Among the different types of oral and written texts we produce, narration is one of the most important, as it is constantly present in our lives. From telling an anecdote, writing an e-mail to a relative about events that happen to us, to reading a news item in the newspaper, it becomes the most used textual form, because it is the most common way of telling these things.
It is also necessary to take into account that narration does not exclude the presence of other types of texts, even dialogues or descriptions that provide more detailed information that enrich the narrative text in question. In the same vein, it should be mentioned that every story must be told from a point of view, either with a total vision of the events, through a character or as a diary. Someone tells it to us and we must choose well who will do it. That's what makes each reader feel comfortable reading our stories. It will always depend on what you want to explain.
In fact, if you want to tell a story about the captain of a ship, a first-person narrator will be good to let us see what their experience is like there, that is, what they feel or how they think. Now if it is a story full of fantasy, the best option is an omniscient narrator that allows us to see and feel. When the story is of the style mentioned at the end, where strange places are described, creatures never seen before, it is essential that the reader does not feel lost, a description and a global vision will help him to place himself in the scenes.
In that sense, there are several types of narrators that we can find such as:
- the protagonist narrator, who tells the facts in the first person.
- There is also a witness narrator, who is one of the characters and assumes the responsibility of narrating in the first person but does not play a leading role.
- In addition, there is an omniscient narrator who has full knowledge of the facts, about the thoughts and feelings of the characters.
- We also find an external observer narrator who tells the story from the outside, does not know what they think, nor does he make any value judgment.
- Last but not least, we find a witness narrator where the story is told by a bystander or secondary character.
Finding the voice of your narrator is vital when writing a narrative text, because he or she will be the one telling your story. Your narrator's voice acts as a filter of the story for the reader. It is his or her words that introduce and develop the story, so you need to choose carefully the way he or she will express himself or herself and the way he or she will tell what happens. You must be clear about who the narrator is, how much he/she knows about the story, what he/she tells, whether or not he/she intervenes in it and from what perspective he/she will tell it.
On the other hand, there are less frequent types of narrators in books and it is the one who uses second-person narration, since this is characterized as an explanation of the story to a specific person. Their job is to make the reader a participant in the story and make him/her the protagonist as if it were a dialogue, in which one speaks and the other listens. For this to be positive, we would have to write with great perfection the details of these facts, such as the environment, creating in the reader the image of what is being offered. That is why this is often one of the main causes that fill us with doubts when writing.
In conclusion, the narrator is created by the author and its configuration depends a lot on the author's intention, it is someone fictitious that can be considered as a disguise of the writer to become part of the world he is creating. This is why a female writer can use the voice of a male narrator. Being able to select who will be your narrator is fundamental to be able to build the story. When creating such stories, it is not only important how you describe it and the events, but also how you use the narrator, even when it seems that the narrator is not part of the story itself.
Do you find it difficult to select a type of narrator for your story?
P.S.: I am taking a course on the creation of novels, and I decided to share with you through my publications, the knowledge I am acquiring. That way we can learn together.
Dear readers, your opinions are very valuable to me, I will be very attentive to your comments. Thank you for investing your valuable time reading my post, best regards.
Disclaimer: I would like to let you know that English is not my mother tongue, I may even make some mistakes in the elaboration of sentences in my posts. Feel free to correct me attentively. It will help me in my learning process.
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Witness narrator is one of a kind of narrator that could describe cause when I make story I always make no leading role.