Comments on: Voice–Do You Have One?

By: Alison Kent » Blog Archive » The Voices in Your Head

Alison Kent » Blog Archive » The Voices in Your Head — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 05:06:21 +0000

[...] Summers recently wrote about uncovering one’s writing voice, saying: Voice is something a reader recognizes instinctively. [...]

By: Jordan Summers

Jordan Summers — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:02:20 +0000

Jason, I agree, voice is what makes the writing unique. Voice is hard to define, but really easy to recognize when you’re reading. I still believe it’s ‘how’ a story is told.

By: Jordan Summers

Jordan Summers — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:59:14 +0000

Cherlyn, I think that’s great that you figured that out on your own. I had to try many different styles of writing before my first started to emerge. Stephen King talks about doing that in his book, On Writing. A lot of writers start out by imitating their favorite authors, then eventually morph into their own style/voice.

By: Jason Evans

Jason Evans — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:57:45 +0000

Hard to say what voice is. I guess for me, it’s the sense that what you are reading is distinct from anything else you’ve ever read. Some phantom quality that’s hard to define, but makes the writing unique, consistent, and comfortable.

By: Cherlyn

Cherlyn — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:25:42 +0000

I remember being told to find my voice in writing classes and seminars. I’ve learned that, for me, the best way to truly reveal my voice was to not focus on it. In the sense of “trying” to write in a certain way. When I just focus on writing the story, my voice comes out naturally.

By: Jordan Summers

Jordan Summers — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:02:50 +0000

Bernard, Exactly. Some authors have that distinctive of a voice.

By: Jordan Summers

Jordan Summers — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:02:09 +0000

Vivi, (((Hugs))) I’m still trying to find the genre/s my voice is suited for. It’s difficult. But like I said in the post, ‘Don’t fight your voice just because it doesn’t conform to what you think you should be writing’. It only causes pain.

I’m glad you’ve found where your voice shines. I’m sure it’s a HUGE relief. I think I might have found the genre/s, but I still have one more thing to try to write before I have a definitive answer. Hang in there.

By: Jordan Summers

Jordan Summers — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:57:33 +0000

May, Voice is VERY hard to change. You can hone it, but I doubt very much if you can ‘change’ it. It’s who you are and how you tell stories.

I’m very picky when it comes to first person voice. It has to be just so or I don’t buy the book.

By: Jordan Summers

Jordan Summers — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:55:45 +0000

Raine, Sometimes ‘distinctive’ works in your favor and sometimes it doesn’t. In that case, it’s more a matter of getting your work in front of the editor that digs distinctive work. I know, easier said than done.

As for the reader being able to identify voice, I’m not sure it’s a matter of taking something for granted as much as it being something that they instinctively recognize. It’s what draws them into a story, care about the characters, makes them lose track of time. When the ‘voice’ doesn’t work, many readers say things like ‘the story didn’t resonate with me’ or ‘I couldn’t relate to the characters’ or ‘I didn’t care about the characters’ or ‘I wasn’t sucked into the story’. All these things are affected by the author’s voice. Could there be problems with the plot or under-developed characters? Sure, but readers let those things slide if they’re taken in by the story (the author’s voice).

By: BernardL

BernardL — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:53:03 +0000

I’ve never thought of ‘Writing Voice’ in quite that way; but it’s true. I could read passages from different books, and guess the author’s name a high percentage of the time if I’ve read a few of their novels and liked them.