About voice

Then don't edit. Just write your story as it comes to you and once you reach the end you can go back through it for the technical tweaks. You'll find your voice develops naturally if you don't limit yourself while telling your story. This is absolutely the best way to find your voice.

I've written 5 books and one novella and have noticed a slight change in my voice with each consecutive book. Your writing will evolve with experience.

Can you offer up an example or two to work with? Also, explain what you don't like about them.

This may be a little off topic, but clarity in prose and engaging prose are not mutually exclusive. Rather, they are both desirable and produce incredible writing when they blend.

Back on topic. I understand about the no-nonsense, ordered writing of most (all?) technical projects. But it doesn't have to be thrown out the window when writing fiction. What makes for good fiction (in my opinion) is when it imitates reality or creates a new but totally believable reality. It doesn't have to be poetic to do this. In fact, working too hard to make prose poetic may just get in the way of the story. Write for the reader, who wants to get lost in the story.

Diviner said:

I have always sought clarity, but now I wish to be engaging. Does anyone have any suggestions?

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TOTAL AMATEUR ADVICE FOLLOWS:

Make the plot intriguing, the characters interesting, and the writing invisible.

Yeah, I'm still working on that stuff, but it sounds good, no?

Do exactly what Karen said. Things always work out for the best when you work until "THE END" and then go back.

The way it works for me, my voice is present in the first draft, because I let it flow naturally, but it's only present in the bare bones sense and by the second draft it will be clearly present, and fixed for things such as the vividness you bring up.

Constant revising as you work on getting the story down on paper just kills your natural voice and the wonderful kernels of spontaneity you will be thankful for when you go at it with a red pen.

Edit: Siddow also makes a great point. At least in the first draft, the writing is least important. The writing itself can be as close to perfect and spotless as is possible and it could simply not matter at all because the story it tells is, well, bunk. Focus on the more important parts of the story, such as character, first, especially in the first draft, and the technical aspects of the writing later.

Find out where your main desire is.
Find the spot you see everything from.
Write from there.
(Listen to what everybody's got to say & then forget it all.)
Act as if youre un-self-conscious.
Develop a habit of being un-self-conscious.
Start from there.
Forget the idea of writing anything important.
Forget the idea of writing anything.
Forget the idea of writing.
Write from there.
(Take everything everybody's got to say to heart
& then forget it all.)

Diviner said:

it just doesn't sing.

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Make the STORY sing. Let the prose style sing at times, be cacophonous at times (as a tool), and be white noise (invisible) as well. I can listen to my favorite singers and become lost in their vocals. But if I had to listen to them for the equivalent duration of a 300+ page novel without a break, I'd probably go nuts and never listen to them again. "Voice" includes how you use your prose to tell your story, but that prose is not THE story, and it can get in the way of the story if the author tries too hard to make it sing from start to finish. And that's another thing about voice that I think is important. If the author has to work to make it sing, that in itself may be taking it away from the author's true voice.

Diviner said:

I'd like to do this but I just hate typing. Only if I transcribe almost immediately can I bear to do it. i seldom write short stories, and I could never write a whole novel without transcribing.

Is is counter-productive to do my little bit of editing as I transcribe?

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I wrote my first two books long hand in spiral notebooks. When I was finished writing the book, that's when I'd type it into a document file on the computer. I suggest you do this as well. In fact, I know several writers who write long hand for this very reason, to prevent themselves from editing until they were done with the story. I think that's a good solution for you. Good luck!

Sometimes prose that sings just draws attention to itself.

I can think of a few writers who have done very well with workmanlike prose and a hell of a story.

If you force it - it'll show. Just be yourself.

Sometimes, working on improving a skill feels like taking a giant step backwards. I'm guessing you were at a level of fluency in academic writing where the words poured out without you having to put much thought into exactly which words they should be. Now you've learned a number of new issues to worry about in fiction writing, and you're back to having to think about the words. Of course, that's going to feel forced and awkward. Keep writing. The more you practice the new skills, the sooner you will get comfortable with them.

If said/that/then/was/etc. work for you, then use them. If on a reread they strike you as superfluous, then cut them, but don't cut them just because they're supposedly not vivid writing. C.J. Cherryh, who writes powerful dreamy prose, uses the verb "to be" all the time. Like, all the time. It works for her. Don't let the "rules" cramp your style. If you feel they're cramping it, then scrap them. Run some of your work past other writers (I understand you're already doing this). If they have a problem with your voice, they'll let you know, and then you can think about whether to incorporate some of the "rules" or not.