The more stories I write, the more time I spend thinking of how to tell them. That is, how do I tell a story in a way that makes the most impact?

Present tense?

Jacob picks up the photo.

Past tense?

Jacob picked up the photo.

First person?

It was on the evening of October 12th that my friend, Sherlock Holmes, first spoke to me about his addiction.

Third person?

It was on the evening of October 12th that Sherlock Holmes first spoke to his friend, John Watson, about his addiction.

Naturally, there’s nothing inherently wrong with any of these. Writers and readers may have personal preferences. Some techniques may be currently fashionable in the writing community, some less so.

As a reader, I don’t like stories written in the present tense. They grate on me. Don’t ask why, they just do. So, for no other reason than that, I don’t write stories in the present tense.

As for first person versus third person, that’s a tough one. I have a nostalgic fondness for Victorian and early 20th Century fiction written in the first person. Arthur Conan Doyle is a great example. By writing the Sherlock Holmes stories from Watson’s point of view, and in his voice, we are forced to imagine, rather than know, what it is that’s really going on in Holmes’ head.

Mind you, that doesn’t always work. I think the Hunger Games books suffered from limiting themselves to Katniss Everdeen’s point of view. That’s one of the reasons I find the movies superior.

Which brings us to another point: that in some way, the most effective storytelling technique depends on the story itself. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could plug the attributes of a story into a formula, and out popped the optimal narrative mode?

I started down this path recently, wondering about storytelling technique, because of the Firefly fanfic I’m currently writing. It concerns how characters Wash and Zoe, who initially disliked each other (we know from canon that Zoe initially disliked Wash; I assume the feeling was mutual), came to fall in love. Having finished the initial draft, it seemed that something was missing. I finally realized that the story needed something to frame it, to give it context. So, we start and finish with Zoe reminiscing about their relationship after the events in the movie, Serenity.

That made all the difference, I think. As to why that’s the case, I’m not sure. Wish I knew.

What’s your favourite storytelling technique?