One of the interesting challenges and learning opportunities I’ve come across in dabbling with fiction is the process of merging narrator/author voice with character voice.

Both as a reader and writer, close third-person limited is my favorite point of view method (as opposed to first person or third person omniscient) for most stories. This means the narrator only knows what the point-of-view character knows, even though it’s written in third person.

But interestingly, when done closely, it also means the narration itself is colored by the character’s personality. Rather than just come across the page in dialog or in italicized literal thoughts, the rest of the narration is also basically an indirect extension of their thoughts.

And so for example if a character is cynical and curses a lot, then in addition to the dialogue reflecting that, the narration also reflects that. It comes across more cynical and will curse at times. “What a shit day. Bob pulled out of his driveway and…” In contrast, if a character is upbeat and polite, the narration will feel similar.

And there’s no right answer on how much to let character voice color the dialogue in third person limited, because an author can choose how close to get to the character. And readers have preferences for their favorite points of view. I like a bit of everything but like close third person limited the majority of the time.

Distant third person limited has a rather consistent and detached narrator voice, despite still being limited to what the character knows. Very close third person is almost like first person, meaning the narration is basically just like that character, except all the “I/me” words are replaced with “he/she” and so forth.

As a reader, a lot of this is often invisible. As a writer though, it’s interesting to 1) pick how close you want third person limited to be for your given book, and 2) be consistent with it so you don’t unintentionally zoom in or out at certain times.

So it’s kind of a mindfuck because there are multiple layers to be aware of. A really interesting process to tackle.