While working on ‘Z’ yesterday I found myself able to articulate a challenge I suspect many long-fiction writers face.
I have worked out the major events in each of fourteen characters’ lifetimes from birth to the present day. The narrative is told in the present tense. The omnipotent narrator knows all of this history of course, and so the challenges faced are as follows:
1 – how much of the character’s past do I need to show in flashback vs.that which is narrated?
2 – when are certain events from the past – ones that clearly influence a character’s present – revealed to the reader? Do it too soon and you loose tension and surprise, don’t reveal enough and a character’s behaviour might seen unrealistic.
3 – is there any justification for the narrator to not tell the truth i.e. to deliberately lie to the reader?
My narrator in this books is turning out to be deliberately opinionated with their own views on the characters, which is putting an interesting spin on the manner or some disclosures, especially in relation to #3. And, come to think of it in #1 too; namely in the way history is presented.
I think it is playing with narrative voice which makes the current draft feel less like simply ‘turning the handle’ than I thought it might. How you tell the story is am important as the story itself?
More juggling with #1, #2 and #3 then today…
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Ian Gouge - Writer 