Plot, Narrative, and Voice

Earlier this week, I leaned back to review three just completed paragraphs. Some experts frown on this suggesting it is best to continue writing and not interrupt the creative flow. I tried that with an earlier novel and the huge editing job it left me became a nightmare. By the time I finished, I was ready to commit ritual harakiri before reading it again.

As I studied them, a veil of confusion descended over elements I thought I understood well. What is plot, what is narrative, what is voice? Where does one end and the other begin? The internet can be a dangerous place to answer such questions. Its nooks and crannies can lead to intellectual swamps and dark forests prowled by scholarly demons.

If, like me, you write in the third person, try this response when at a tea party where everyone has stiffened pinkies poking the air. "Do you write in the third person?"
"Why, yes. I consider myself a heterodiegetic novelist."

Let me share the following. Otherwise, no one would believe such things exist. Since I intend no embarrassment, I'll refrain from identifying the author.

"A novel in which no simple rules restrict the transition between different focalizations could be said to be unfocalized, but specific relationships between basic types of focalization constitute more complex focalization strategies ; for example, a novel could provide external focalization alternating with internal focalizations through three different characters, where the second character is never focalized except after the first, and three other characters are never focalized at all."

This is why I despair of ever reaching the lofty heights literary professors occupy. I remain singularly incapable of discerning meaning out of gobbledygook.

So why have a clear understanding of plot, narrative, and voice? Distinctions between them identify what each requires and frame the questions needed for proper answers. That will produce a crisp, well-paced novel that people will enjoy reading. But since I'm not a literary professor, I'll rely on a quote by a long-forgotten American politico. "I may not be able to define pornography, but I know it when I see it."

I'll begin with a simple plot: 'A man awakens to brush his teeth and makes a discovery'. As John Gregory Dunne, novelist and screenwriter, observed, "Plot is not narrative." A narrative encompasses many sentences. If the plot cannot be stated in one, succinct sentence, an unfocused novel may be in the offing. On a beautiful spring day, sitting on the veranda after eating a meal that included my favorite dessert (crumb apple pie and Hagen-Daz vanilla ice cream), I might allow for two. Simplicity is what will keep the story centered when overlaid with a complex narrative. As an aside, I left out the experts who make distinctions between story and plot. I found the definitions unpersuasive. But please, feel free.

Narrative is the arrangement, sequencing, the 'how' of the plot.

'Fernando, annoyed by the alarm, stumbles to the bathroom. Eyes half-closed, he squeezes the tube for one last nub and begins brushing.'

Quite a few literary types define plot as the sequence of events from start to finish and thus closely related to the narrative. We writers, on the other hand, have to actually write novels, a complex enough process. Keep the plot to one sentence and make everything else narrative. It greatly simplifies things.

Note that each of the sequential points in our one-scene narrative are subjective. Fernando could awaken before the alarm, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. The tube might be full or completely empty. Back stories and flash forwards might apply. The combinations and coordination create narrative. Again, identifying properly what is narrative allows for analysis uncomplicated by questions of style, tense, grammar, clauses, punctuation, etc.

Similarly, once we make our narrative decisions, the decks are clear for overlaying style, i.e., 'voice'. Voice also includes decisions about 'whose voice', but matters of first or third person are issues of choice not debate. For brevity and convenience, I've selected third person. The door remains open, however, for those of you who would like to contribute to our simple plot with something in the first person.

'Fernando twisted around, punching the pillow for a deeper fluff. Buzzing? How had bees gotten into the room? He sat up, rising dread confirming what he already knew. Third alarm. 7:30am. Late again. He sprang from the bed, banging his toe against the door. Deep inhales wasted precious minutes before throbbing nerves eased.

He hopped to the bathroom, twisting faucets while grabbing toothpaste and brush. Damn! Damn! He'd forgotten to buy toothpaste. He squeezed and squeezed, bent and twisted, pressed and pressured. Come on, come on. A tiny nub poked its head out. Don't drop it, Fernando.

He brushed, forearm piston-like. Three on each side, front, top, bottom, cheeks, tongue. Rinse, spit, rinse spit. Habit straightened him before the mirror, mouth open for inspection.

He froze. Ice slid into his groin and down both legs. Nerveless fingers dropped the brush. His toe denied he still slept. Fangs filled his mouth.'

Alternatively, let's juggle the narrative a bit, but stay focused on the same plot.

'Fernando paced. An hour already. A dull, deep fear burned a heart that jammed his throat. Nothing made sense. And no way could he go to work. Not like this. For the thousandth time, he retraced the morning. The alarm had sounded. He got up, stumbled to the bathroom, and began brushing his teeth. He rinsed and opened his mouth. The world changed.

He marched back to the bathroom, needing to be sure. His reflection looked normal. Hesitation washed over him. Fear swelled in its wake. He opened his mouth. Fangs. Sharp, glistening fangs.

His gaze shifted. Behind him, a woman slid into the entrance. He'd forgotten about her; couldn't remember her name. She leaned against the frame, her proud, nude body needed no clothing. Penetrating eyes locked onto his. A half-smile creased her lips. "Good morning."'

As always, I welcome your thoughts and comments.

P.S. I enjoy reading the reviews posted by fellow writers to the Review Group. A frequent criticism is of writers who confuse the narrative by head-hopping. Though mindful and respectful of the admonition, as a 3rd person writer I chafe at the restriction. Scenes with multiple characters allow me to present the reader with the conflicting tensions that drive drama. Made all the more so by dynamic, fluid POV shifts.

I came across this definition by Mark Nichol, blogger for Daily Writing Tips: "Narrative point of view can vary within the same story, either by section or chapter or even within the same passage (emphasis mine). "Ahh. A writer after my own heart. (-: