I know we've been over this before a few times, but it's been a while and it's an interesting topic, so I figured I'd start a new thread rather than wake up one of the old ones. I hope no one minds too much.
In this case I'm talking about author voice, how the prose is written and not just how the characters talk. At its most basic its about how we express ourselves in our story, but I think there's more to it than that.
It's sometimes spoken about how certain authors have such a distinctive voice that you can tell it's them just by the way they write. I'm sure that many of us have at one time or other dreamt of achieving the same (I know I have).
When I started out writing my voice was a big deal to me, and I spent a lot of time thinking about it and trying to develop it into something distinct and interesting. I no longer worry much about it - partly because I found other things I consider more important, and partly because I'm happy with my voice as it is.
I still think it's an interesting topic for discussion though.
Like, what even is voice? It's got to be more than just the words you use, right? It's in the rhythm and flow of the words, and in the way your story moves. It's in how you describe your scenes and arrange the unfolding of the events of your story.
Or is it? What's your take?
Further, what can you do to find and improve and practice your voice? What I did was to settle on an idea and then exaggerate it to see what would happen, but this may not work for everyone.
In this case I'm talking about author voice, how the prose is written and not just how the characters talk. At its most basic its about how we express ourselves in our story, but I think there's more to it than that.
It's sometimes spoken about how certain authors have such a distinctive voice that you can tell it's them just by the way they write. I'm sure that many of us have at one time or other dreamt of achieving the same (I know I have).
When I started out writing my voice was a big deal to me, and I spent a lot of time thinking about it and trying to develop it into something distinct and interesting. I no longer worry much about it - partly because I found other things I consider more important, and partly because I'm happy with my voice as it is.
I still think it's an interesting topic for discussion though.
Like, what even is voice? It's got to be more than just the words you use, right? It's in the rhythm and flow of the words, and in the way your story moves. It's in how you describe your scenes and arrange the unfolding of the events of your story.
Or is it? What's your take?
Further, what can you do to find and improve and practice your voice? What I did was to settle on an idea and then exaggerate it to see what would happen, but this may not work for everyone.