Narrator
noun
A person who tells the story in a book, movie, play, etc.
In the book, the narrator describes all the events without taking part in them.
Often appears as...
- unreliable narrator
- first-person narrator
Usage tips
Literary
noun
The voiceover or commentary in documentaries, television programs, etc.
The narrator of the documentary has a deep, soothing voice.
Often appears as...
- documentary narrator
- film narrator
noun
A character within a story that is telling the story to the reader.
The character of Nick Carraway serves as the narrator in 'The Great Gatsby'.
Often appears as...
- character as narrator
- first-person narrator
Usage tips
Literary
noun
A person who tells the story in a book, movie, play, etc.
In the book, the narrator describes all the events without taking part in them.
Often appears as...
- unreliable narrator
- first-person narrator
Usage tips
Literary
noun
The voiceover or commentary in documentaries, television programs, etc.
The narrator of the documentary has a deep, soothing voice.
Often appears as...
- documentary narrator
- film narrator
noun
A character within a story that is telling the story to the reader.
The character of Nick Carraway serves as the narrator in 'The Great Gatsby'.
Often appears as...
- character as narrator
- first-person narrator
Usage tips
Literary
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Outside Perspective
The narrator can tell the story without being a character, offering an objective view.
The narrator in nature documentaries often provides a broad overview of animal behavior.
Pro Tip 2/3Narrator's Bias
Sometimes narrators give their own opinions, coloring the story with personal bias.
Though the narrator tried to stay neutral, hints of disapproval crept into the tale.
Pro Tip 3/3Emotional Impact
The narrator's tone can affect the emotional response of the audience to the story.
The somber narrator added a layer of sadness to the historical account.
Pro Tip 1/3Outside Perspective
The narrator can tell the story without being a character, offering an objective view.
The narrator in nature documentaries often provides a broad overview of animal behavior.
Pro Tip 2/3Narrator's Bias
Sometimes narrators give their own opinions, coloring the story with personal bias.
Though the narrator tried to stay neutral, hints of disapproval crept into the tale.
Pro Tip 3/3Emotional Impact
The narrator's tone can affect the emotional response of the audience to the story.
The somber narrator added a layer of sadness to the historical account.
Pro Tip 1/3Outside Perspective
The narrator can tell the story without being a character, offering an objective view.
The narrator in nature documentaries often provides a broad overview of animal behavior.
Pro Tip 2/3Narrator's Bias
Sometimes narrators give their own opinions, coloring the story with personal bias.
Though the narrator tried to stay neutral, hints of disapproval crept into the tale.
Pro Tip 3/3Emotional Impact
The narrator's tone can affect the emotional response of the audience to the story.
The somber narrator added a layer of sadness to the historical account.
Never forget "Narrator"
Humans forget easily. That's why you should download WordUp: Smart reminders, word games, AI practice, and much more!
Video examples
How to make your writing...
So what are some techniques you can use to achieve this in your own writing? Limit the point of view. Instead of an omniscient narrator who can see and relay everything that happens, tell the story from the perspective of the characters. They may start off knowing just as little as the audience does,
Video examples
Why I keep speaking up,...
They were mostly reacting to my accent, that it is not normal for a narrator to have an accent. But what is normal, anyway? We know that reviewers will find more spelling errors in your writing if they think you're black. We know that professors are less likely to help female or minority students.
Video examples
Everything you need to...
and destiny riffs on romance, while the tales of working-class narrators are generally comedies filled with scatological language, sexual deviance, and slapstick. This variation includes something for everyone, and that’s one reason why readers continue to delight in the work
Video examples
How do you know what's...
transforming each witness into an unreliable narrator. Without any hints on who’s sharing the most accurate account, the audience can’t tell which character to trust. Instead, each testimony takes on a truthful quality, and the audience is left doubting their convictions
Video examples
Why should you read...
of life aboard a whaling ship, but also subjects from across human and natural history, by turns playful and tragic, humorous, and urgent. The narrator guiding us through these explorations is a common sailor called Ishmael.
Video examples
First person vs. Second...
For example, a third person narrator is necessarily a bit removed from the characters. But that can be good for stories where a feeling of distance is important. A third person narrator can be either limited,
Video examples
The art of winging it PIPE...
sexy librarian thing going on and some pretty tough to beat and we'll just write in a sexy librarian character looks perfect you'll be the ship librarian that's hilarious oh you could be the narrator that's
Video examples
Infinity according to...
so there are some profound books, but also countless tomes of complete gibberish. The narrator has spent his entire life wandering this vast labyrinth of information in a possibly futile search for meaning.
Video examples
How changing your story...
In writing, this is called point of view. What is the narrator not willing to see? So, I want to read you one more letter. And it goes like this. "Dear Therapist, I need help with my wife.
Video examples
An Educational Video...
aside from humans in particularly your humble narrator what primate species spends the least amount of time climbing
Video examples
How to make your writing...
So what are some techniques you can use to achieve this in your own writing? Limit the point of view. Instead of an omniscient narrator who can see and relay everything that happens, tell the story from the perspective of the characters. They may start off knowing just as little as the audience does,
Video examples
Why I keep speaking up,...
They were mostly reacting to my accent, that it is not normal for a narrator to have an accent. But what is normal, anyway? We know that reviewers will find more spelling errors in your writing if they think you're black. We know that professors are less likely to help female or minority students.
Video examples
Everything you need to...
and destiny riffs on romance, while the tales of working-class narrators are generally comedies filled with scatological language, sexual deviance, and slapstick. This variation includes something for everyone, and that’s one reason why readers continue to delight in the work
Video examples
How do you know what's...
transforming each witness into an unreliable narrator. Without any hints on who’s sharing the most accurate account, the audience can’t tell which character to trust. Instead, each testimony takes on a truthful quality, and the audience is left doubting their convictions
Video examples
Why should you read...
of life aboard a whaling ship, but also subjects from across human and natural history, by turns playful and tragic, humorous, and urgent. The narrator guiding us through these explorations is a common sailor called Ishmael.
Video examples
First person vs. Second...
For example, a third person narrator is necessarily a bit removed from the characters. But that can be good for stories where a feeling of distance is important. A third person narrator can be either limited,
Video examples
The art of winging it PIPE...
sexy librarian thing going on and some pretty tough to beat and we'll just write in a sexy librarian character looks perfect you'll be the ship librarian that's hilarious oh you could be the narrator that's
Video examples
Infinity according to...
so there are some profound books, but also countless tomes of complete gibberish. The narrator has spent his entire life wandering this vast labyrinth of information in a possibly futile search for meaning.
Video examples
How changing your story...
In writing, this is called point of view. What is the narrator not willing to see? So, I want to read you one more letter. And it goes like this. "Dear Therapist, I need help with my wife.
Video examples
An Educational Video...
aside from humans in particularly your humble narrator what primate species spends the least amount of time climbing
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Philip Kerr
British Author
A lot of crime writing suffers from treading water. I feel an obligation to move the character on and not repeat myself. I try to fit him into a different period and a different agenda. That way, you learn slightly more about his personal history in the tradition of the unreliable narrator. It makes it more challenging to write.
Quote examples
Margaret Atwood
Canadian Novelist
You could tell 'The Handmaid's Tale' from a male point of view. People have mistakenly felt that the women are oppressed, but power tends to organise itself in a pyramid. I could pick a male narrator from somewhere in that pyramid. It would interesting.
Quote examples
Noelle Stevenson
American Artist
I've always kind of gravitated toward characters who are a bit distant from the narrator or the point-of-view characters, so that's kind of important to me, to set up a different character who would be the point-of-view character for the story.
Quote examples
Sylvia Day
American Writer
For the most part, romance is written in third person, and it's written in multiple points of view, so you're in the hero's head, and you're in the heroine's head. I've always said that I'm more of a narrator than a creator.
Quote examples
Sarah Pinborough
English Writer
The unreliable narrator is an odd concept. The way I see it, we're all unreliable narrators of our lives who usually have absolute trust in our self-told stories. Any truth is, after all, just a matter of perspective.
Quote examples
W. G. Sebald
German Writer
I've always felt that the traditional novel doesn't give you enough information about the narrator, and I think it's important to know the point of view from which these tales are told: the moral makeup of the teller.
Quote examples
Rick Moody
American Novelist
I didn't know how to kill off a character unless I was able, as a narrator, to get really complicated. Because it was a big deal. I'd never killed a character before.
Quote examples
Rachel Kushner
American Writer
One of the strategies for doing first-person is to make the narrator very knowing, so that the reader is with somebody who has a take on everything they observe.
Quote examples
Philipp Meyer
American Writer
I'm interested in getting deep into a person's consciousness and doing so in ways in which the narrator is secondary to the character's own thoughts.
Quote examples
Hanya Yanagihara
American Novelist
One of the fun things about unreliable narrators is they can be funny. You can admire things about them and laugh with them.
Quote examples
Philip Kerr
British Author
A lot of crime writing suffers from treading water. I feel an obligation to move the character on and not repeat myself. I try to fit him into a different period and a different agenda. That way, you learn slightly more about his personal history in the tradition of the unreliable narrator. It makes it more challenging to write.
Quote examples
Margaret Atwood
Canadian Novelist
You could tell 'The Handmaid's Tale' from a male point of view. People have mistakenly felt that the women are oppressed, but power tends to organise itself in a pyramid. I could pick a male narrator from somewhere in that pyramid. It would interesting.
Quote examples
Noelle Stevenson
American Artist
I've always kind of gravitated toward characters who are a bit distant from the narrator or the point-of-view characters, so that's kind of important to me, to set up a different character who would be the point-of-view character for the story.
Quote examples
Sylvia Day
American Writer
For the most part, romance is written in third person, and it's written in multiple points of view, so you're in the hero's head, and you're in the heroine's head. I've always said that I'm more of a narrator than a creator.
Quote examples
Sarah Pinborough
English Writer
The unreliable narrator is an odd concept. The way I see it, we're all unreliable narrators of our lives who usually have absolute trust in our self-told stories. Any truth is, after all, just a matter of perspective.
Quote examples
W. G. Sebald
German Writer
I've always felt that the traditional novel doesn't give you enough information about the narrator, and I think it's important to know the point of view from which these tales are told: the moral makeup of the teller.
Quote examples
Rick Moody
American Novelist
I didn't know how to kill off a character unless I was able, as a narrator, to get really complicated. Because it was a big deal. I'd never killed a character before.
Quote examples
Rachel Kushner
American Writer
One of the strategies for doing first-person is to make the narrator very knowing, so that the reader is with somebody who has a take on everything they observe.
Quote examples
Philipp Meyer
American Writer
I'm interested in getting deep into a person's consciousness and doing so in ways in which the narrator is secondary to the character's own thoughts.
Quote examples
Hanya Yanagihara
American Novelist
One of the fun things about unreliable narrators is they can be funny. You can admire things about them and laugh with them.
Example 1 of 10
WordUp Chrome Extension
As you browse the web instantly look up words you don’t know.
Get Chrome Extension