Why Different Voices Make a Song

Currently reading - Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer

Writer's voice is one of those things no one can really teach you. It's there or it isn't.

So what is writer's voice? I think it's a combination of background, experiences and tastes that cause the lovely, little right hemisphere of your brain to choose words, sentence structure and rhythm into a particular cadence.

Let's take my critique partners for instance. If you had a chapter from Christie and a chapter from me, you might say they're both funny. But the type of humor we each use is completely different. Christie has this down-home, Alabama, situational comedy flavor. Mine is more urban attitude snarkalicious. It's about the same as comparing The Andy Griffith Show and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Part of being a good c.p. is knowing when to leave your partner's voice alone. Faye sent back the first pages of AVT. She's very good about making her point without re-writing my story. I've had lots of other c.p.'s who'd rewrite whole chapters to the point where my story didn't sound like me any more.

So if you've found your voice, congratulations! You've conquered half the battle of making your work stand out.

If you haven't, stop for a moment. Are you trying to emulate someone? Nora? Stephen? Neil? Stop doing that! Now! Listen to your gut and follow it to your real voice. You won't be disappointed. I promise.