Who are the voiciest of the voice-y authors?

Kitty Pryde · Oct 28, 2009

Okay, I've been thinking a lot about voice, particularly using a unique/weird voice without sounding baffling, annoying, or like I'm a bad writer. So could you give me some suggestions for who has done the strangest voices well? (Preferably voice of a 1st person POV narrator, but I'll take a strangely-voiced character's dialogue too!) I'm already thinking of "The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon, and "Tender Morsels" by Margo Lanagan. I'd like to read some other unusual or strange voiced novels. You got any for me?

PS I tried James Joyce numerous times and I just can't read him

PPS Bonus points for anyone with sage advice on practicing an unusual voice without committing atrocities against the english language!

The Lonely One · Oct 28, 2009

I'll return with some examples if I can think of them.

As for writing a strange voice without sounding weird, I have to say I'm a fan of less is more.

If a voice is so convoluted with misspellings and strange syntax that it steals the attention from the story (unless it's meta) I'm likely going to stride away.

What works best for me, as a reader, is one or two phrases that replace other more common phrases, with respect to dialect, and new terminology (I'm thinking sci-fi) is okay too if it's readily clear what things are.

A plethora of apostrophes and hyphens and phonetics are going to turn me away immediately.

Voice should also lend itself to pacing. I'll think of more later but I've got to jet for now.

TrixieLox · Oct 28, 2009

In terms of young adult fiction, Meg Rosoff is fantastic if you want 'voicey voice'.

Deleted member 42 · Oct 28, 2009

Kitty, pick a favorite much beloved and thoroughly familiar book. Preferably one in the genre you're interested in writing.

Look at the dialogue--spoken and internal--of the characters. Look at the way they construct sentences, and the words they use.

Amarie · Oct 28, 2009

I just read Horns and Wrinkles by Joesph Helgerson and was immediately struck by the voice. It's middle grade, so it's the voice of a quirky child.

m&ms · Oct 28, 2009

tenderness - cormier
(really strange and strong pov) You Don't Know Me - David Klass
free will - lynch (told in second person)
step from heaven - an na (more poetic than strange)
make lemonade - virginia wolff (sort of like color purple for kids)

blacbird · Oct 28, 2009

Mark Twain
Kurt Vonnegut
William Faulkner
Carson McCullers
Willa Cather
Gabriel Garcia Marquez (whose voice even transcends translation)

caw

Toothpaste · Oct 28, 2009

Mine.

No I'm not joking, they have a very unique voice - it's technically mine (as my friends when they read the books comment on how much it reads like I'm telling them a story), but my natural voice is pretty voice-y.

Yes. That makes sense. Hmm.

I think the key to making a voice strong but not too obnoxious is to cheat a little. Most people think you need to adopt the very strong voice throughout the entire book, that everything you write, every sentence/paragraph has to be written in an unusual way, but if you just dot the quirks in here and there it gives the illusion that there's colour and character, without it coming across as too much to handle.

Smish · Oct 28, 2009

You write MG, right? Then I recommend anything by Jerry Spinelli.

m&ms · Oct 28, 2009

ooh forgot to add. well this is more ya lol, but that's what i'm reading right now.
confessions of georgia nicholson
lemony snicket series
but those are both humorous, strong voices.

willietheshakes · Oct 28, 2009

James Kelman and Irvine Welsh were the first two that came to mind for me...

Juliette Wade · Oct 28, 2009

There's a great voice in Jacqueline Carey's book, Kushiel's Dart. I actually analyzed it on my blog, so here's a link if you're curious.

I also wrote a long post discussing the quirks of different voices, here. The voices are from my own (published and unpublished) works, but I also reference an interesting post by S. Boyd Taylor. If you're interested in exploring how to develop voices, you might find it helpful.

Kitty Pryde · Oct 28, 2009

Smish said:
You write MG, right? Then I recommend anything by Jerry Spinelli.

Yay! Thanks! I write YA, MG, and adult stuff. Jerry Spinelli is definitely on my favorites list from childhood, but I recently started rereading some of his stuff and it's still great.

scarletpeaches · Oct 28, 2009

I advise against trying to be voicey. Just find your own.

geardrops · Oct 28, 2009

Two of my litsnob faves are pretty voicey: Faulkner and Camus.

Dostoevsky is pretty distinct, though thick.

Hemingway stands out. Not a fan of his stories, but he's got unique prose.

I can pick Bradbury and Gaiman out of a crowd, but that may be because I've read too much of them.

Edward Gorey is very voicey.

That's what I can think of, off the top of my head.

Gravity · Oct 28, 2009

My first three published novels were written in first-person POV, and my agent thought the voice was strong. You can read the first chapter of each on my website under "works" (dunno if you'll like them, though).

Kitty Pryde · Oct 28, 2009

scarletpeaches said:
I advise against trying to be voicey. Just find your own.

I'm not trying to force voiciness so much as trying to figure out how much I can let loose with an unusual voice, and how best to go about it. How can I let the character be himself without it looking like bad writing? The rules, I want to understand them and then break them!

I feel pretty comfortable with writing in a couple of different voices, as far as I have developed them right now, so it's not a concern with voice in general.

Millicent M'Lady · Oct 28, 2009

I find you can always tell a Roddy Doyle book by the voice. Wracking my brains trying to think of others but I can't. I'm sure I'll be back though...

geardrops · Oct 28, 2009

gnfisher said:
You don't like Faulkner? Ben's narration in SOUND AND THE FURY is a pretty weird one, the first part of the book. And a good example of what I think you're getting at and asking about.

Also, if you pick up AS I LAY DYING, each chapter is narrated from a different character's perspective, and each has a unique voice, viewpoint, set of concerns... really good book.

"My mother is a fish."

Love it.

Kathleen42 · Oct 28, 2009

dempsey said:
Edward Gorey is very voicey.

Shhhhh. You'll scare the children.

Kathleen42 · Oct 28, 2009

I don't know about the unusual part. Voiciest authors on my shelves are Douglas Adams, Neil Gaiman, and Nick Hornby.

The Road had a pretty unique style and voice but it's the only thing by CM I've read.

If you're specifically looking for YA or MG, maybe The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

backslashbaby · Oct 28, 2009

I think Gunter Grass would qualify (Guenter? There's an umlaut over the 'u', so I like the 'e' but I don't want to screw up your text search). The Tin Drum is very voicey, I think. It's quite odd. I like it.

suki · Oct 28, 2009

Some YA voicey authors:

M.T. Anderson is at the top of my list of voice-heavy authors - every book has a strong, distinctive voice, and each distinct from the other books.

I'd also say these three are strong on voice, too:
Francesca Lia Block
Marcus Zusak
Malina Marchetta (at least Jellicoe Road)

Madison · Oct 28, 2009

Annie Dillard!

dawinsor · Oct 28, 2009

Ingrid Law's SAVVY is very voicy. So is Sarah Prineas's MAGIC THIEF. They're both MG.

Scott Lynch's LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA has a strong voice.

And then, on principle, I recommend Bujold's Vorkorsigan saga for all good things, including great voice.

Who are the voiciest of the voice-y authors?

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