Voice and POV

I like to think I have a distinct authorial voice, or at least that I am well along in the process of forming one. I don't know what it is exactly, as I don't actively think about it while I'm writing. I try to inject wit and a dash of insight into my work, making the prose itself enjoyable to read.

But as I continue to write the Ashes books, I have become much more aware of my character's voices, and making each of their POV's distinctive. I want the reader to know exactly whose scene it is without even having to read the name that pops up most frequently. This is why, for me, it's hard to write from more than one character's POV in a day. Usually, it's a Millie day or a Pretoria day, so I can really stay in that groove and speak with their voice more authoritatively, without having to go back and re-write whole swaths of it.

In this way, I find Victoria the easiest to write. She's difficult in many ways, but in the manner she speaks, the words she chooses to use, either in dialogue or in prose, she's quite distinct, and I enjoy it when she grows a bit pompous, leaving it up to Millie or Katya to take the piss out of her a bit. Katya, on the other hand, is trickier, since while she is well-educated, English is still her second language.

But as the series goes on and the characters grow and change, so must their voices, and so must I to keep up with them. One of the things about writing novels (and a series in particular) is that it takes a long time, and I change over that time, as well, and so maintaining a consistent voice as an author even as I and the characters both change over the course of months and years is an interesting challenge.