Have You Seen My Voice?
Has anyone ever asked you a question, and when you tried to answer it, you just ended up with more questions? The other day on Facebook, Randy Peyser, author/ consultant from Author One Stop, posted the following status: "Have you discovered your writer's voice?" Simple question; it should precede a simple answer. Nothing is ever simple for me and one day I'll admit it to myself. This was not the day for admissions. I thought carefully for a few minutes and decided some quick research was in order.
Wikipedia defines "Writer's Voice" as a: "literary term used to describe the individual writing style of an author . Voice was generally considered to be a combination of a writer's use of syntax , diction , punctuation , character development , dialogue , etc., within a given body of text (or across several works). Voice can be thought of in terms of the uniqueness of a vocal voice machine. As a trumpet has a different voice than a tuba or a violin has a different voice than a cello, so the words of one author have a different sound than the words of another. One author may have a voice that is light and fast paced while another may have a dark voice."
A quick search of Google leads me to a blog by "The Adventurous Writer" Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen who opens her blog with "Ask five writers 'What is writer's voice?', and you'll get 15 different answers." Hmmmm…this was not encouraging.
A third source, "About.com (Fiction Writing)" says: "Definition: Voice has two meanings as it concerns creative writers: Voice is the author's style , the quality that makes his or her writing unique, and which conveys the author's attitude, personality, and character; or
Voice is the characteristic speech and thought patterns of a first-person narrator; a persona. Because voice has so much to do with the reader's experience of a work of literature, it is one of the most important elements of a piece of writing."
None of this was getting me any closer to answering the original question: HAD I discovered MY writer's voice? Well, obviously not. I had no idea….Oh No! Did that mean my writing didn't HAVE a voice? Doesn't every writer have a unique voice? The questions came faster then. Isn't our voice influenced as much by what we read as by what we experience? Is it really possible to have a unique voice, without falling into the trap of echoing our favourite writers? How do we avoid cliché and still have vivid descriptive that doesn't sound forced? The last being something I've been accused of several times.
See, this is where I get confused. An Example: "I detested the way the scent of the place crept into my clothes and clung, with the tenacity of a dense ex-boyfriend, long after I'd left the office." When I wrote this sentence, two readers suggested I cut it. Two others thought it was near-genius. I'm still not sure, myself. I came close to writing "like a burr", but two things stopped me. First; the phrase didn't capture just how pervasive the scent was. Second; it sounded too cliché. If I hadn't used the more original description, wouldn't I be stifling my voice?
Then the frightening entities Grammar and Punctuation, my greatest obstacles, stuck their hairy, bulbous noses in. Where do we draw the line between "correct" writing and individuality? If I over-edit, will I remove whatever voice I might have?
Would it be better if I planned for voice before I begin, or just write and hope it manifests itself somewhere along the way? Do I want it to be subtle or obvious? Is my voice a whisper, a shout, or a scream? Once I find my voice, how am I to define it?
All these questions still seem a little pre-emptive, as I have yet to discover my voice. To be brutally honest, I still don't have the answers. Have YOU seen my voice; and if you have, could you PLEASE explain it to me?
Wikipedia defines "Writer's Voice" as a: "literary term used to describe the individual writing style of an author . Voice was generally considered to be a combination of a writer's use of syntax , diction , punctuation , character development , dialogue , etc., within a given body of text (or across several works). Voice can be thought of in terms of the uniqueness of a vocal voice machine. As a trumpet has a different voice than a tuba or a violin has a different voice than a cello, so the words of one author have a different sound than the words of another. One author may have a voice that is light and fast paced while another may have a dark voice."
A quick search of Google leads me to a blog by "The Adventurous Writer" Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen who opens her blog with "Ask five writers 'What is writer's voice?', and you'll get 15 different answers." Hmmmm…this was not encouraging.
A third source, "About.com (Fiction Writing)" says: "Definition: Voice has two meanings as it concerns creative writers: Voice is the author's style , the quality that makes his or her writing unique, and which conveys the author's attitude, personality, and character; or
Voice is the characteristic speech and thought patterns of a first-person narrator; a persona. Because voice has so much to do with the reader's experience of a work of literature, it is one of the most important elements of a piece of writing."
None of this was getting me any closer to answering the original question: HAD I discovered MY writer's voice? Well, obviously not. I had no idea….Oh No! Did that mean my writing didn't HAVE a voice? Doesn't every writer have a unique voice? The questions came faster then. Isn't our voice influenced as much by what we read as by what we experience? Is it really possible to have a unique voice, without falling into the trap of echoing our favourite writers? How do we avoid cliché and still have vivid descriptive that doesn't sound forced? The last being something I've been accused of several times.
See, this is where I get confused. An Example: "I detested the way the scent of the place crept into my clothes and clung, with the tenacity of a dense ex-boyfriend, long after I'd left the office." When I wrote this sentence, two readers suggested I cut it. Two others thought it was near-genius. I'm still not sure, myself. I came close to writing "like a burr", but two things stopped me. First; the phrase didn't capture just how pervasive the scent was. Second; it sounded too cliché. If I hadn't used the more original description, wouldn't I be stifling my voice?
Then the frightening entities Grammar and Punctuation, my greatest obstacles, stuck their hairy, bulbous noses in. Where do we draw the line between "correct" writing and individuality? If I over-edit, will I remove whatever voice I might have?
Would it be better if I planned for voice before I begin, or just write and hope it manifests itself somewhere along the way? Do I want it to be subtle or obvious? Is my voice a whisper, a shout, or a scream? Once I find my voice, how am I to define it?
All these questions still seem a little pre-emptive, as I have yet to discover my voice. To be brutally honest, I still don't have the answers. Have YOU seen my voice; and if you have, could you PLEASE explain it to me?
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