October 8, 2008 | writing
I was asked by a certain talented, award-winning friend of mine to talk about voice. How you know what yours is, how you know whether it’s any good, how you keep confidence in it and avoid copying others.
I don’t actually know what voice is. I’ve tried to define it, in my school teaching and in my creative writing teaching, and I always reach a stumbling block. The problem is, it’s one of those things that when you read, you know it’s there, or you know it’s missing, and you’re really not sure why or how. Sure, you could do a linguistic analysis of the text and it would tell you that the author tends to use run-on sentences, or so many colloquialisms per page, or Latinate word forms, really likes dashes, etc etc etc. And that might tell you how to copy their voice.
But it doesn’t tell you how they created it. Or what the effect of that voice is. Or how you just instantly “get it” when you read something by someone with a strong, distinctive, compelling voice.
That really doesn’t help in trying to pinpoint how to determine and work on your own voice.
I definitely have different voices when I write, though I couldn’t really define any of them. My M. Phil. thesis is written differently than my educational articles or my blog or my Mills & Boon novels, which are also, I think, in a different voice than my Little Black Dress novels (especially the last two I’ve written). I think someone would be able to find some sort of continuity between them to tell I’ve written them all, but who knows. When I’m writing in first person in character, my voice might change a little bit to suit the character, but I think it still sounds like my writing. I find it easy to read my own writing aloud, which makes me think it fits the cadence of my daily speech, but maybe that’s just because I have it memorised.
So voice is sort of like how you talk, but not really. Hmm.
And there are so many authors who write like nobody speaks, and their work is all the more beautiful because of it. Poets, for example.
When I co-wrote Close Encounters with Kathy Love, as B. H. Dark, we each wrote different bits, and the goal was for our voices to blend together, so nobody would be able to tell who wrote which bits. I definitely tried to write a little bit more like Kathy’s style, and I think she tried to do the same thing, so hopefully our voices blended into a hybrid voice, which is B. H. Dark’s voice. Though from years of being friends, we tend to talk just like each other anyway, so who knows? When I read her books, her voice is quite distinctive and very different from mine, though. I’m not sure how I know that, but I do.
So voice is unique and intrinsic, but also changeable and adaptable. Hmm.
I know when I’m writing something in my own voice, the voice that is comfortable for me. It feels good to write it. I surprise myself and my words flow out onto the page.
That doesn’t mean it’s any good, though. I’ve written enough now to know I’m a competent writer even when I suck. My crappy first drafts actually read okay on a page-by-page level, because I can put words together in a way that makes sense, I have a very good grasp of sentence structure, scene structure and grammar, and I’ve got a voice that’s easy to read. However, though voice and raw writing skill can get me through a page, they can’t sustain a whole book. Voice will never make up for weak characterisation, lack of conflict, stupid plots, meandering narration, lazy storytelling, and a tendency to put really lame jokes everywhere. This is why I revise so hard.
It also doesn’t mean that my instinctive voice is the best voice for this particular character, or this particular page, or this particular story. And as a writer who cares about my career, I want to improve my voice, make it more flexible, more able to encompass different types of stories and emotions.
So voice is hugely important, but not the most important thing. And yet if it’s not there, something feels wrong. Hmm.
I’ll probably blog more about this, because it’s got me thinking.
What do you think?
Jan Jones says:
I agree, Julie. I do think finding your own voice and being comfortable with it in the genre you write is important.
One of the reasons I tend to write short stories in the first-person is that they are by definition word-limited and it’s the quickest way I know to (a) get into character and (b) tell whether the style works for the market.
Like you, I think I’ve probably got several voices, each slightly different but true (I hope) to their own line.
Interesting topic.
Biddy says:
My head hurts trying to get my mind round this. I always think that voice is the fairy dust!
phillipa says:
Biddy – I know what you mean! And Julie. Thank you for giving me a great intro – just the boost I need this week.
Someone I respected told me from my first attempts (my N&S fanfic) that I had ‘a distinctive voice’. I was embarrassed and thought it was a bad thing.
What I didn’t have at the start was all the technical skills you talk about. I’m still learning those! I still read the opening to Decent Exposure which is probably the loudest manifestation of voice and flinch. I can see all the technical sins I committed yet also know I was truly being me so can’t wish it any different.
I read an article somewhere that also said voice is about ‘what you choose to put in a novel and what you choose to leave out.’ I think I have an inkling of what that person meant.
Great post. I’m going to set the C19 CW group onto you so watch out!
May I suggest some other writers with distinctive voices:
Rosy Thornton. Yes I know she’s my friend but do go and read some of her work. Unique.
Mary Janice Davidson. Right next to your ear but great fun.
Jilly Cooper. Need I say more?
Christina Jones – see opening of Heaven Sent
Sorry can’t contribute anything more intelligent yet but will be back later.
Fran says:
Great post….what hit a chord was near the end when you said about a voice not making up for lack of other things….i am in agony at moment, because i have just written something which i know is my voice, and i’m trying to go mainstream with it, and i have no idea if my voice is publishable or not, i guess time will tell. AGH.
Nell Dixon says:
Interesting post, Julie. Voice is the area of my writing I find I can’t judge. I can look at my word choices and technique and sentence structure but the feel of my writing and the way they transfer from the page to the reader is something else.
Julie says:
Yes, Jan–I don’t think I could do what you’ve done, which is write both contemporary and historical fiction. Do you find you have to think a lot about your voice, switching from one to the other?
Julie says:
Biddy, I think it’s as mysterious as fairy dust! But hopefully not as difficult to come by.
Julie says:
Phillipa, thanks for asking me to write about this topic. I really love talking about craft things.
Voice is definitely not a bad thing! But I do know how you feel about looking over your earlier work. I look at my first book and though I can see my voice written all over it, I also would love to give it a good edit! (I didn’t notice any technical problems with Decent Exposure, though! I think we are always hardest on our own work.)
I haven’t read Rosy’s stuff yet, but I agree with you about JC and CJ. MJD’s voice really grates on me, though I’ve only read her first book and may like her later stuff more. And I know others love her, so it’s all personal preference.
I’ll try to find some good examples of voices I like for another post.
Julie says:
Fran…have faith! And keep working!
Julie says:
Nell, having just read Blue Remembered Heels, I could hear your voice all through it. Not only in how it’s written but in the emotional aspects and what you chose to put in it–very simple things like when Abbey pours herself some cereal and only six cornflakes fall out of the box–I thought, “That’s so Nell.”
amanda ashby says:
Julie – what a great post!!!!!!!! You totally summed it up when you said that voice is unique but at the same time changeable.
I know that for better or worse I have a strong voice, but it can very easlily fall into a dark place or a light place without me really noticing. No idea what it all means but it’s definitely interesting!!!!!!!!
Julie says:
Do you find your voice changes when writing for adults and YA, Amanda?
amanda ashby says:
No, it’s exactly the same – probably because I’m too lazy to figure out how to change it! Mind you, I think if I wanted to sell more women’s fiction in the US I would have to change my voice because the market has moved. Thankfully I really love writing ya so I’d rather stick with that than try and do something that doesn’t come easily (see lazy comment above!!!!!!)