Issue

Who's voice is that?

Guidelines

Here is the scenario: a voice is heard but the character who hears it doesn't know who it is. For example, Mary is the hearer:

How should "Who is it?" sound? It depends on who is hearing the speaker and the impact on the story.

• Sometimes it is immaterial (the hearer doesn't know the speaker and wouldn't recognize the voice). In that case, just use the character's normal voice.
• Other times, it is important that the identity not be revealed until the hearer sees the person behind the door. In that case, ask yourself whether the Listener (the person listening to you reading out loud) should know before the hearer (the character in the book). If you have to, disguise the unknown voice by making it sound different than the normal voice of the character.