Message Board Topic 4/13

[Comsie]

Whenever someone is writing a story, a piece of their lives and personality goes into every word. It's pretty much unavoidable. It might be in the 'kind' of story they tell, or something in the dialogue, or maybe it's just this invisible 'rhythm' in their words, that lets you know right away who it is. Even when that author tries to do something different...you can tell by their style that it's them. Don't worry...it's a huge compliment. It means their personal 'voice' is coming through.

 

The question this week is...how can an author go about finding a 'voice' of their own? Something that is uniquely 'theirs' and no one elses? It's not like you can come up with a TV sitcom 'catch phrase' or anything, hehehe! But no matter who is writing, there is something special about YOU that nobody else has, and bringing that out in your writing is an ambitious, but attainable, goal for every artist to reach for! What do you think?

[David McLeod]

One of the first "how to write" books I read suggested an exercise that I've found useful. I've since read other books, including the "classic," "Principles of Literary Criticism," by I. A. Richards (1924), that seem to support the notions behind the exercise. It's a simple exercise and can be done with a printed copy of something you've written plus a yellow highlighter, or, on the computer using the similar highlighting feature in some wordprocessors.

 

Take a few pages of something you've written, something you like. Read it aloud and highlight the sentences, phrases, words that strike you as being particularly good. These, according to the author of the exercise, represent your voice.

 

Now, none of the folks I've studied suggest that "knowing" your voice in this way is going to allow you immediately to write better. In fact, none of them suggest that you'll be able to describe your voice after having completed this exercise. It seems that "voice" is somewhat ineffable; however, it is suggested (and I think it's correct) that conducting this exercise often will provide you with a visceral, subconscious understanding of your voice that will improve your writing.

 

If you try it (or have tried it), please let me know how it works (or worked) for you. Oh, the highlighter doesn't have to be yellow.

[Graeme]

My personal view is that you don't go looking for your voice -- it comes to you. By definition, your voice is something that is natural to you, and therefore should just flow out. When you get to the point of writing naturally, your voice is automatically included.

 

Having said that, getting to the point of writing naturally is the hard part. New writers tend to agonise over what they are writing, and so their natural voice is, to some extent, stifled. The way to get past that is to simply write. Write and write some more. As you get more confident, you'll just write what you feel is right, and, suddenly, there's your voice!