| Okay, the next tip I have for you is narrative voice. As almost all writers (and readers) know, there are three main ways to narrate a story. First person, second person, and third person. However, there are different forms to each of these levels. I'll go over them here and try not to be boring and overly detailed. First Person- There are probably dozens of forms of first person narration, but I'm only going to go over five of them partly to save time and space, and partly because they're the most common ones I've seen and I read a lot. First person means that the author uses the terms "I" and "me" and stays in the character's personality through the story. It can be difficult sometimes. The method of narration you choose really depends on the character you've chosen to narrate. The first method is first person objective. In this form of narration, the narrator only says what people say and do but does not speak of their own feelings about the situation. This is best used if your character has a cold, uncaring personality. The second method is an observation narrator. This type of story is narrated by someone who is not taking part in the story. A good example of this would be the Uncle Remus stories, though those are fairly old. It would be like someone telling a scene they witnessed before an audience. Method number three is a diary or letter format. This one can be tricky becuase the author has to think in the personality of the person writing the diary or letter. It's just too easy to stop thinking as the character and start thinking of yourself in the middle of the story. Examples of this would be the Dear America stories or The Diary of Anne Frank. The fourth method is autobiographical. This can be a person telling their story just for the point of letting people know about their life, like Black Beauty, or it can be someone using the benefit of hindsight to help foreshadow the story a bit or let the reader know important details. Examples of the latter are A Separate Peace and Interview With the Vampire. The final method is the exact opposite of the first. In other words, you know exactly what the narrator is feeling throughout the story. Examples would be The Vampire Lestat, or any of the Psion books by Joan D. Vinge. The second type of narrative voice is second person. In second person, the author uses the word "you" to get the point across: "you opened the door." This point of view is rarely used because it is difficult to use effectively. An example would be the Alternamorphs books. The third type of narrative voice is third person, and is much more commonly used than the other two. I'm only going to go over two types: third person limited and third person omniscient. In the limited format, the reader only gets to see through the eyes of one character. This helps the reader know the character in question, but they don't get any real insight into the motives and thoughts of the other characters except by how the main character thinks of them. It can make things confusing to the reader sometimes. In the omnicient, or all-knowing, format the reader gets insight into all of the characters' thoughts. This format is great for stories with complex plots, but it makes it difficult for the reader to know which character to identify with. It's also the most writer-friendly format because the writer does not have to stay in the persona of one character all the time. I hope I didn't make this too long and difficult to understand. If you need help with this, or have any questions them feel free to email me. There's a link to my email at the castle, and one on the main page, and several others scattered around at random intervals. back |