human. We kind of think the voice is the narrator. It certainly helps if the stories are riveting, but a great voice renders the dullest event remarkable.
from The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
added by Alex Dobrenko · updated 4mo ago
human. We kind of think the voice is the narrator. It certainly helps if the stories are riveting, but a great voice renders the dullest event remarkable.
added by Alex Dobrenko · updated 4mo ago
“She felt it was my version of events.” The best memoirists stress the subjective nature of reportage. Doubt and wonder come to stand as part of the story.
julie added
In a first-person narrative, you are stuck with this one voice. Therefore this character, or at least her point of view (POV), must be engaging.
I once heard Don DeLillo quip that a fiction writer starts with meaning and then manufactures events to represent it; a memoirist starts with events, then derives meaning from them.
julie added
the narrative voice The voice that tells the story is the first thing the reader encounters. It carries us from the first page to the last. We, the readers, must believe in this narrative voice or, at least, we must feel strongly for that voice and have a definite and consistent opinion about it.
Ajinkya Wadhwa added
Narrative voice is a subtle thing. You have to decide what voice fits your task.
Stories are everywhere. Stories are us. It’s story that makes us human.
Kojo added
A voice that speaks, a woman’s voice that speaks, a voice that speaks stories of life and death, has the power to give life.