...what kind of perspective would you use? Would you have the character just do a first person narrative overview of events past, those that led him into the 'current' situation?
It depends on how you are narrating the rest. If it's in third person the rest of the way through then unless the flashback is being recounted by a character rather than the narrator, there's no reason to change. Likewise with first person--if the rest of the novel is in first person, you wouldn't jump to third person suddenly. The important thing is to distinguish between the narrative voice and the character's voice. If you remember to do that, it will be obvious which way is the right way to do it.
Stick with whatever perspective you were using until then, or plan to use afterward. There's no need, or reason, to change perspective for a flashback. First-person stories will have first-person flashbacks, third-person stories will have third-person flashbacks, etc.
good advice. thanks guys. I've given it some hard thought and I think I'm going to shoot for a First Person Narrative by one of my two major characters. Character A, experiences his 'current' situation in First Person. He is the one who had just experienced his story, and tells it to Character B in a First Person Narrative chronicling his part in the larger narrative that brought him to the 'current' situation. And then uses a Third person narrative to shed light on the relatively new info revealed to him by the actions of other characters and how their agendas effected his fate. And then when it is Character B's turn to recount his tale, Character A Tells B's story in Third Person to the reader. I know this sounds a little difficult to tackle for an inexperienced writer like myself, but I have great enthusiasm for this story, and think that this way it would be told most effectively.
I highly recommend that you avoid mixing first and third person perspective in the same story. You can certainly do it, but what do you stand to gain? Just go with third person and shift the POV from Character A to Character B when appropriate. The transition will be seamless and the reader won't end up feeling jarred by a POV shift and a perspective shift.
Thanks for the advice. really. It makes perfect sense. But what I have in mind might add a very interesting dynamic to the way the both major characters' stories are presented. Although, I think that it's prolly too early for me to think about this right now. Gotta get the characters in order, and place them into the plot outline first. Once I get to start o actually writing the narrative, I think I'll either through trial and error, or instinctively, learn what type of narrative serves this story best.
No one can tell you what perspective to write something in, but I would stick with third person unless: a) Your narrators have strong inner voices that deserve to be heard frequently throughout the story. b) You want to directly talk to the reader at some point. c) You have a hard time getting the intimacy you desire in third person. If none of those apply, going with first person doesn't make much sense. You can still do it, of course, but why would you want to? Just something to think about. Whatever you decide, best of luck to you.
