Welcome to my site! Within this space I’ll post writing related articles, conferences that I attend, and anything fun I might want to add. I write mystery and suspense stories, and I’m an active member of Sister’s in Crime, Guppies, Dallas Area Romance Authors, and Romance Writers of America. I hope you find my site useful as I add book reviews and articles. This site is an ongoing work in progress. Thanks for stopping by.
Writer’s Voice
When I had the crazy idea I wanted to write a story, I studied all the elements of writing. Read the “how-to” books on plot, characters, setting, GMC, and revisions. I attended writing conferences where I heard the phrase find your voice. Agents and editors said they wanted manuscripts with a fresh voice.
Voice? What is voice? I set out in search of this elusive concept.
Over the years I learned the definition of voice is simple, though achieving it, not so simple. I can honestly say I haven’t mastered it, yet.
A writer’s voice is unique like a fingerprint. It’s the combination of a writer’s upbringing, belief system, education, and interests.
In order to find your voice on the page, you must first understand the elements that go into voice.
Vocabulary (A writer’s choice of words)
This is the foundation of voice and contributes to all of its elements. Words are the writer’s basic tools that create color and texture to the written work. Specific words bring the reader into the scene, enabling full participation in the writer’s world and help shape the reader’s perceptions. Effective voice is shaped by words that are clear, concrete and exact. Words that invoke a specific effect.
Syntax (Sentence structure)
Syntax is all about structure; the way words are arranged within sentences. It ensures the coherence of your subject, verb and object, and the relationships that tie them together. It’s a subtle element that most readers aren’t aware of, but it’s one to which writers must pay attention. How craftily the writer puts words together, shows their personality in the writing and a level of skill.
Details (Facts, observations and incidents)
The information chosen by the writer brings descriptions to life. It focuses the reader’s attention and invites the reader into the scene.
Description is the most important role in a writer’s voice. Not enough descriptions will leave the reader questioning where they are and too much drowns them in unimportant details. It’s important writers find a balance between too little and too much.
Imagery (Verbal representation of the five senses)
Imagery depends on vocabulary and details, but it takes description to another level. It’s a method writers use to paint pictures of scenes and characters in the mind of their readers. It contributes to voice by evoking a vivid experience and conveying specific emotions.
The emotions of the writer has everything to do with his/her voice. What the writer feels is telegraphed onto the page. Writers with a strong voice allow emotions to drive the story, which impacts the choices they make. When you tap into your emotions, your voice engages the emotions of the reader.
Tone (Expression of attitude)
The combination of all the elements (vocabulary, syntax, details and imagery) come together to create the tone. Just as the pitch and volume of someone’s speaking voice carries a difference in tone, the choice of words in descriptive details and the way sentences are structured creates a vibrancy in our writing.
Voice is how a writer tells the story. Voice is the writer’s personality and style in the form of words on the paper. Voice is literally everything when an editor or agent is considering your manuscript.