Narrative Points of View
You've got a story to tell, so from whose point of view do you tell it? In my young days, I was all about first-person. I did this, I did that. My eyes were open to the power of different narrative techniques in first-year University when I read Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. Stream of consciousness is extremely powerful and Faulkner masters it in this novel. I used the multiple-narrative technique in my first two unpublished book-length works, so that the reader understands the feelings and experiences of each of the characters involved. Now, I'm interested in epic-style writing, which deals with the hero's struggles and triumphs. First-person is effective in epics, because you learn how the narrator changes and grows as the journey develops. I keep these narrative techniques in mind when I sit down to write.
First Person: I say first-person works great in Memoir, such as Barney's Version. You get right into Barney's head, and can feel his passion for the other characters. Also, his dominant narrative bias forces you to question the legitimacy of the other characters.
Second Person: This technique works well for odes. You are sitting beside the main character and relay his or her actions to the reader. I used this in Reading our Contemporaries, where one character explains to the reader how her friend dropped out of class.
Third Person: Sometimes I don't like this technique, because it creates a certain distance between narrator and subject, but it can be effective. The technique implies that the narrator has a certain mastery over the subject. Still love Leacock's Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town. The narrator in "The Whirlwind Campaign" is laughing at the image of the event being created by the characters meeting over fishing, poker and scotch.
Stream of Consciousness: All my attempts to write stream of consciousness turn to multiple-narrative. I'd use this technique to illustrate the team's feelings as they were playing basketball. The reader sees the changes in voice, subconsciously and not abrupt as in multiple-narrative, as the story develops.
Multiple Narrative: I used this technique in my first two unpublished works. In my case, I wanted each of the characters to narrate their experiences with and feelings for the others.
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