The voice

The creative voice is just as famous in fiction writing as it is in music, though not in the same way. Everyone who has taken a creative writing course or read a lot of books knows about this. It seems to be one of those strange phenomena: once you know it, you just get it. However, it remains a traditional mystery of the written word and the creative art of novelists and writers of short stories.

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What most creative writing students want to know about ‘voice’ is how to imbue their written work with one, and even more deeply how to develop their own and how to share it with others. For some reason, it doesn’t seem as easy as with the spoken word and normal voice.

Many journalists are also forced to use a voice other than their own when they begin their writing careers, and, in truth, many ghostwriters learn to imitate the written voice of others rather than perfect their own.

One reason is that the art of the written word is similar to that of painting in that “imitating the Masters” is one of the best ways to develop skills in the field. Musicians know it too: learn to play the music of the great composers to achieve excellence in skill with your instrument.

As an exercise, describe yourself, a pet, or a friend. Write it from your own perspective, then try at least 2 other perspectives. See how it is the same and how it becomes different. Once you write them all down and reread them, if you can, feel free to share and get feedback from others in a forum or in person.

Creativity versus skill

The reality is that some people find it easier or more natural to be creative, while others feel much more comfortable honing their skills at something, but feel a little flummoxed if asked to be creative. This is true in numerous fields, and the arts are no exception.

narrative voice

The skill is always useful and should generally be considered mandatory. The best way to achieve this, in addition to copying the greats of literature, is to practice. Students are encouraged to try to write in a way that feels natural, but also experiment with what doesn’t. Success can be surprising. There is no reason to suppose that Arthur Conan Doyle planned to have Dr. Watson, also a character in the stories, narrate the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, and yet one of the reasons for the success of those tales is exactly that: a narrator. with so much character, who appears in the stories as a character! I have even heard of a lady who has had much greater financial success as soon as she started using the imaginary voice of her dog as a narrator. Note that in both cases, the “single voice of the author” is not the narrator, but there is a narrative voice as part of the entire work. It can be a bit confusing for those trying creative writing; it’s a bit like “levels of the mind”: the author, then the narrator, then any character or characters.

POV (point of view) narrative

First-person narration is when the story or novel is written from the subjective perspective of the main character. Normally, there should be no resemblance or only the vaguest or most oblique relationship between the subjective point of view of the character and the author. In this case, the author has no choice but to understand the main character and limit the communication to that perspective.

The third-person narrative is more of a “fly off the wall” type of perspective. This point of view can be very objective, or even remotely so. This is the place where an author has to decide on how to come up with a narrative voice. Narrators can range from wanting to lay low, more of a “window into the story” approach, to the other extreme of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, where the narrator is actually Sherlock Holmes’ companion and has a role. very active. in the stories

Third person omniscient. This is a kind of narrative position that allows the written work of stories and novels to be different from most television, film, and drama writing. In this type of narrative, the author reads the characters’ minds at will and can share that information with the reader. The written form is particularly well suited to this, as is conversation between people in everyday life.

So, how to learn to write with a narrative voice in fiction. Experimentation can be of great help. The greatest adepts of creative writing can change their narrative voices to fit the genre, the project, the context, and yet they can also somehow make fans absolutely sure who the author was and how distinctive they are. he or she actually, as a literary artist.

The best type of storytelling may vary from story to story. Whether a book flies or flops may well depend on what narrative device is applied.