This is a great point and definitely something to take into account when you’re writing. Thank you for taking the time to share it.

Neither of them have to be explicitly answered, but they are helpful for the author. If your narrator is a police officer, for example, the tone is going to depend on whether the officer is telling the story to a superior officer, another beat cop, a member of the public, or a reporter.

Having a clear idea of the story’s hypothetical “listener” (not the same as the reader) helps the author know how much to explain and how much to take for granted. A lot of modern fiction suffers from wandering expositions that slow down the story. If you begin with a clear idea that the narrator is talking to someone who is familiar with the setting and characters, this temptation is lessened.

A doctor who is talking to another doctor will take for granted that the listener knows the basics of how hospitals operate, how on-call schedules operate, how patients are moved from one floor to another, and so on. A construction worker won’t feel the need to define what “rebar” is to another construction worker.

Why the story is being told will also clarify the narrator’s voice. Is it to amuse the listener? To justify their actions to a superior officer? To explain a suspicious death to a grieving family member? Is this an official explanation, or off the record? Starting a story with the narrator’s intent in mind will make it easier to decide what events to describe in detail and what to gloss over.

Thank you for this. I have definitely missed the mark on voice with some of the novels I’ve written (no coincidence that they’re also all unpublished, haha). I appreciate creativity when it comes to voice, but I also think it’s risky. Sometimes I can get into the rhythm of an unusual voice; other times, my brain rebels. But I think experimentation is always worth a try. Anything can be done if it’s done well.

“Woak up. Got dresd. Had brekfast. Spoke wif Ergates thi ant who sed itz juss been wurk wurk wurk 4 u lately master Bascule, Y dont u 1/2 a holiday? & I agreed & that woz how we decided we otter go 2 c Mr Zoliparia in thi I-ball ov thi gargoyle Rosbrith.”

“Well I no that, thilly, tho u r a very feerth old hok, & gettin less blind ol thi time. I woth jutht kiddin. O luke anuthi thee-gull. Or ith it? Lookth moar like a albino cro, akchooly. Well, i cant thtand awound hea ol day chattin with u; i 1/2 2 fly, Dartlin sez, & hops down off thi perch. Ith ther anythin i can get u, Mr Bathcule?”

The creation of such as Bascule or the “Gang of Eight” Eight minds in a single brain (Peter Watts) and you do not know who is speaking or EriK Axel Sunds “Crow Girl” all fascinate me for the pure inventiveness of the “voice” lol- or indeed Moorcocks Colonel Pyat who narrates the books but is a liar trying to turn the narrative to his own ends.

Character stage dressing! What a great phrase.

Yes, this is exactly right. Voice is really about bringing the character to life. I think that’s why when it’s not working, no matter how great your plot and structure are, the novel is dead in the water.

Thanks, Mindy. I agree, this is a tough one to get right. I’ve struggled with it myself for years.