How do you find your own voice?

[ANNIE]

I mean between all the well meaning advice from both novices and experts alike, some of which is invaluable, and the 'rules', the things that you 'have' to do to get the attention of agents or publishers, how do you stay true to your own voice? How do you keep your story yours without falling into a cookie cutter syndrome? Sometimes i feel like I'm sacrificing my individuality in order to please the masses. Any thoughts?

[AdamH]

I think sticking with your own voice is most important. You're truer to yourself and you won't have that guilty feeling that you sold your soul. But have the flexibility to give a little bit if necessary...but not so too much as to compromise that same voice.
Any good publisher will recognize good writing no matter what the voice. I've used this author in a couple other posts (mostly because I'm reading her new book) but JK Rowling has a unique voice that no one before her had. And she found an audience. Or Chuck Palahniuk who wrote Fight Club...no one has that exact choppy writing style of repetives and verbage.
Stick to your voice. It may take longer to break in (especially if no one's out there like you). But you'll be happier when you do because it's truly you.

...at least, that's the advice I give me...:)

[Jamesaritchie]

I mean between all the well meaning advice from both novices and experts alike, some of which is invaluable, and the 'rules', the things that you 'have' to do to get the attention of agents or publishers, how do you stay true to your own voice? How do you keep your story yours without falling into a cookie cutter syndrome? Sometimes i feel like I'm sacrificing my individuality in order to please the masses. Any thoughts?

Writers who have a voice of their own is what publishers want. But there's always a caveat. Just because a voice is your own does not automatically mean it's a good voice. Sometimes there's a balance between natural voice and a voice that sells.

Cookie cutter probably has far more to do with plot than with voice.

Anything you can make work, well, works. But there is writing that people find pleasurable to read, and writing people do not find pleasurable to read. Good voice is one people enjoy reading.

Having said that, I've always thought the best thing to do is please yourself first, and then hope that what pleases you is also the kind of thing that will please others.

[icerose]

I never had to find my voice, my voice is mine so it has always been there. As I write it evolves as the different stories take on different view points and tones the voice evolves. I wouldn't know how to "find" or even purposely change my voice. It is mine and it comes as it comes.

[Sara Rachael Hope]

1st i have to say: hi icerose! guess who? i'm so excited you r on the aw boards and i miss talking to you...it's been way 2 long.
finding my voice? i hesitate quite often to do it 'cause i am in an old genetic programming mode (quite often) not to speak since i was told to be seen and not heard and quite often feel that i may be invisible and others are deaf and may not hear me...so i like to speak louder of course!
Typing at the keyboard is like writing from my brain with my fingers. i'm better off having someone else re-read (or edit) 'cause i'm afraid i might delete it all when i'm done and it's probably best for readers to not read all the anger.
I like to 'spill' and then see where it takes me. that's probably why u (icerose) once said that i should have started my book with a timeline (which was good advice for me 'cause i get on tangents) and i'm gonna try to do that one day with the next book (which unfortunately is already 250 unedited pages already and so now i have given myself a job already-ugh!). ultimately it all comes together though!
if it's meant to be it will be, huh?

[Mistook]

Well, first and foremost, you have to develop a voice.

It can't really be said that you have a voice until you've learned the conventions and are in a position to put your own spin on "the rules". If you want to try sitting down and inventing your own rules from the start, good luck, but odds are, that "natural" voice is the voice of every rejected peice of slush.

Why?

Because the natural tendency is to write the way that is easiest for the author:
*long passages of expository prose, info-dumps a mile a minute
*inability to commit to a point of view
*shying away from real action in favor of distanced, post-action summaries
*cheep dialogue to advance the plot
*shallow characterizations
*poorly constructed descriptions of scenery and action
*cliche's everywhere
*passive sentence structure
*overuse of adverbs and adjectives
*overuse of pronouns
*overuse of thesaurus terms which nobody without a thesaurus can decrypt
*lack of attention to pacing
*predictable plotline


Any natural instinct will lead you to into all those "sins" because they require less work and less thought, and on some level, they are all instinctive. Not caring about the above makes life easy for you as a writer, but makes things miserable for the reader.

The trick is to learn and understand the "rules" and then put your personality back into the equation, bending and breaking said "rules" with a decent amount of authority. This is how the "voice" is developed.

If it seems ridiculous, then compare it to music. Even for a gifted singer, a certain amount of training is required before they find their voice. Things like "pitch" and "dynamic" are critical. Nobody likes an out of tune singer, or a screamer who has to strangle him/herself every time they hit a high note. It's just grating.

You may have mastered other forms of writing. But fiction - and especially novel length fiction - is a new ballgame. You have to come to terms with the "rules" before you can begin any discussion about your artistic integrity.

[scribbler1382]

Once you've developed or found your voice, I think the trick comes in maintaining it while you're revising. I go through stints where I get very methodical about revision, trying to satisfy all the "rules" to the letter. What I end up with is a lean, active story that's about as much fun to read as the back of a shampoo bottle. Eventually, I ease back off until I find a comfortable middleground. It's sort of like a recipe. You need salt and sugar to make cookies, but too much of either and they'll taste like crap, even though they'll still be cookies. ;)

[watcher]

Annie

Do you have a sense that you have found your own voice? Or are you still looking?

If the answer to the first question is yes then go with your gut and don't make any changes that it doesn't like.

If the answer to question 2 is yes then read, read, read, and write, write, write, and one day you will look at what you've written and know it's in your own voice.

[Sara Rachael Hope]

One of my biggest difficulties with my inner voice is that it 'speaks' much faster than I can type so I enduptypinglikethiscauseiamtootiredtohitthespaceba rkeyandallthepunctuationkeysandallthe#keys (unlesstheyareeasier cause I need to take a breather and it is shorter to hit # then type the word number!
I also hate the capital key button and the space bar button makes too much additional noise.
It would be nice if there was a program that could put all the punctuation, spaces, #'s and capitals in for me. For that matter, it would probably work best if my inner voice could just speak and it would type itself on the screen.
I never learned to type for real.
Have u noticed?
And my daughter is teaching me to lol and lyk, do all kinds of nasty typos! She's 14 and into IMing and boy, does she have a voice! ttyl (talk to u later!)

P.S. Don't think a publisher would be pleased to read a lot of my stuff though, unless I continue to hit this space bar (which keeps my right hand ring finger numb!). And "NO" i'm not gonna learn how to type 'cause she types 100wpm and i want to get there! And no...i'm not gonna shut my inner voice up 'cause i won't be able to keep up with her!
:D

[scribbler1382]

You're mixing up voice terms. When someone is trying to "find their own voice", that means finding their style, their unique way of writing. You know, the way you can read The Talisman and just know which parts King wrote. Now, the "inner voice" is most often referred to as the "muse". That's the annoying mensch that keeps saying things like "John pulls out a gun" when you're trying to write a wedding scene. :)

[loquax]

The most annoying thing is having your voice change whilst you're writing. Obviously, and especially for first-timers, you learn more as you go along. When I compare my first chapter to some of the later ones, it's as if they were written by completely different people. I suppose that's what editing and redrafting is for.

[Perks]

Well, first and foremost, you have to develop a voice.

It can't really be said that you have a voice until you've learned the conventions and are in a position to put your own spin on "the rules". If you want to try sitting down and inventing your own rules from the start, good luck, but odds are, that "natural" voice is the voice of every rejected peice of slush.

Why?

Because the natural tendency is to write the way that is easiest for the author:
*long passages of expository prose, info-dumps a mile a minute
*inability to commit to a point of view
*shying away from real action in favor of distanced, post-action summaries
*cheep dialogue to advance the plot
*shallow characterizations
*poorly constructed descriptions of scenery and action
*cliche's everywhere
*passive sentence structure
*overuse of adverbs and adjectives
*overuse of pronouns
*overuse of thesaurus terms which nobody without a thesaurus can decrypt
*lack of attention to pacing
*predictable plotline


You may have mastered other forms of writing. But fiction - and especially novel length fiction - is a new ballgame. You have to come to terms with the "rules" before you can begin any discussion about your artistic integrity.

Wow, why does that feel like an indictment? Ugh. Great post and straight to the heart, I mean, point. I'm gonna go put an icepack on my head and then print this off poster-size. Thanks!

[Julie Worth]

...how do you stay true to your own voice?


You'll have less trouble with voice if you write very fast. Too fast for the part of your mind that says, hey, that’s not Hemingway! Or Faulkner, or whoever it is you admire. Once you get into the flow and words are tumbling out as fast as you can type them, then that’s your voice.

[DragonHeart]

I 'stay true' to my voice by writing. I don't think about the rules or conventions, I just let my writing do whatever it wants. My first drafts are usually very rough because of this, but at least it's unmistakably mine. Then, while drafting and revising, I only make changes when it feels right to me. I try to balance between what I like and what makes sense, since sometimes what I like has no practical use in the story.

Of course, I'm unpublished at the moment, so make of it what you will.

~DragonHeart~

[Sara Rachael Hope]

You'll have less trouble with voice if you write very fast. Too fast for the part of your mind that says, hey, that’s not Hemingway! Or Faulkner, or whoever it is you admire. Once you get into the flow and words are tumbling out as fast as you can type them, then that’s your voice.
I agree julie! And the hardest part is taking the time to correctly put in punctuation and making it so the reader knows what I am talking about as I am talking using my fingertips. They sometimes begin to hurt and need to take a break!...
Wish I could ask Uncle Jim what to do. It still would be nice not to have to type and just record and have it all appear on the page!
The faster I write though the more comes out and I need to type even faster in order for it all to spill out. I get confused though when I have to take a break. I've had difficulties with periods and commas for a long time and can probably type the longest sentence in history. Maybe we should have a contest....Uh, oh. Hope I didn't give someone the bright idea to start another thread. I won't even have the time to eat or sleep or go to the bathroom if I keep this up 'cause I won't be able to MAKE myself get off this laptop. The AW web site is way toooo interesting!
Thanks for all your voices. And by the way...I love Thoreau! Thanks for quoting him! Now I have to read what I wrote? Don't want to have any typos...
Here goes....then I will send it!
Promise.
P.S. Now that I've read it I just need to tell you I could probably work on it the rest of the day 'cause I think it's a piece of sh** as i think most of my writing is. That's why I don't consider myself a writer and dont like to write 'cause I am way too critical of myself...and i really know how to write properly using dotted i's and crossed t's. it's just easier not to sometimes.

Enough of my voice. i need to shut up now and hit submit.
Hope you all have a wonderful day!
Regards (and blessings!),
D.
And have u noticed I like using !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this key?

[aruna]

You'll have less trouble with voice if you write very fast. Too fast for the part of your mind that says, hey, that’s not Hemingway! Or Faulkner, or whoever it is you admire. Once you get into the flow and words are tumbling out as fast as you can type them, then that’s your voice.

This is very true. Another thing that slows you down is writing to a publisher's demand/command, or with your editor practically looking over your shoulder; this happened to me with two books and they were very slow.

[azbikergirl]

I agree julie! And the hardest part is taking the time to correctly put in punctuation and making it so the reader knows what I am talking about as I am talking using my fingertips. They sometimes begin to hurt and need to take a break!...
Nobody but you needs to see your first draft. Once you have the story down, you can take thestuffthatlookslikethisandisallruntogether and turn it into real English. If you need to type that fast to get the story down, do it. You can fix it later.
Wish I could ask Uncle Jim what to do. It still would be nice not to have to type and just record and have it all appear on the page!

You can, on both accounts. Ask him in the Uncle Jim thread, or wait until he sees this one and responds. And/or check into dictation and transcription software, which enables you to speak into a mic and have the software transcribe your words. Problem is you may need to slow down your speech anyway so the software can keep up, so it may be easier to just develop your typing so you can type about as fast as you can recite the story to yourself.

When I'm visualizing a scene, I slow it down in my head -- play the tape not quite in slo-mo, just not at full tilt. That lets me type the most important aspects. I can go back later and fill in the details of scenery and any necessary exposition.

[ANNIE]

Annie

Do you have a sense that you have found your own voice? Or are you still looking?

.
Watcher, yes I have found my own voice and I try to follow the rules so expertly posted by mistook. But my problem is questioning if other people's opinions about certian phrases or words that i use are better than the way I originally wrote it. I try to use what I think is valuble and ditch the rest. the problem is sometimes I can't tell the difference.

[James D. Macdonald]

You find your own voice by writing a lot and rewriting it carefully. Then writing another book. And another.

[icerose]

Hi Sara ;)

Nice to see you here. I am glad you are still writing and I do hope you are able to put it into a timeline. I think it would do wonders for you.

Mistook,

To me those are seperate things. There is Voice and to me there is the Craft. With voice it is the way I write and I don't fit any mold. It is the way I write and how it sounds. The craft of writing takes endless amounts of honing and finetuning, but overall I feel this only improves your natural voice, your flair as I would like to call it. Perhaps I am seperating the two, but they have always been different for me. :)

Sara





1st i have to say: hi icerose! guess who? i'm so excited you r on the aw boards and i miss talking to you...it's been way 2 long.
finding my voice? i hesitate quite often to do it 'cause i am in an old genetic programming mode (quite often) not to speak since i was told to be seen and not heard and quite often feel that i may be invisible and others are deaf and may not hear me...so i like to speak louder of course!
Typing at the keyboard is like writing from my brain with my fingers. i'm better off having someone else re-read (or edit) 'cause i'm afraid i might delete it all when i'm done and it's probably best for readers to not read all the anger.
I like to 'spill' and then see where it takes me. that's probably why u (icerose) once said that i should have started my book with a timeline (which was good advice for me 'cause i get on tangents) and i'm gonna try to do that one day with the next book (which unfortunately is already 250 unedited pages already and so now i have given myself a job already-ugh!). ultimately it all comes together though!
if it's meant to be it will be, huh?

[aka eraser]

Write. A lot.

For years I refused to read any humourists for fear I'd unconsciously mimic some aspect of their writing. I was truly paranoid about it. The "cure" took about two years and nearly a hundred columns. Now I'm secure that my voice is my own and I can read, and enjoy, other humourists' work without fear of them bleeding into me.

[Jamesaritchie]

One other thing I'll say about voice is this: I try very hard not to write in my voice, but in the voice of the POV character. I want my writing to reflect who that character is, how that character thinks and speaks, not who I am. and not how I think and speak. For me, voice changes with character and with story.

[icerose]

One other thing I'll say about voice is this: I try very hard not to write in my voice, but in the voice of the POV character. I want my writing to reflect who that character is, how that character thinks and speaks, not who I am. and not how I think and speak. For me, voice changes with character and with story.

This is probably why people say my voice changes with each book. Because I am pretty sure I do this, but it is accidental for me rather than intentional. That explains a lot, thanks James.

[cwfgal]

Over a decade ago, an instructor in a writing class I took read one of my pieces and told me I had finally found my voice. I didn't know what he meant then and couldn't have identified my own "voice" if you paid me a million bucks to do it. Not sure I could even now, but I do have a better feel for what voice is. It's a writing style, the way your words flow, the way you phrase things, the underlying tone of the narrative. As someone else said, it's the things that allow you to pick out a particular author's prose in a jointly written book.

I don't worry much about voice anymore (though I fretted about it for months after that instructor's comment). I trust that my voice is in there; I don't need to identify it. I just write, which is how my voice apparently found its way into the world in the first place.

Beth

[loquax]

One other thing I'll say about voice is this: I try very hard not to write in my voice, but in the voice of the POV character. I want my writing to reflect who that character is, how that character thinks and speaks, not who I am. and not how I think and speak. For me, voice changes with character and with story.
Wouldn't this only really apply to first-person? I think the author's 'voice' only really comes through when writing narrative. In this way, dialogue and first person pieces should be un-identifiable.

[Jamesaritchie]

Wouldn't this only really apply to first-person? I think the author's 'voice' only really comes through when writing narrative. In this way, dialogue and first person pieces should be un-identifiable.

Some would make this argument, but it doesn't hold with the way I write. Let's say, for instance, that you write a third person novel where the main character is an uneducated youth from the backwoods. I don't think the narrative should be written as if a Harvard professor were the main character. The reverse is also true. If the main character is a Harvard professor of English, the narrative should not sound like he's a backwoods country boy.

For a main character who's a country boy, you work country expressions, and a country rhythm into the narrative. Or at least I do.

I do believe the narrative is only a reflection, but it's the denseness, the rhythm, the sound of it that matters.

[brinkett]

I was always a little confused about what exactly "voice" meant until I started following the AW Idol competition. After several weeks, if the entries had been posted with no identification, I could have correctly guessed the author of each piece. As someone else said, it's the style the author tends to use. It helped me to recognize my own style, or voice, as it were, and to edit without eliminating it.

What James is talking about is giving characters their own voice. This is separate from the writer's voice. Even when working the character's voice into the narrative, the writer's style can still be discerned.

So for those struggling with voice, all those Idol entries are still up. Start at week one and read all the entry threads. You'll soon realize that after reading a few pieces from the same author, you'd be able to identify the author's work based solely on their style, or voice.

[reph]

Wouldn't a writer's voice change slowly between, say, age 20 and age 70, along with the writer's personality?

[Jamesaritchie]

Wouldn't a writer's voice change slowly between, say, age 20 and age 70, along with the writer's personality?

You would think so. I see it with some writers, less so with others. It may be that who we are at twenty is still who we are at seventy. I haven't noticed Norman Mailer's voice changing much over the years, and I don't see much change in Hemingway between his early writing and his later works.

Maybe a little refinement, a little more vocabulary, but nothing really noticeable.

[gp101]

I used to shamelessly copy the "voice" or "style" of my favorite writers when I approached a new idea. But I'm anal about revision, and a story that takes me two months to pound out (if all is going well) will take eight months to revise. Doesn't help my real job(s) take up sixty hours a week.

I've found that in this ridiculously long revision period, I changed so many elements of my writing, that my own voice came out. Finally! But it all started with purposely copying some other author's style. Of course, it was always an author I admire, and I probably fell way short of how they would have written the same story.

Now, I don't have to "copy" like I did before. I'm confident enough in my own voice that I don't have to. Not that anyone else will enjoy my voice but me. But it's a start.

And I'm now reminded of a priceless quote... off a bumper sticker:

"People are jealous because the voices only talk to me."

[loquax]

James, what you say may well be true, but I still think that that your writing style would have that certain je ne sais quoi that separates you from all other writers. And that's your voice.

[Jamesaritchie]

James, what you say may well be true, but I still think that that your writing style would have that certain je ne sais quoi that separates you from all other writers. And that's your voice.

Yes, I don't think it's possible to remove voice completely. And in truth, I'm not sure I even mean voice. Voice and style are closely related, but there is a difference between the two. My style changes radically, depending on genre, story, and character, but I suspect my voice is always present to a degree, whatever the changes in my style.