Finding a Voice

I think one of the hardest things as a new writer is to find a distinctive voice. My characters all seem to demand their own unique stories, told in their own perspectives. I want to let them speak for themselves, but I also need to fight to lace my own style into the narrative.

In a lot of ways, we are like painters and sculptors, I think. We need to do a large body of work before we can claim a style. But as creative people, we also want to constantly evolve and improve.

The next couple of stories I’m working on are a little different. They’re longer and are packed with more emotion. They still offer romance and heat, but I am giving myself the luxury of developing their backgrounds more.

There are some fears of disappointing the few readers who have discovered me because the stories may not be the same. I know I’ve experienced that sense of betrayal when a beloved author changes their genre or writing style. Isn’t it amazing how vested we are in our favorite writers?

But hopefully, a good story will win the day.