The Craft of Fiction, Part Four

Who is telling the story you are writing? It's an important choice because it dictates what kind of information the narrator knows, and it reveals the window through which you must tell your story to your readers.

 

Will your story be told in the first person? For instance:

I had a little lamb, who followed me to school one day. I didn't have time to take my lamb back home and I thought I could just tie him up between the hedges until recess. Most of the other kids tried to help me keep it a secret from the teachers, but I knew that if Jack Pratt found out, he would try to get me in trouble.

Perhaps you'll tell it in the second person:

You have a little lamb, who followed you to school. You think to tie the lamb up between the hedges until you can take it back home at recess. You see your classmate Jack Pratt sizing things up. You know he's going to make trouble.

Or maybe you will tell the story in the third person limited where the narrator can tell the story only through one character's eyes:

Mary had a little lamb, who followed her to school one day. Embarrassed, she tried to hide the lamb between the hedges, but the smirk on Jack's face told her that her secret wasn't going to stay secret for long.

There's another choice. You can tell the story in the third person omniscient. This way the . . .

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