GCSE English Language

Creative Writing
L2: Narrative Voice (AO5)
 Learning Objective
To experiment with point of view, tense and style to create a convincing
narrative voice.

Success Criteria
• To understand what is meant by point of view, tense and style.
• To identify examples of point of view, tense and style.
• To create a piece of flash fiction focusing on point of view, tense
and style.
What’s the Story?
What’s going on in this picture? Write a three-
sentence story about what’s happening.

x x
told using ‘I’ told using ‘he’, ‘she’
or ‘me’ or ‘they’

Now, re-read what you wrote. Did you use first person,
person or third person to tell your
story? Whichever you used, re-write your three-sentence story using the other form.
Narrative Voice
Tone, style and register are often
referred to collectively as narrative
voice – literally, the voice the
author is using to tell the story.
There are many different ways you
can vary your narrative voice in
your writing. In this lesson, we’ll
look at three key elements:
• point of view
• tense
• style
Point of View
Point of view is the perspective from
which a story is told.
What differences did you notice between
the two versions of the story you wrote in
the starter?

She gasped as the water crashed over

her. She knew he was about to dive in,
but she hadn’t expected him to make
such a splash! Her favourite dress was
soaked.

I gasped as the water crashed over me.

I knew he was about to dive in, but I
hadn’t expected him to make such a
splash! My favourite dress was soaked.
Point of View
First person and third person are perhaps the most common points
of view used by authors. But it’s not actually that simple: third
person can be divided into third person limited and third person
omniscient. What do you think these terms mean?
Third person limited: when the action is told in the third person
but only from the perspective of one character.
Third person omniscient: when the action is told in the third
person and switches view from one character to another.
Look at these examples. Can you tell if they are in first person,
third person limited or third person omniscient?

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and
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Third
Third First
person
Personperson
limited
omniscient
Tense
Verb tense tells us when something is happening or has happened.
Often, when we think of writing a story, we fall naturally into the past tense – so we
narrate events that have already happened:

‘We went through College Wood towards Pishill, stopping to admire new
greenery on the beeches. Each leaf seemed to glow with an internal light.’
Enduring Love by Ian McEwan

But many stories use present tense – narrating events as if they are happening now.
This is particularly common in Young Adult fiction:

‘I walk back over to the three of them, fast. I pick Peck up by the back of the
collar and then slam him against the brick wall. Blood slides from an open
wound on his forehead, and I can’t believe this dude threw me over the edge
like this.’
They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera

What are the advantages and disadvantages of writing in past and present tense? Do
you have a preference, or do you think it depends on the story?
Style
Style is a hard thing to define when writing fiction. It can refer to the word choices,
sentences structures, genre conventions and tone of a work. You will have your own, unique
style of writing, and the more confident you become, the more you can play with this.
Have a look at these two extracts. Both describe the same scene, but they have very
different styles. What differences can you spot?

Sand. Sand everywhere. In between his toes, clogging his eyes, tangling his hair. He
hated the feel of it – the harsh, grating effect on his skin. He tried to brush it off. The
motion just made it worse. He couldn’t stand it.
Sara ran up to him, her face bright red. Her hand was swinging a bright green spade.
Even the colours on the beach were loud. She started whining for him to come and play.

He wasn’t a big fan of the beach, but the children enjoyed it, he had to admit. He knew
he would find bucketloads of sand in the car on the way home, but that was all part of
the charm, wasn’t it? And anyway, they so seldom got good weather it seemed a waste
How would you define your own writing style?
not to make the most of it.
The sun was blotted out momentarily by Sara standing over him, a grin plastered on her
face. ‘Come and build a sandcastle, Daddy!’ she urged.
Flash Fiction
Flash fiction is a very short piece of text that
tells a story in a limited number of words.
Try writing a 50-word piece of flash fiction,
using one element from each column
below. You can choose your own title or, if
you prefer, use your planning ideas from
the last lesson.

Point of View Tense Style

pompous and
first person past tense
wordy

third person present action-packed

limited tense and dramatic

third person thoughtful and

omniscient quiet