For those of you who’ve never considered what a writer’s Voice is, Wikipedia has a decent definition:
“The writer’s voice is the individual writing style of an author, a combination of idiotypical usage of syntax, diction, punctuation, character development, dialogue, etc., within a given body of text (or across several works).”
And, whoever wrote that definition (or, considering it’s Wikipedia, however many people worked on editing that definition) it has a peculiar Voice since it uses a completely non-typical word (not even in my Oxford dictionary)—“idiotypical”…
I’m going to share another video of Nilofer today, a video in which she uses a different “Voice” as a public speaker…
And, that comment about her “voice” as a speaker seems to me intriguing, since, if you watch all three videos, she uses the same “voice”—one voice being how her vocal chords work and the other being how she uses the same vocal voice with different idiosyncratic mannerisms and stronger emotional emphasis.
Writers, too, can have different Voices in different works.
Yet, if you become familiar with all of a writer’s works, even if there are different Voices in each, there may be a single MetaVoice detectable…
Young and untested writers often have imitative voices.
Finding a writing Voice is a very personal journey (nothing like the superficial “advice” some folks peddle) and the journey often involves struggle and heartbreak and commitment to some higher purpose.
And, if you need a simple method for finding your own, a method stressed by nearly all writers, just keep writing, then write some more, and never stop writing—your personal Voice will, eventually, emerge…
In the following video, Nilofer isn’t talking only to writers but pay close attention because she uncovers one of the critical aspects of developing the Voice that Only You can have………
Wonderful video, I loved her phrase: “only what you can bring..” Perhaps a very useful phrase for a writer to pin up on the wall above their desk. Often, as a writer, I forget that only I can say what I want to say…. it seems so obvious, but unless you hold it in your mind there is the danger that you will find yourself knocking at the door of convention when in fact you could be building a whole new house… and I wonder how many writers have ‘writers block’ not because they can’t write but because they don’t look at themselves and realise they don’t want to open the same old door…:-)
If the first recognizer of my writing ability (my HS teacher John Kruzan) was right (and I think he was), I had a voice all the way back in high school. The confidence in that voice, the evolution of it was, as you say the “keep writing” part of the equation. As for the rest, it grew–and continues to grow–from listening to the inner voice in the head. The middle-of-the-night taped comments and the words are the page are coming closer together…the rhythms of how we think and how we talk (a useful device to differentiate a character’s thought from his/her reactions) tells me that listening is the greatest gift we give ourselves.
World News
Notes from An Alien 
Wonderful video, I loved her phrase: “only what you can bring..” Perhaps a very useful phrase for a writer to pin up on the wall above their desk. Often, as a writer, I forget that only I can say what I want to say…. it seems so obvious, but unless you hold it in your mind there is the danger that you will find yourself knocking at the door of convention when in fact you could be building a whole new house… and I wonder how many writers have ‘writers block’ not because they can’t write but because they don’t look at themselves and realise they don’t want to open the same old door…:-)
LikeLike
Brilliant perception, Jane, that writer’s block may sometimes be due to a hidden admission that the writer doesn’t want to open a False door…
LikeLike
If the first recognizer of my writing ability (my HS teacher John Kruzan) was right (and I think he was), I had a voice all the way back in high school. The confidence in that voice, the evolution of it was, as you say the “keep writing” part of the equation. As for the rest, it grew–and continues to grow–from listening to the inner voice in the head. The middle-of-the-night taped comments and the words are the page are coming closer together…the rhythms of how we think and how we talk (a useful device to differentiate a character’s thought from his/her reactions) tells me that listening is the greatest gift we give ourselves.
LikeLike
Great to see you back here, Lynn!!
Yes, the Listening is, to me also, the Key…
Naturally, some folks have a harder time silencing the “borrowed” voices and staying tuned in to the VOICE…
LikeLike
Pingback: Voice | panhandleprofessionalwriters
Pingback: Revisiting The #SocialEra | Notes from An Alien
Pingback: Oh, No! Not More Advice About How To Write!! | Notes from An Alien
Pingback: What is “Author Voice” ? | Notes from An Alien