Finding an authorial voice (a question on behalf of a beginning writer)

[Feo Takahari]

I left a comment on an online story, part of which was:

"One thing that disappointed me . . . was that it didn't display much of a narrative voice--that is to say, you didn't have many turns of phrase that seemed uniquely yours."

The author responded to this with an email. In part: "Looking back, I do see what you mean . . . My question is though, how would you think I could improve on this?"

I told her that I didn't really know how to teach authorial voice, and that a lot of people claimed it couldn't be taught, only figured out through experimenting with a lot of styles in a lot of different stories. However, I said I'd ask other writers about how they found their authorial voice, and any advice they might have.

(For now, I'll try to make this a general question, but I may link or quote the specific story if it seems necessary. I'll just note that the problem was only with narration--the characters' voices were both interesting and highly distinct from each other.)

 

[Penpilot]

I say this without having found my own voice yet.

Generally speaking, I don't think you don't want the reader to notice the authorial voice too much and distract from the story. I'd rather the reader notice the distinct voices of my characters than my voice. To me the authorial voice is just that, the voice of the author. Just like when you talk to people in life, there are people who are eloquent and have vast vocabularies, and there are others who speak more plainly.

For me, I'm the latter type, and if I tried to be the former, my prose would turn into grape juice, very very purple, because it's not me. It's not my true voice and it will sound insincere, like I'm faking it.

So if the writer doesn't naturally turn cool phrases, IMHO, them forcing themselves to do so will produce, dishonest prose, and it will be quite evident they're trying to be something they're not.

This makes me think of a couple of quotes from a different thread.

William Faulkner on Ernest Hemingway: “He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.”
Ernest Hemingway on William Faulkner: "Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?”

 

[The Dark One]

Finding your natural voice is about finding that spark of uniqueness or originality which suffuses the entire work or body of works. Its a style and approach to storytelling which you recognise immediately in the works of particular writers. Kurt Vonnegut, Irvine Welsh, Enid Blyton, Agatha Christie, Hunter S Thompson (plenty of others but those are really strong voices that stand out and are recognisable on every page of every book they wrote.

I (believe) I discovered my natural voice at the beginning of the second novel I wrote. How? Simply by relaxing and not trying too hard to impress (as I did in the first book I finished). Having finished that first book taught me a hell of a lot about writing and gave me confidence. Not least the confidence that I would finish the book (which had always been a problem in the past). Once you have confidence you can lose all self-consciousness and just let your natural style flow.

 

[Lorna]

Write, reflect, write again. Finding a voice is a constant process of development. Awareness of your voice only comes when looking back. A narrative voice is almost impossible to define, but it's what gives a unique flavour to you work.

 

[Steerpike]

I (believe) I discovered my natural voice at the beginning of the second novel I wrote. How? Simply by relaxing and not trying too hard to impress (as I did in the first book I finished). Having finished that first book taught me a hell of a lot about writing and gave me confidence. Not least the confidence that I would finish the book (which had always been a problem in the past). Once you have confidence you can lose all self-consciousness and just let your natural style flow.

Here is the key, I think. You relax and let your inner voice, your passion for writing, and your creativity speak through you. As I've said in other threads, this is quite the opposite of advice we give modern writers. The advice we tend to give one another is apt to produce generic, interchangeable writers (in terms of voice); maybe it is meant to.

A new writer fills a page with an expression of what is in both their heart and their mind, and they turn it over to others in the craft for review. What are they likely hear? This:

-your narrator has to disappear
-you have to show, not tell
-hey, watch these adverbs
-use as few words/as lean writing as possible
-every word has to do X
-choose plain, easy words for the reader when you can
-do X, Y, and Z here to make this more clear
-here's how to do dialogue
-here is the POV you should use, and how
-here is what your scene has to do

and so on. You get the picture.

New writers, from the moment they start sharing their creative output, are subject to a number of comments and criticisms, the net effect of which are to eliminate a unique voice and standardize their writing. Outside of first person POV, where you are getting a character's voice, you hardly see unique author voices any more (which may be one reason first person has picked up in popularity so much in recent years).

Think about how we all approach new writers. You really think that is conducive to establishing a unique voice?

 

[gavintonks]

write write write write and then write some more and choose words that resonate with your personality
choose things which are uniquely resonate to your personality and then write rite write write

 

[yachtcaptcolby]

I began to establish my narrative voice when I stopped writing the same thing all the time. Try different genres, different styles, and different formats. Keep a journal or a blog, or write about things you're interested in. If you're a beginning writer, don't dive right into working on a series. Diversifying your writing will help you develop structures you rely upon and a tone that's uniquely you, and those things will reinforce and strengthen themselves as you use them to help you write things that are different from each other.

 

[Dan Latham]

When I took a drawing class, we had to first copy works by the masters; Rembrandt, Da Vinci, etc. Only then did we move on to still life and figure drawing. First we learned technique. Then we made art that was distinctly our own.

Writing is similar. Read authors that have a strong voice. The Dark One mentioned several in his earlier post. Don't be afraid to mimic their technique. As your skill in writing improves, your own voice will naturally develop.

 

[Butterfly]

There are a couple of articles on this very topis on the home page. Might be useful for her to have a read of them.

Delivering the Story

Finding Your Writer's Voice

 

[Helen]

One theory states that author voice comes through the theme. So to make it unique, that'd have to be unique and you need to have a unique answer. I don't think that's always possible (uniqueness) but it helps to have clarity. Actually, I think it is possible if you're writing one book but it may not be possible for each book you write.

Then there are all your characters - not all of them may have unique voices and it's pretty hard for one writer to create and deliver many unique voices (which is why many writers are often used). I think clear motivation for each character helps.

"Uniqueness" can be a block. It works for me when I just have a clear point I want to make. Or if I want to change someone from thinking one way to another. And that usually involves overcoming obstacles or limitations.

And then the question becomes, "how to change them," and that's all about journey.

Now you've got the passive to active turn, so you can quite feasibly have your lead find his or her voice along the journey.

 

[Alex Beecroft]

I would say 'don't sweat it'. Just write the story the way you want to write the story. If you feel like adding whimsical flourishes, add them. If you can't stand a wasted word, cut everything until there's nothing left to cut. If you love another writer's sentence fragments, or laconic grittiness, borrow them, see if they suit you - if they do, make them yours. Have fun, be yourself. Then it'll come on its own.