What voices do you use in your stories?

[EmilyMiller]

https://imgur.com/a/SNyZQZL

I did a little analysis last night (because I’m anally retentive, I know). My breakdown is as above. So I’m mostly writing first person, past tense, with a female narrator. What a big surprise!

My fantasy series, and a few others, are mostly first person, present, female.

Then I have a sprinkling of male narrators (all past tense) and some genderless third person narrators, again all past tense.

How about you?

Em

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I write third person, past tense and I write POV, which means I never show scenes where my POV character isn't present. I used the author's narration a few times, mostly to describe some land or city, but even that is usually done as seen from the eyes of my POV character.
My lesbian series has two equally present POVs, likely to get a third, less important one.
My fantasy series has one main male POV and one female POV, likely to develop into two or three female POVs. But the male POV takes 80% of the story at least.
The standalone story I plan to write will have a female and a male POV, with the female one being a bit more present.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Without checking, I reckon I'd be 50/50 first person vs third; 80% past tense.

All of my first person is male voice - although my current WIP is female voice. The third person (intimate or close third) stories are probably more oriented towards the woman's pov, although many shift pov to each of the protagonists.

 

[PennameWombat]

How about you?

Em

I have nowhere near such detailed statistics on my stories. But I can make one certain statement. All of mine are past tense (except where I might’ve screwed up). I don’t like reading present tense, and don’t enjoy writing it.

I have quite a few female narrators, likely even a slight majority across all of my stories, but only a single female first person narrator, the others are all third person limited. Nine of my forty-six stories are first person, so that means eight male first person and one female first person.

My first person stories are written that way to strictly be that person’s story, they don’t alternate POVs. Most of my third person stories use alternating limited POVs, some all female, some all male, some mixed, but I don’t have counts.

 

[EmilyMiller]

So, kinda a variety?

Em

 

[onehitwanda]

First person, three stories in present, the rest in past.

 

[SimonDoom]

I haven't bothered to compile the stats for my 58 stories, but all of them are in past tense, and I've written stories in all combinations of first person/third person--male/female POV. I like to mix it up.

If you haven't done so yet, I recommend trying a different POV for a change. It's interesting and it's easier to do than you might think.

 

[TxRad]

With three hundred stories posted, I'm not even going to try to figure all that out.

 

[Rustyoznail]

The voices in me head tells me wot to do...

 

[nice90sguy]

I generally use either a Mickey Mouse or an Emo Phillips voice - obviously I'm usually alone in the house when I'm writing.

 

[NoTalentHack]

Almost entirely first person past. One story is FP present, another couple have FP present segments. I AM writing a TP POV story now, though, and I'm finding it MUCH better for certain things; probably not in LW, where I want to be really in a specific character's head, but maybe for other stuff.

 

[MillieDynamite]

My stories tend to come out mostly female. I used to use

Gender Analyzer.​

But haven't done so in a while. It has a sliding bar at the top. Only if I try to make a guy narrator story does it even come to neutral and very, very, rarely to slightly on the masculine side. Sometimes even from the male point of view, told by a guy, it's only barely masculine.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

Seriously, I had a different take on this. But I have all these voices in my head and use them in my stories.

OH, there's one now. Shut up, Frank. I didn't ask for your opinion. You neither, Liz!

 

[TxRad]

Welcome to my world.

 

[EmilyMiller]

My stories tend to come out mostly female. I used to use

Gender Analyzer.​

But haven't done so in a while. It has a sliding bar at the top. Only if I try to make a guy narrator story does it even come to neutral and very, very, rarely to slightly on the masculine side. Sometimes even from the male point of view, told by a guy, it's only barely masculine.

Oh dear. I have a new hobby.

What I found was that it thinks much of my work is strongly feminine. Even with a male narrator (I clearly suck at a male voice). Between 3/4 and 1/2 of the feminine side is filled in on the graph. Though never all of it (I only looked at about ten stories).

But, two exceptions.

First my flirty / slutty (delete as… who am I kidding? slutty) 1k stroke stories are only just feminine - like 1/3 to 1/4 of the feminine side filled in on the chart

Also my BDSM / Group Sex stories are kinda the same. Except for lesbian BDSM, which is back to feminine again (1/2 or more).

Em

 

[MillieDynamite]

Oh dear. I have a new hobby.

What I found was that it thinks much of my work is strongly feminine. Even with a male narrator (I clearly suck at a male voice). Between 3/4 and 1/2 of the feminine side is filled in on the graph. Though never all of it (I only looked at about ten stories).

But, two exceptions.

First my flirty / slutty (delete as… who am I kidding? slutty) 1k stroke stories are only just feminine - like 1/3 to 1/4 of the feminine side filled in on the chart

Also my BDSM / Group Sex stories are kinda the same. Except for lesbian BDSM, which is back to feminine again (1/2 or more).

Em

The exception to everything is on the girl side, were a few rape stories I wrote came across as very masculine. Those were angry stories from when writing was done only as therapy.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

Welcome to my world.

I've had my passengers since childhood and haven't killed anyone yet. But it is only because we can't make up my mind to do so. Frank and Liz are always saying, that one over there, and Jane and Devon are shouting, not him, her. And Percival and Dianna are saying, can't we all just get along?

 

[mirafrida]

I like to break down 3rd person into somewhat more granular terms. I don't think I've ever done a fully omniscient 3P. But, sometimes i limit the 'impersonal narrator' strictly to the main character's own thoughts and knowledge, and sometimes grant the narrator a more detached perspective and a bit more insight into the interior life of other actors.

If limiting 3P to the main character POV why not just use 1P? It situates the reader differently, creating a different effect.

 

[EmilyMiller]

The exception to everything is on the girl side, were a few rape stories I wrote came across as very masculine. Those were angry stories from when writing was done only as therapy.

First of all

Second, I wonder how it makes it’s determinations.

Em

 

[NoTalentHack]

According to Gender Analyzer, everything I write is feminine. Like, by a lot.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Word usage, if you use certain words more than others, it tags you as a boy or girl writer. Also, adverbs are more prevalent in women's writing. Men tend to use harder words than women, except when women describe men in an unfavorable light. I'm not sure how the algorithm works it out. It's not only the words but how they fit into the story. And I'm not sure what the words are it looks for. I use to think it was things like lovely and beautiful but doesn't seem to be the case.

 

[MillieDynamite]

So, NoTalentHack, the question becomes, are you a boy or girl, or you know, somewhere in between in real life?

 

[NoTalentHack]

So, NoTalentHack, the question becomes, are you a boy or girl, or you know, somewhere in between in real life?

I'm a guy, but I grew up in rural Texas with extremely religious parents. My exposure to erotica wasn't Playboys and Cinemax, but instead my mother's and sister's stashes of romance novels. I'm honestly not that surprised.

 

[EmilyMiller]

According to Gender Analyzer, everything I write is feminine. Like, by a lot.

Surprise of the century - not .

At the risk of buying into stereotypes I don’t fully believe in, you write emotionally.

Em

 

[EmilyMiller]

Word usage, if you use certain words more than others, it tags you as a boy or girl writer. Also, adverbs are more prevalent in women's writing. Men tend to use harder words than women, except when women describe men in an unfavorable light. I'm not sure how the algorithm works it out. It's not only the words but how they fit into the story. And I'm not sure what the words are it looks for. I use to think it was things like lovely and beautiful but doesn't seem to be the case.

That’s interesting.

I feel like putting some Steinbeck, or Conrad into it and seeing what it says.

Em