Thursday, April 2, 2009

Style and voice. Voice and style. Are they the same? I once read that, "Voice is the authors natural use of language to create authentic and original characters and unique storytelling."

So style is the result of the voice? I know that if you have three different people write about the same subject, of course, you'll get three different images, three different ways of speaking, all expressing different style. Each voice is unique to the writer. So how do you develop your natural voice and change it with every new manuscript that you write, to fit your new characters and story? Your voice is yours and yours alone and it changes with every story that you write to fit the new people in the next tale. I can prove this by asking you to look at Stephen King or J.K. Rowling. If you read anything by either of these writers one thing is obvious. Their voice. You can tell that a book was written by them just by reading a paragraph. Their voice belongs to them. It is clear, well defined. And so is their style. Does this come from practice or is it just natural? Something for you to think on.

2 comments:

  1. I may be wrong, but I consider style and voice to be the same, or at least very very closely related. It's funny, because I think voice is both natural and requires practice. I feel like I have to work very hard to access that natural voice. It's like meditating to focus on not focusing on anything. It takes practice to learn to let go of outside influences.

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  2. Agreed it takes practice to let go of outside influences! Hard isn't it?

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