Writing Fiction – Finding a Narrative Voice

I think that, for many writers, it’s easy to default to their own voice when writing fiction. It’s familiar and it’s comfortable. I’m guilty of it myself. But I’ve found that it’s far more interesting to find a narrative voice that fits the story you’re telling. It makes the stories unique by varying their rhythm and keeps the readers interested.

All writers have their own voice and style, but great writers know how to adjust to meet the needs of the story. Look at some of the popular and award-winning writers – Philip Roth, Stephen King, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Kurt Vonnegut, Shirley Jackson – and you know when you’re reading one of their stories because you recognize their style. But if you pay attention you’ll see that they often change the narrative voice. Sometimes it’s subtle, sometimes obvious, but it’s definitely there.

The way I try to achieve this is to look at my stories from another set of eyes. This might be the eyes and voice of the main character, or if in third-person, an observer, the unnamed storyteller. In a way, it’s kind of fun to imagine someone telling me the story. It’s like a creative exercise. And by doing this, I can have the storyteller be any gender, ethnicity, education level, etc. The voice can always be a little bit different. Yet, in the end, it’s still me in the background.

Does it always work out? No, but it’s still worth the try. It’s just like drafting a story. The first draft is always going to be crap. During the rewrite process it may change direction, scope, go from being a fantasy story to science fiction. That’s the magic of writing fiction, I’m never exactly sure where a story is going to take me, where it’s going to end up, or what the narrative voice may end up being.

Do you always use your same voice when writing, or does it change to fit the story?

RB