Voice and Diction

[Elishavet Elroi]

Hey y’all! I’ve been thinking about literary voice. I know every writer has a different voice, but what about using voice as a tool to set the scene? Like an extended form of dialogue?

This crazy thought spiral took me while reading some of Shalom Aleichem’s short stories (think Fiddler on the Roof). I was amused by the tongue in cheek humor of the narrator, but it wasn’t until I had closed the book and walked away that I realized the significance of another texture, so to speak, of the narrative diction.

The story was written with a lyrical Yiddish lilt, even though the words were in English. I heard the accent so strongly that I could not get Teive out of my head for two days. I have heard before how authors use careful word choice to paint the setting clearer- a latina mother misuses American slang, a young Austrian man calls a judge “Your Honesty,” a southern Grandma calls something “cattywompus” – but it has been years since I have read something so vividly accented all throughout.

So… How can we do that? Anyone notice this tool before? Or have experience in other languages, dialects, or just good literature? I want to try my hand at this. XD

You have listened to fears, child. Come, let me breathe on you... Are you brave again? -Aslan

[MineralizedWritings]

@elishavet-pidyon

Oh! Great topic. Creative narration is my favorite. I like in manga how characters explain their own backstories, because the author gets to have them explain it through their own eyes. And that way, we can even see two characters describe the same event in different ways.

I also like in the book thief how death is the narrator. It was done so well and I loved it lol.

"And so I left this world just as I had entered it. Confused."

[The Ducktator]

@elishavet-pidyon

I don’t really have advice, but I think Mark Twain did this excellently in The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.

Tempus adest gratiae
Hoc quod optabamus,
Carmina laetitiae
Devote reddamus!

[Elishavet Elroi]

@mineralizedwritings

Ah yes! I have not read manga, but I love seeing different characters’ points of view on the same or similar event. (One reason I like The Last Archer. The antagonist-to-friend plot looks completely different when seen through the eyes of the antagonist’s lacky. Not to mention being incredibly hilarious.)

@theducktator

Hmm. It does seem to be a tool Mark Twain would use excellently. I might have to look into that one.

You have listened to fears, child. Come, let me breathe on you... Are you brave again? -Aslan

[Author]

Posts