I couldn't copy/past my prepared entry this morning. So being a fan of SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE, I took that failure as a "sign" and changed my post to the topic that has rattled around in my brain for some time.
I can't find my voice!
I've read the 'how to' books...over and over. I've copied articles galore off the net. I have singlehandedly kept the highlighter companies in business and still...I couldn't find my voice in a paper bag.
Some experts say keep a journal. Others suggest study your email posts. And the list goes on...but where is my voice? How will I know I'm targeting the right stories/publishers if I don't 'know' my voice?
I can spot 'voice' in some of my favorite authors...some I can't....
Study tells me it's a matter of style, tone...use of words...descriptions...I won't bore you with all the things I've read. But I'm still lost!
There's a voice in my head as I write...that's what I type on the page.
I don't belong in the angst/dark stories...I've determined that. Don't have any interest in that area so it makes sense. But...where does my voice fit?
Give me a clue...post your opinion...and enter a drawing to win a copy of my book.
PLEASE!!!!!
22 comments:
I should add I need at least five posts to qualify for a drawing.
Not sure what the issue with posting the blog was this a.m. but I get really frantic when things go wrong...and I can't fix them.
Thanks,
Carol
Okay, this is not my day...lol
Need at least five people to post... to have a drawing.
????
I posted earlier, but it didn't go through.
I think voice = personality. That's all I can suggest. You don't have to work at your own personality. It just is. Ideally our writing should be as natural as ourselves. The problems come with trying to force something different.
The Right Chord, my first book, is about that. The original title was Leopard's Spots which sums it up but wasn't romantic enough :)
Rant alert! For me the term voice is one of those words reviewers and deconstructors use when they're pontificating in front of other reviewers and deconstructors, and which has no importance for fiction writers (or at least this one!).
It's a way of re-affirming superiority by saying, look, I know what you're doing and it's not particulary clever. It's Kafkaesque. That's your voice and that's you boxed off and understood. I know that because you're only a writer, but I'm much more important than that. I understand fiction writing. I don't actually write fiction myself, but I do know all about voices. And I'm now going off to explain why the latest Transformers movie uses Kubrick's non-submersible unit narrative technique and why Barney the purple dinosaur symbolises a post-Freudian juxtaposition of Modernism and the minimalist sense one finds in Imagism.
Meanwhile the reader happily carries on reading what they like, and the writer shrugs and carries on tapping away quietly telling their tales of heros and heroines and impossible dilemmas and adventure and love.
Hahahahaha. Good one Ian. Would Kubriks's non submersible unit be a boat or a floatie?
Actually I don't quite agree, Ian. Different writers have different voices just the same as we all have different speaking voices. I think readers hear it subconsciously, tune in and either like or dislike the style. It's to do with word choice and syntax and rhythm.
As a writer I never think about my voice I just know I write and rewrite until it sounds right.
Thank you Zelda, Elisabeth and Ian for posting. I'm sorry we didn't have five people.
To me voice is 'consuming' because of the references in all the tips I read.
Zelda,
Thanks for your efforts. I'm never sure if it's me...or the internet. I appreciate your post all the same.
Ah, Elisabeth...I almost didn't post my blog because I enjoyed your tour of the US so much...thought it would stay front and center if I stayed away. LOL
Thank you.
Ian,
Loved the rant...my head is still spinning! But I beg to disagree. I can 'hear' several author's voices when I read their books...fiction.
Thanks for posting.
Elisabeth,
Thanks for your comments on voice...personality...I like that. And I totally agree with you that some authors do have a 'sound'...a voice.
I'm not sure if all authors do, or if I just don't read them enough. Shirly Jump, Holly Jacobs, Karen Templeton, Janet Evanovich all have voices that ring in my head when I read them...
So...there it is, folks!
I'm leaving...still searching for "my voice"!
I hope you find yours!!!!!!
Carol
I didn't post before because voice is a mystery area to me. But I know it has to do with personality, as Elizabeth said, but also rhythm and authority. There are authors I read and re-read just because I love the smooth rhythm, seamless transitions, use of word and sentence pacing to evoke emotion. And a writer's voice comes out most clearly when he is writing something he truly KNOWS down to his soul. J.K. Rowling writes with authority, so does Nora Roberts.
How to recognize your voice? Maybe this will work. You are asked to write a scene about children in a park. Right now, without too much thought, what kind of scene do you envision? Light and fluffy, children playing? "Children of the Corn" horror? Something humorous? Dark and mysterious? A lyrical, poetic description? Kids on an adventure?
I think your first, instinctive approach to writing a free-floating scene tells you a lot about your voice--what emotions you'll put in, what tack you'll take, how you'll set the scene. Your technique then chooses the words and phrases that will create your approach. All of that merges into a "voice", the sound, rhythm and authority of your writing when you read it aloud.
Hope this helps. It actually helped me! Thanks, Carol.
Elisabeth, fine to disagree. I was just having a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun, trying to cheer Carol up as she sounded worried. Some writers fill their heads with theory and some just concentrate on telling a great story, and most do something in between.
My point, I guess, was that sometimes theory gets in the way and sometimes it helps. So if you think you have a voice and you can recognize it elsewhere, fine. If you don't, also fine.
Sorry to be responding late, but I wanted to get my 2 cents in. I think it's true that writers all have their own voice (some more than others), but I don't think you should spend a lot of time trying to develop one. I've read things that seemed artificial and contrived, like the author was trying to be something/someone different than himself, like a comedian who's trying too hard - and it's just annoying. Just tell your story and your voice will come through. I'm rather like Ian in that I have little patience for critics who over-analyze, almost like they're trying to show how smart they are by pointing out a writer's shortcomings.
Great advice!
LaVerne...I see sunshine, hear laughter and kids on a slide...
I am frustrated, Ian. But your points are well taken. I agree with Sandy. I think you're right with the over-analyzing...
Thank you.
I like your points, Sandy! Thank you for posting.
And now I count 5!!! I must prepare for a drawing!
So glad you all stopped by...
And hubby drew this name out of the bowl...
Elisabeth
Please send me your mailing information
carolhutchens@ymail.com
Thanks Carol and thanks to your hubby's nimble fingers LOL
This was an interesting discussion.
Carol, I'm a bit late but wanted to leave a comment too. I agree that the voice is "you" just the way you move, so the people who know you will recognize it's you even if you're just a moving shadow.
Don't think about it. Just hone your writing skills. A friend once told me "When I read your books, I can hear you talking." I was thrilled to hear that because it means my voice was there. So just be yourself. The rest will follow.
Would love to win a copy of your book. Hope to have a voice someday too.
I wish I could help you out, now I can talk a mile a minute but I tried to start a blog and could not think of a thing to say one it. But I sure can read books and would love to win some.
mamat2730(at)charter(dot)net
Post a Comment