Crawford Kilian

Editorial Commentator
The editorial commentator persona has a distinct attitude toward the story’s characters and events, and frequently comments on them

This was the approach I took in Lifter, my only SF novel written in first person,

If you and your characters don’t seem to give a damn if someone gets killed, why should readers care? And if readers don’t care, why should they read your story?

Verb tense can also affect the narrative style of the story. Most stories use the past tense: I knocked on the door. She pulled out her dagger.

This is usually quite adequate although flashbacks can cause awkwardness: I had knocked on the door. She had pulled out her dagger. A little of that goes a long way.

writers achieve a kind of immediacy through use of the present tense: I knock on the door. She pulls out her dagger.

don’t enjoy the present tense, s

I used present tense in my first novel, The Empire of Time, thinking it gave some sort of immediacy to the story. Instead it only delayed my editor’s decision to buy it, and the offer was contingent on switching to past tense. I switched. And I’ve never switched back.

made me finally get a grip on my writing.

“He’s telling, not showing,” she said.

I knew she was absolutely right. I sat down and rewrote Icequake, and the new version sold.