Narrative Voice

Narrative Voice

First Person

This is where you write from your perspective, eg.

I felt the sand between my toes.

Second Person

This is where the protagonist is referred to as ‘you’ and ‘your’, eg.

You could feel the sand between your toes.

This is often used in non-fiction writing such as recipes, instruction manuals and advertisements.

Third Person

The third person narrative uses the pronouns he, she, it, they, him, her and them and can tell us about the thoughts and feelings of any character in the story.

Lucy felt a pang of excitement as she slowly unwrapped the bow of the small, cardboard box that her boyfriend had left on the side for her.

Narrative Voices

Stream of Consciousness

The narrator’s perspective is given by replicating the thought process of the narrative character.

Character Voice

A living person is the narrator but may not be involved in the story and so is reliable.

Subjective Voice

Usually in first person, this narrator is subjective and unreliable by presenting their opinions, which may not be correct. Thoughts, feelings and opinions are given.

Objective Voice

The narrator tells a story by omitting feelings and thoughts. It therefore gives an objective, unbiased point of view.

Epistolary Voice

The story is told through a series of letters or documents. This may mean that the story is told from a variety of perspectives.

Omniscient Narrator

The narrator knows all of the facts and also the inner thoughts of the characters.