Find your Voice Tip#4

Dear Storyteller,

Find your Voice is Tip#4, and I feel like it’s an important one!

Have you ever noticed that your favorite author has a unique “voice” when they write? What does this exactly mean?

Let’s discuss it.

What exactly is an author’s “voice…”

In referencing “finding your voice” in writing, I am not, in any way, shape, or form, insuinating that this is a eupehmism for something “otherworldly.” On the contrary, I reference it as a means of distinction between authors and genres.

Some might use “voice” interchangeably with “style” or “tone,” but either way an author’s voice is something that makes their work stand out and either draws you in or shuts you out when reading.

It morphs over genres and author to author…at least in my experience. And yet its a commonality between authors all at the same time.

How so?

As aforementioned, it provides distinction between authors based on tone and style, and yet it also contains an underlying thread between authors of the same genre. Does that make sense?

Examples of author voices

Have you noticed the difference between more light-hearted novels, which center around romance and whimsy storylines (aka Hallmark types of romance novels) compared to the straight-forward, bare-boned storylines of dystopian or spy novels?

The former typically uses a sugary, romantic “voice” that evokes exactly what is intended-a dreamy, romantic, anything-can-happen anticipation, despite the anticipated bumps along the road that we’ve gotten used to in Hallmark movies.

Ex. “I’d always dreamed of my wedding day. The perfect day with the perfect dress. The perfect groom. Flowers everywhere, and all of nature bursting at the seams, as if in harmony with the idea that this day would remain the most perfect day forever.”

Whereas a chick-flick may utilize more of a “snarky” voice with punchy, witty writing. Oftentimes, the author infuses more sarcasm into the tone of their novel and adds lots of the same sarcastic humor. The following example may lack the humor part, but so you have an idea of what I’m talking about…

Ex. “The alarm rings. Ug, 6:30 a.m…again. Do I really have to head to the office today? Yes. I do. That wasn’t really a question. But, I think, as I slip on my robe and then head into the bathroom to brush my teeth, perhaps the office manager won’t make us stay late…and… I pause. And what? Oh, right, how could I forget! Nate will be there. Ah, Naaate. The handsome, amazing guy in cubicle 12 that I’m totally crushing on, and also the guy that would totally never look at me twice. I blush. Get over him, girl, I tell myself. That’s a dream that will never happen. But sometimes, dreams come true…like today.”

As for the last genre-actually one of my favorites-is that the dystopian and/or spy novels tend to use more of the same type of voice. Very serious, matter-of-fact, mmmm, maybe even, a monotone type of voice.

Ex. “Jack Ryan was the best the CIA had to offer. He knew everything there was about the IRA in Dublin. But things change when you know everything. The hunter becomes the hunted.”

Okay, I made all these examples up on the fly! They’re probably not the best written examples you could have, but hopefully they give you an idea of what I’m trying to share with you; and hopefully, they made you smile, cringe, laugh out loud, or all of the above.

Bottom line: I feel like these “voices” in writing tune you in to exactly what type of novel you’re going to be reading and definitely what type of genre you’ve got in your hands, even without ever seeing the book’s cover or being told what type of genre the book falls under.

Do you agree? Have you had the same experience?

So how do you find your voice?

Finding your voice is fairly simple and easy. It should even come more naturally based on the type of novel you intend to write (YA, new adult, adult), what genre it falls under (fairytale, fantasy, dystopian, spy, military, etc), and what novels you’ve previously read that are similar to what novel you’re planning on writing.

For my own debut novels, I found the medieval Christian fantasy realm to be more akin to the dystopian world of novel writing. My “voice” was naturally more serious, melancholy (because of the sadness and darkness of the times and Finockt’s journey), and contained more of a fairytale quality all at the same time. Not quite like the Disney versions where the narrator of say, Sleeping Beauty, is more jovial and upbeat. Once upon a time there was a king and a queen… My author voice is definitely more stoic, serious, grave, and also probably more… poetic…can I say that? I think I can. I’m not sure. I guess that’s how I tend to see my writing, but it always helps to have an outside opinion in these matters.

Is an author voice easy to implement?

I believe it is fairly easy to implement only because I’ve noticed that I personally gravitate toward particular author “voices” when reading. Generally, the more serious ones. So, I think this reflects in my writing as well.

As a writer, you tend to adopt the tone of voice of those novels you’re used to reading and unconsciously, or consciously, implement a similar tone or style when penning your own.

What about you?

When you naturally think of yourself as a writer, what do you see in your mind’s eye? Are you naturally more serious, witty, fun, upbeat, humorous? Do you wish to portray any of these cool characteristics in your novel? For example, do you want to make people mainly laugh when reading your book? Cry? Keep their eyes wide with all the intrigue and mystery compiled in your story? Do you want them to be light-hearted or sad? Cringing on the edge of their seat?

These are all things to think about and consider when starting your story. You get to choose what ride you take your readers on. And a lot of the emotion and intrigue you invoke in your book all hinges on your voice when writing. Voice sets the tone for the journey your readers will take, and thus, the experience they’ll have while reading it.

Do I have to think about all this in the first draft?

In one sense of it, as I sit here considering all these things and sharing them with you, I found myself asking the writer side of my brain: do they really need to have this all figured out now?

Mmm, actually no. You don’t! I certainly didn’t when I was typing away on my debut trilogy because, somehow, I already had intuitively pieced it all together. Maybe it was easier for me because I’m older than probably most of you. I’d started and stopped novels too many times to count. So, by the time, I actually was serious about completing my first novel, things had changed in my life a lot. I also essentially had a ton of unintentional practice with tone and mood and setting through the Roman Cities course I took in college. That definitely jump started my dive into writing In the Shadow of Emerald Fire. Finishing that novel naturally led me to penning a novella and then several other half-drafted stories right after.

I can’t say throughout them all that I consciously chose a “voice” to write them all in. I mainly chose my “voice,” or what tone I wanted to write in irrespective of anyone else’s thoughts or opinions or whether it was right or wrong.

Please understand, I don’t mean this flippantly. I just mean that I really never entertained the idea that I would ever truly share these stories with anyone outside myself. So, my voice was my “own,” and yet it naturally mirrored the tone (or “voice”) of those books I loved reading. It was just there from the time I started typing it out on my computer.

Side note:

I also think that tone/voice has a lot to do with pacing and sentence structure. If you want to write with more sarcasm, then typically you’ll have shorter, faster sentences. Same with dystopian and spy/thriller novels. You want to propel the reader through the novel as quickly as possible. For the more romantic, Hallmark-type novels, and probably fairytales, I feel like you’ll have more free-flowing sentences that undulate you along as your reading. Kinda like floating on a cloud. Whimsical, gentle, flowing. And the chick-flick type genre tends to coincide more with the spy/thriller/dystopian novels. They’re generally more staccato in their tempo (i.e. pacing).

Pacing, I feel, can be it’s own topic, but I also feel like it ties in really well with voice. So I wanted to make sure that I touched on that here.

What are your thoughts?

Do you agree with this post? What is your reaction to Tip#4 Find your Voice. Do you find it helpful, not so helpful? Feel free to let me know.

Would you like to review the previous writer tips?

Head here to the main page of The Writer’s Nook to review previous tips and tricks on writing.

Until next time…I hope you discover the voice you never knew you had and wield it with humble authority. God bless xoxo