We’re drilling down on Voice now. Because finding your Voice seems to be a concern for quite a few past Art of Writing creative writing course attendees. Query comments and emails have inspired me to dedicate three blogs to Voice. Here let’s look at a roundup of thoughts, ideas and advice on how you can find your voice. The difference in opinion is broad and frankly, very interesting.
Firstly – what is Voice? Everyone has a unique personality, and that personality is what creates an author’s unique voice. It’s determined by their background and world views, and they make it known through their stylistic choices, such as diction and syntax. How authors phrase their thoughts, whether they use foul language, and whether they’re casual or formal all comes together to form their voice. Oftentimes, an author’s voice is so distinctive that it can be recognized in a blind reading of their work.
So how do Voices from across the internet say writers can find their voices?
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Describe yourself in three adjectives. Example: snarky, fun, and flirty.
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Ask (and answer) the question: “Is this how I talk?”
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Imagine your ideal reader. Describe him in detail. Then, write to him, and only him. Example: My ideal reader is smart. He has a sense of humor, a short attention span, and is pretty savvy when it comes to technology and pop culture. He's sarcastic and fun, but doesn't like to waste time. And he loves pizza.
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Jot down at least five books, articles, or blogs you like to read. Spend some time examining them. How are they alike? How are they different? What about how they're written intrigues you? Often what we admire is what we aspire to be. Example: Copyblogger, Chris Brogan, Seth Godin, Ernest Hemingway, and C.S. Lewis. I like these writers, because their writing is intelligent, pithy, and poignant.
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List your favorite artistic and cultural influences. Are you using these as references in your writing, or avoiding them, because you don't think people would understand them. Example: I use some of my favorite bands' music in my writing to teach deeper lessons.
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Ask other people: “What's my voice? What do I sound like?” Take notes of the answers you get.
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Free-write. Just go nuts. Write in a way that's most comfortable to you, without editing. Then go back and read it, asking yourself, “Do I publish stuff that sounds like this?”
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Read something you've recently written, and honestly ask yourself, “Is this something I would read?” If not, you must change your voice.
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Ask yourself: “Do I enjoy what I'm writing as I'm writing it?” If it feels like work, you may not be writing like yourself. (Caveat: Not every writer loves the act of writing, but it's at least worth asking.)
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Pay attention to how you're feeling. How do you feel before publishing? Afraid? Nervous? Worried? Good. You're on the right track. If you're completely calm, then you probably aren't being vulnerable. Try writing something dangerous, something a little more you. Fear can be good. It motivates you to make your writing matter.
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Write all the time. Finding your voice takes time. Experiment with different voices and writing styles. If you’re most comfortable writing romance novels, try your hand at thrillers. If you’re used to writing novels, try a short story. Take a writing course with other aspiring authors in order to hone your writing skills and expose yourself to different styles and examples of voice. If you’re experiencing writer’s block, give blogging or freewriting a try. Sometimes, letting your mind wander and writing for writing’s sake can be a powerful tool, allowing your mind to unearth an almost unconscious writing style. It often takes many years and thousands of pages for a writer’s true voice to emerge, so be patient with yourself. Good writing takes time, and developing a writer’s voice can take even longer.
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Sit down and ask yourself what kind of author you want to be. Decide what experience you want your reader to have.
Most importantly, be yourself. Find inspiration from your favorite authors and allow it to guide you when developing your style. Part of being a writer is being a reader. Knowing what draws you to an author is crucial in creating your own voice. Everyone has an influence, just don’t lose your voice trying to emulate someone else.
As writers, we all might be a little crazy to do what we do, so make sure you’re doing it in a way that makes you happy. Whether you’re writing a romantic comedy, thriller, or memoir, remember that your story is important and your voice is needed.
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Character, Character, Character, And Story
To achieve authenticity, you need to not start off by worrying about voice. If you do that, you will end up imposing some excessively designed voice over the head of your character. Really, it has to work the other way round. You find the style that suits your character and work with that. I’ve put a chunk of my own first-person prose down below (so you can look at it and laugh at me), but character can influence voice even when it’s not first person.
For a remarkable exercise in third-person character determining voice, try Brooklyn by the wonderful Colm Toibin. What you notice in that book is how little the author appears to do. How much is not said. But that’s because the protagonist is herself from a limited background without much range of personal expression. The intensity of the novel arises from what Toibin called – only a little pretentiously – a system of silences. Character determining voice.
And if character is mostly paramount, then story matters, too. The voice that Toibin used for Brooklyn would not work well at all for (say) my own Fiona Griffiths detective stories, and vice versa. If you start with character and story, then write as well as you can, you’re most of the way to doing what you need.
Remember Imagery, Yes, But Also Everything Else
When it comes to ‘fine writing’, a lot of people have a strange idea that it’s all to do with imagery or sentence structure. And sure, if you have those in your armoury, then why not? But other elements of voice abound. For example:
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Rhythm
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Length of sentences and paras
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Vocabulary (broad or narrow, both can work)
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Vocabulary as a palette (for example, a book might cleave very tightly to agricultural and natural images, colours and allusions)
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Lyricism versus stony realism
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Humour
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Warmth
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Irony
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Does the book stick close to one or more characters, or does the narratorial voice sometimes protrude?
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Descriptive or terse?
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Minute dissection of moments, emotions, thoughts? Or very sweeping? Intimate or wide-angle?
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Does the writer tease the reader? Are mysteries left to linger unsolved?
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Present tense or past? And how are those tenses deployed?
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Preference for Anglo-Saxon vocabulary or Latinate, French?
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Smoothness or unexpectedness? Does the voice remain very consistent in tone, or does it move around to surprise the reader?
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If you’d like to share any comments or thoughts, I’d be happy to hear from you. Email me directly at lisacliffordwriter@gmail.com.