Person – ‘He did, she does, they will do’
There are three main tenses that you can use in storytelling:
- Past Tense – ‘did, saw, heard, smelt, touched, tasted’
- Present Tense – ‘do, see, hear, smell, touch, taste’
- Future Tense – ‘will do, will see, will hear, will smell, will touch, will taste’
These are just a couple of the first tools you have to pick to tell your story. Of course, you may find yourself changing the arrangement as you redraft and learn how it should be told.
The combinations of tenses and persons add some surprising characteristics to writing. Here are just a few that I’ve noticed:
- Third Person, Past Tense – Old faithful. Writing this way allows you to follow your characters without being restricted to their personal view. It also connects with the reason why we have told stories for centuries, to present the past in a way that teaches us how to better deal with the present. It can work in short and long fiction plus poetry, though the style of omniscient narration can make or break the plot (e.g. Along Came a Spider by James Patterson etc)
- First Person, Present Tense – The new kid. Writing this way gives a greater immediacy to the plot, which is excellent for suspense and mystery. It also lets us experience a character’s view as closely as possible, and more believably demonstrates their thought process. It can work in short and long fiction plus poetry, though a variety of narrators is recommended for novels to keep things fresh (e.g. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins etc)
- Second Person, Future Tense – The risky show-off. Writing this way establishes a commanding tone and suggests that free will is an illusion that extends to us as readers. It generally works better with short fiction as full novels can become weighed down by the novelty. That being said there are full book exceptions (e.g. Warlock of Firetop Mountain by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson and If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino)
Some authors have managed to apply two or more of these combinations in the same narrative though it can be a tricky balance to strike. Generally speaking, it’s best to have good practice with all forms at some point, even the second person and future tense.
Another aspect of storytelling to think about is the scope of the person. Generally speaking, if writing in the third person, an omniscient (all-seeing) author allows you to show everything that is going on regardless of where characters are and what they actually know. You can apply an omniscient narrator to first person though this changes the nature of the plot to something more cosmic and/or ethereal in scale. Weirdly, applying an omniscient narrator to the second person can work better as how else would the narrator know what you are doing or will do?
Meanwhile narration which is limited to individual characters such as the protagonist or a witness means you can make the reader feel closer to the plot as it unfurls. However, individual narrators can often be too restrictive for the third person.
Finally there is another tool you can use for your storytelling, which is the reliability of the narrator. Often a third person omniscient narrator will be deemed reliable though you could technically try to make them unreliable (e.g. noticeable corruption in an all-seeing computer’s feed). As for first, second and third person narrators inhabiting the story and limited to what they witness, unreliability is inevitable and can certainly make things interesting. You can try to make these narrators reliable though readers will quickly doubt that they actually know how other characters think (unless they’re telepaths) and know for a fact where they go when they leave (unless the two are bonded like twins).
The Workshop
- We all have written in the third person and some have written in the first person. Write in the second person (‘you’) for ten minutes. This can be prose or poetry and you don’t have to share the results at the end unless you’re keen to compare notes.
- We’re all experienced with past tense and even present tense writing. Write in the future tense for ten minutes. Again, this can be prose or poetry and you’re not expected to share the outcome unless you find it interesting.
- If you prefer writing omniscient narrators, write in the perspective of a limited narrator for ten minutes and make them as reliable as possible. If you prefer writing limited narrators, write in the perspective of an omniscient narrator for ten minutes and make them as unreliable as possible.
- For another ten to fifteen minutes write a combination of any of the above. You can play with an unreliable second person omniscient narrator or go mad and try writing a reliable second person limited narrator in the future tense. Or you can do neither. This is a free write so the choice is yours.
By writing in the most awkward versions of narrative voice, you will now hopefully have a greater appreciation of why and how first and third person are so popular and why we only stick to the past and present tense. Or maybe you’ve discovered a new passion for the second person and future tense. You will see…
Owen Townend – February 2024
Huddersfield Authors Circle 
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