What I learned from reading debut novels
Ten years ago when I was trying to write publishable books, I did what Miss Snark suggested: I read a bunch of debut novels.
— Dark Userpic (@byharryconnolly) August 14, 2015
Remember Miss Snark? So much great advice.
— Dark Userpic (@byharryconnolly) August 14, 2015
Anyway, she suggested that we read a bunch of recent debut novels and work out what they all had in common. So I did. It was voice.
— Dark Userpic (@byharryconnolly) August 14, 2015
Sometimes the characters were thin or changeable. Sometimes the plot was predictable or the setting made no sense.
— Dark Userpic (@byharryconnolly) August 14, 2015
But there was always a strong voice.
Write with a strong distinctive voice, and let the rest follow.
— Dark Userpic (@byharryconnolly) August 14, 2015
Not that any particular voice is going to have universal appeal. I’m a big fan of Richard Stark’s novels, although I can understand why many people wouldn’t be, and A Clockwork Orange is an amazing exercise in voice, probably one of the most outre examples. Then again, I stopped reading Kushiel’s Dart at the word “fustian” because I wanted to read a certain voice and that so wasn’t it.
Voice. It matters.
