Successful writing: principles and practices

Successful Writing

What person and voice are used for narrative writing?

To answer the question what "person" and "voice" are used for narrative writing, a reader (and a writer) must first have a clear understanding of what is meant by these terms. In discussion narration, the question of what "person" is used by the author usually means whether a particular work is written, for example, in the persona of an 'I,' that is a first person limited perspective, or the persona of a "he" or "she," in the third person limited or omniscient perspective.

In the first-person limited perspective, or "voice," the reader is taken through the story through the eyes of a single 'I.' Thus, the reader's perspective is limited by the voice and vision of that 'I.' A third-person omniscient perspective is narrated by an objective, outside voice. The third-person omniscient voice knows all and can see all, including all of the thoughts of all the characters. The third-person limited perspective or voice forces the reader to see things through the eyes of only one character, but limits the reader to the perspective of a singular character.

Narrative writing fundamentally tells a story. Truly, there is no one correct voice and person through which to tell a story. Very rarely, even a 'second person' or collective 'I' has been used to tell the story of some literary works, like William Faulkner's "A Rose For Emily." However, certain voices and persons are more suited to the objective the writer wishes to accomplish with any particular narrative. For instance, if a writer is attempting to tell a personal, true-to-life narrative of his or her upbringing, the author is likely to make use of the first-person limited narrator, when telling this intimate memoir of his or her own life. However, if the narrative the author is unfolding revolves around telling the reader step-by-step, how Charles Lindbergh's narrative of his flight transpired, the writer may use a third-person limited narrator, to make the narration of this event of history more exciting, but not to be overly intrusive as an 'I' voice in terms of telling this narrative.

Regardless, a piece of narrative writing in always tells a story. The selection of voice and person is always particular to what story is being told, and how the reader will perceive the nature of this story.

What are the key elements of narration as a strategy?

The first key element of using narration as a literary strategy, as discussed above, is selecting the appropriate voice, whether the interior psychological first-person limited voice appropriate for a memoir, the objective third-person omniscient perspective appropriate to telling the story of a battle, perhaps, or a third-person limited narrative perspective appropriate to a biography. (In terms of fiction, the writer has even more leeway in terms of narration, and in experimental writing the perspective or voice may be even more difficult for the writer to choose or the reader to interpret!)

After selecting who tells the story, the writer must make sure that a story is being told. There must be a sense of a story's beginning middle and end, even if a story does not evolve in chronological sequence. The story or narrative must thus have some suspense to it, even if the suspense is mainly about the inner revelation that will occur in the main character's mind. In nonfiction, even if the story is true and the reader knows the ending, using narration can be useful to make the reader feel as if he or she was 'really' there, climbing Mount Everest. This is because the details of the event are so vividly told, and the thoughts of the historical actors involved, evolve on a second-by-second basis, and rather are told in a dry, after-the-fact fashion.