What is voice anyway?

You're missing something that may or may not be subtle.

Yes, when I write, I am embodying, not impersonating, the POV character or the narrator. However, the way I do that is unique to me. It's a matter of word choices, syntax, rhythm, punctuation, etc. The way I bring a character and story to life is unique to me and will not be the same as another writer, unless that writer has gift for impersonating my voice.

It's a matter of word choices, syntax, rhythm, punctuation, etc.

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Exactly. Think of the difference of say, two different crime writers. Elmore Leonard and Laurence Block

No matter whose POV they are in, no matter how well you get into that character's head, it's completely clear who is writing the story, because they have very different voices ( or styles. I'm never sure what the difference is between voice and style tbh)

It's like listening to two people tell the same long joke or anecdote -- the story is the same, but the inflection, the emphasis, the actual words used, are different.

Which is why I'm crap at telling jokes.

IdiotsRUs said:

No matter whose POV they are in, no matter how well you get into that character's head, it's completely clear who is writing the story, because they have very different voices ( or styles. I'm never sure what the difference is between voice and style tbh)

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I've always thought of style as a more conscious thing. Like, a book can be in the style of Jane Austen, or something; but the 21st-century writer isn't going to capture the voice of Jane Austen, because their specific word choices and syntax and rhythms are going to be different, even if it's all put together in a way that evokes the memory of her.

Yes, it is subtle. It 's all about sentence structure, long or short. Use of adjectives and (gasp!) adverbs. Choice of verbs and nouns. (Is it a car, or a '56 Chevy?) Amount of description. Choice of emotional words, hard, violent, strong or soft under-stated. How sex is treated or ignored. The use of expletives.

The best example I can think of is a comparison between Faulkner and Hemingway. It doesn't matter which of their books you pick up, you'll know the difference right away. And, even though they tell different stories, all of Hemingway's novel "sound" somewhat alike.

E.B. White, in Strunk and White, says something like never use a long word when a short one will do. Not everyone follows that rule.

One thing I like to do is run the readability/grade level stats in MS Word. Do that on a few random chapters and compare the results. If you have a wide deviation, look at the chapters and try to determine why. Sometimes it's as simple as scientific description, medical terminology, etc. Other times it's because you strayed from your "normal" mode of writing.

Birol said:

It's a matter of word choices, syntax, rhythm, punctuation, etc. The way I bring a character and story to life is unique to me and will not be the same as another writer, unless that writer has gift for impersonating my voice.

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This, and a centered consistency of it throughout a piece of writing. Most famous writers have strongly identifiable "voice" throughout their writing; you won't likely mistake the prose of Hemingway for Faulkner, or Vonnegut for Pynchon, or Joyce Carol Oates for Norman Mailer.

caw

The way I think of voice is this. Tell your story verbally to someone. Note the rhythm of your sentences, how long they are, what kinds of words you use, and things like that. Make your writing the same way. That's your voice.

There's a marvelous recent book on the topic: Ben Yagoda's The Sound on the Page: Style and Voice in Writing.

It's not a how-to book, nor is it an academic book. Just a long discussion of what "style" and "voice" really mean and how they work for different writers. It's a great read--if you enjoy that sort of thing.

zornhau said:

What I don't understand is how a modern author's voice can turn up in their prose. Aren't they usually impersonating a POV character, either in 1st or 3rd person?

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You're probably right in terms of 1st person but still, the authors inject a lot of themselves in the writing so even if the character is 180˚ different from the author, there's still certain subtle characteristics in the writing -- there's no way the authors can completely remove themselves from their creation.

You talked about philosophies, thoughts, world views, etc. all those are extensions of the authors. So even if, as Birol mentioned, the author completely embodies the character, the "author" is still there. That's why it's really difficult to do a 1st person character that is really, totally different from the author.

Now with 3rd person, I'm not sure why that's a problem. Even if you're doing a close 3rd person, there's still an narrator, and the "invisible" narrator is the one describing and observing and writing and reporting through the POV character, so I can definitely see how the narrator can have a separate voice.

Unlike grammar or punctuation that can be taught, "voice" is one of those aesthetic elements of writing that tends to naturally emerge from the soul. Try to think of "voice" as the manner in which writers project themselves artistically. It's sort of the glue in between the words. Also, a writer's voice is usually perceived by the reader, not the author.

Don't worry about your voice. It's something too many beginning authors think about too much sometimes, and that—rather than helping—usually stifles voice. Hardly anyone has a noticeable "voice" when you start writing, but over the course of your career it'll develop. Chances are by the time you have something published, you'll have developed your own voice.

Style and voice are often confusing, and lots of people—like me—often use them interchangeably, which makes it even more confusing. I'd say style is something that can be described—if one were to try—in words, such as the "sharp, concise" style of Hemingway or the "lyrical, flowing" style of Fitzgerald. But voice is harder to describe. You can imitate style, but it's harder to imitate voice. Take two passages describing the exact same thing, from the exact same POV, in the exact same style, and the difference between them is voice. That's the closest I can get, I suppose. Anyway, that's just my opinion, and there's an ocean of them.

Voice is not a choice of subject, theme, moral or character. I suppose you could call these things the writer's mind. The writer's voice is more about microchoices: which word here, how long should this sentence be in comparison to that sentence, what structure should this sentence have. It's what you hear when the prose is read out loud. In a sense, it's the "poetry" of prose.

Joe Moore said:

Unlike grammar or punctuation that can be taught, "voice" is one of those aesthetic elements of writing that tends to naturally emerge from the soul. Try to think of "voice" as the manner in which writers project themselves artistically. It's sort of the glue in between the words. Also, a writer's voice is usually perceived by the reader, not the author.

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This is so true. I had no real perception of 'voice' until several agents and editors told me my voice was poetic. I never saw that.
Linnea