Narrative Voice.pdf

Narrative Voice The term "voice" in fiction writing has two very different meanings:  

Voice is the author's style, the quality that makes his or her writing unique, and which conveys the author's attitude, personality, and character; or Voice is the characteristic speech and thought patterns of the narrator of a work of fiction. Because voice has so much to do with the reader's experience of a work of literature, it is one of the most important elements of a piece of writing.

The Author's Voice Your tone, choice of words, choice of content, and even punctuation make up your authorial voice. The author's voice is usually fairly consistent, particularly in third person narratives. As a result, it is usually possible to identify the author simply by reading a selection of his or her work. For example, the following is an excerpt from Charles Dickens' famous story. Notice that Dickens talks to the reader as if the reader could respond ("let any man explain to me..."), and is practical and even a little humorous in his description. He is also characteristically wordy:

The Character's Voice Every person has his/her way of putting together words, phrases, and ideas. These elements make up the person's "voice." Some people are authoritative; others are pompous, funny, chatty, warm, or a combination of different qualities to make up a single complex personality. Authors must find a "voice" for each of their characters that are believable, appropriate, and consistent. In addition to being a master of narrative voice, Dickens was also highly regarded as being a writer who could create memorable character voices. One of Dickens' most famous characters was Uriah Heep from David Copperfield. Heep was a nasty character who called himself "'umble" (humble), but while he pretended to be humble and unambitious he had a scheme in mind for bettering himself: "'When I was quite a young boy,' said Uriah, 'I got to know what umbleness did, and I took to it. I ate umble pie with an appetite. I stopped at the umble point of my learning, and says I, "Hard hard!" When you offered to teach me Latin, I knew better. "People like to be above you," says father, "keep yourself down." I am very umble to the present moment, Master Copperfield, but I've got a little power!'"