"G-l-a-m-o-r-ous, yeah..."-Fergie, GlamorousI've finally had some extra time this week to read more of The Golden Compass (by Philip Pullman, for those who don't know) and as I continue through the book I'm struck more and more by Lyra's narrative voice. The thing I find coolest about the book is how it deals with a very adult situation completely through the point of view of a child, but I've also noticed how it can pull off some pretty iffy narration simply because it comes through Lyra's voice.
That voice is a very cute, folksy British accent. She speaks with the simplicity of a child, and Pullman pulls out (ha!) the very cutest of British turns of phrase when she's at her most simple. The combination of those two things allows me, at least, to forgive him even when the prose isn't exactly written stellarly (if that's not a word, it should be. Let it be so!), because on one level the form echoes the content (childlike narrator begets childlike prose), and on another I get so distracted by the British that I'm willing to gloss over my occasional disbelief of the actions of some characters.
I don't want to imply that writing in a childlike voice is easy, but it might be something to try if your readers are having trouble forgiving you your mistakes. A cheap cop-out on one level, perhaps, but I prefer to think of it as another tool for the beginning writer to play with.
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