How to Write a Novel: Author voice
“Your writing voice is the deepest possible reflection of who you are. The job of your voice is not to seduce or flatter or make well-shaped sentences. In your voice, your readers should be able to hear the contents of your mind, your heart, your soul.”
—Meg Rosoff
In the early years of my author career, I would get really annoyed at workshops and courses that emphasized the importance of author voice without explaining what the hell it was and how I could find it.
But it is hard to grasp what it is when you’re starting out.
Your author voice is what makes your writing your writing.
In many ways, it’s indefinable, but over a number of books, over a number of years, you will discover it and your readers will learn to recognize it.
How to find examples of author voice
Pick two established authors in your preferred genre who have written at least ten novels each. Compare the first five chapters of their latest books and see if you can pick out aspects of their author voice and identify how they differ from each other.
Consider books you find memorable and think about what is distinctive about the author’s voice. It might be a turn of phrase, or a theme that comes up repeatedly, or pacing, or the way they use dialogue. It can be so many things, which is why it’s not something you can force, only discover in yourself over time as you write.
How can you find your author voice?
For me, it was about letting go of self-censorship and fear of judgment and allowing myself to write what I truly wanted to write without letting my inner critic shut me down.
The first book where I really found my voice was Desecration. It was my fifth novel, and that book means so much to me because I let myself be me. I needed time to discover my shadow side, and I only uncovered it through writing.
I had intended to write a straight police procedural, but my Muse doesn’t roll that way. Part of my author voice is an aspect of the supernatural in pretty much everything I write as J.F. Penn. I just can’t help myself!
Don’t worry. You do not have to find your voice with your first novel.
In fact, you might not be able to.
But keep writing and you’ll discover golden threads that link your body of work. That will be your author voice.
“A polished rock is just the same as every other polished rock. Don’t smooth all the edges out — they might be your voice.”
—Dean Wesley Smith, The Stages of a Fiction Writer
Questions:
• Pick two established authors in your preferred genre with a number of novels under their belts. Compare the first five chapters of their latest books. Can you pick out elements of their author voice?
• Do you have a sense of your author voice yet? Don’t worry if you don’t. It will emerge over time.
Resources:
• Find Your Artistic Voice: The Essential Guide to Working Your Creative Magic — Lisa Congdon
• The Stages of a Fiction Writer: Know Where You Stand on the Path to Writing — Dean Wesley Smith
• Voice: The Secret Power of Great Writing — James Scott Bell
• “How to write fiction: Meg Rosoff on finding your voice,” The Guardian, 18 Oct 2011 — www.theguardian.com/books/2011/oct/18/how-to-write-fiction-meg-rosoff
