You have a story idea in your head; the characters are forming and the plot's developing. But who is going to tell your tale? Sometimes this is an easy question because the character dictates it to you. But sometimes it isn't so simple.

There are many different types of narration. Which one is right for your story will depend on how you want your story to go.

Narration Types

1. Third-person narration: as is used in fables, allegories, tall tales, and most novels. This has historically been, and still is, the most popular approach to storytelling.

2. First-person narration: in which the author or a fictional character appears as "I". Also very common.

3. Second-person narration: in which the reader becomes the protagonist. Example - "you enter the room and suddenly freeze." Extremely rare and usually difficult to pull off, but very engaging when done well. Usually this is used in role-playing tales.

4. Personal written records: diaries, journal entries, etc., written by one or more of your characters; or, letters written between two of more of them.

5. Impersonal written records: newspaper accounts, transcripts or speeches, TelePrompTer scripts, etc., from which the reader pieces together the tale.

6. Stream of consciousness: The reader follows a character's thoughts as they occur to him or her. When stream of consciousness takes the form of standard written English, rather than a quasi-English flow of thoughts, it may be indistinguishable from third- or first-person narratives.

Depending on the kind of story you are writing you may pick one or more of these types of narration to use.

Narrator Types

Now that we've gone over the 'how' in telling a story, let's look into the 'who'.

Who tells your tale is as important as how they tell it. There are several different types of narrators to chose from.

1. The Protagonist: the story is told by the character within the piece that the story evolves and revolves.

2. The Internal Observer: the story is told by a character within the piece who observes the protagonist in action.

3. The External Observer: The story is told by a character who has a distinct voice and personality, but who is not personally involved in the story they tell.

4. The Author: The writer of the story takes the overt role of narrator, without disguise or artifice. Common in nonfiction; very rare in fiction.

5. The False Author: The narrator purports to be the writer, but in fact is just as fictional as the characters that populate the tale.

6. The Nonentity: The narrator is more or less invisible, and devoid of personality and persona, much like the narrator of a newspaper story. Events are clearly described, but they are not narrated by a recognizable voice or personality.

7. Multiple Narrators: Different parts of the story are told by different characters, who are usually (but not necessarily) part of the story they tell. In rare cases, portions may also be narrated by the author, a false author, or a nonentity.

8. The Written Record: The narrator is the fictional, and usually unmentioned and unnamed, author of some ostensibly factual (but of course fictional) written account, such as a newspaper story or court transcript, from which the reader gleans the story. Often several such narrators (and several different written records) appear in the same work of fiction. Quite rare.

There you have it, the how and who of story telling. The combination you choose is up to you, the author...and your characters!


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About the Author

Dawn Arkin is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writers. Her portfolio can be found at http://www.Writing.Com/authors/darkin so stop by and read for a while.