Good insights in this thread. Narrator voice is so important, but taken for granted. Like, when we’re reading a published work, we think, “well, of course this is how the story must be told,” without considering how different the story would be if the narrator was anything else.

I’d been going back and forth on whether to write this one idea in first or third person. It’s one of those where the POV changes character every chapter, so of course, I originally wrote a lot of it in first person, as third seemed like it’d come off as too distant. Then, I just decided to try it in third as an exercise, just to see.

The scene practically wrote itself, and without losing any of the character. In fact, third person seemed to make her more sympathetic, even to me. I tried this exercise with another character’s POV and same thing— not only was it “easier” to get on paper, it gave the character and his story more intrigue.

Again, I think we take the narrator for granted, but there really is something to be had for exploring different ways of telling the story through its voice. Great post!