The Voice

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by Barb, in Massachusetts, babysitting for grandchildren

I turned in the last manuscript for the Maine Clambake Mysteries a year ago. Since then I haven’t felt retired. There were still cycles of copy-editing and page proofs to get through, and two releases to support, Easter Basket Murder in January, and Torn Asunder at the end of April. But now, aside from some speaking appearances this summer, I am well and truly done.

Which leaves the challenge of what to post about here.

Because I got a late start in publishing, one of the ironies of retiring now is that I feel like I have finally put in my 10,000 hours. I’m beginning to understand what I’m doing when it’s time to go. So I thought, with everyone’s indulgence, I would use the next several blog posts to talk about what I think I’ve learned as a writer. Many of our blog readers are writers, and most of those who are readers are not ordinary readers. They don’t read a book a month or pick up a book at the airport on the way to vacation. They are readers who treat books and stories as others might treat a serious hobby. So I thought our readers might be interested.

One caveat: Since these are things I’ve learned along the way, you will find as the posts go on that I have violated or neglected every one of them in my work. Don’t bother looking for examples because you will definitely find them.

The first subject I will tackle is Voice.

Voice

Voice is the most amorphous yet important concept in writing fiction (or memoir or narrative non-fiction). If you look up definitions you will find them confusing and even contradictory.

Agents or editors will reject a book, saying, “The voice wasn’t quite there for me.” Or, “I didn’t love the voice.” Or, the famous expression attributed to various agents and editors, “I can fix everything but the voice.” For writers this can be frustrating. What does that even mean?

Here are some things voice is not.

  • The voice is not the prose style.
  • The voice is not the way a point of view character or narrator speaks or thinks.
  • The voice is not the order in which the tale is told, or the pace.

Voice is instantiated in all those things, but describing them as voice is like describing symptoms in order to identify a disease. The symptoms are real, but the disease lurks deep inside.

Voice is the voice of the storyteller. It is unseen, behind, and above the story.

At it’s best, voice is

  • seductive. It says, “Come with me…”
  • confident. “…and I will tell you an amazing story…”
  • in command. “I won’t lose the way or let you down.”
  • authentic. No matter how many layers of fiction are loaded on, ultimately, the writer’s intellectual and emotional life, values, and personality are there somewhere, on the page.

How do writers develop voice? Prodigies have it out of the gate. But writing is a field with very few prodigies. Most people who begin writing seriously as grown-ups have several things working against them.

For one, writing is hard. I hate when people moan about how hard writing is because a) it is an entirely voluntary activity, and b) it’s not coal mining. But there is a lot to master– character, plot, pace, setting, theme, structure, and the words themselves.

For another, by the time they get serious, most writers will have heard hundreds of stories about the obstacles ahead and the infinitesimal chances of success.

And, to be authentic, writers expose themselves in a way that leaves them vulnerable. There is the inevitability of judgement and, often, fear of judgement. Judgement not just of the writing but of the writer.

So most writers begin supremely unconfident in their abilities. Exactly the wrong place to be. Because unconfident means in your head, worried, second-guessing.

How do you develop a seductive, confident, in command, authentic voice?

  • You can put in your 10,000 hours.(1)
  • You can revise and revise until you are confident in the story and that confidence comes through on the page.
  • You can let it all go, get out of your head, and trust yourself. (This is not as easy as it sounds.)

I often liken writing to riding a bicycle. When you start, there are so many things to pay attention to–balance, steering, pedaling, braking, speed control, road, route, obstacles. But with practice, you aren’t conscious of the individual skills and mechanics. You just go.

Does having a seductive, confident, committed, authentic voice mean you will write a great book? Of course not.

There are the deluded, those whose confidence is sadly misplaced. And the arrogant–authors whose books are precious in a “look at me!” self-conscious way. There are authors who are confident they have written the best book they can in the moment but who are still learning. The next book will be better. The best and the worst thing about writing is that there is always more to learn.

But the converse is also true. You can’t write a great book without a seductive, confident, committed, authentic voice propelling it.

So why not go for it?

Readers: What do you think voice is? Are you conscious of the author’s voice when you read or write? Do you think you should be?

(1) The authors of the original 10,000 hours study have disputed that they meant it exactly the way Malcolm Gladwell uses it in Outliers. But it sure is a handy way to describe how you get to Carnegie Hall. Practice, practice, practice.

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Published by Barbara Ross

Barbara Ross is the author of twelve Maine Clambake Mystery novels and six novellas. Her books have been nominated for multiple Agatha Awards for Best Contemporary Novel and have won the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. She lives in Portland, Maine. Readers can visit her website at www.maineclambakemysteries.com

48 Thoughts

  1. Thanks for this. I think the more you read an author’s work, the more you are conscious of their voice, and sometimes it can get mingled with your voice while reading or writing.

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    1. The Maine Clambake Mysteries definitely have more of my voice as the series goes along and I grew more confident. I also agree that the authors voice mingles with the readers during the experience of reading. Everyone brings their own sensibilities to a book and that changes the book and makes it unique for each reader.

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  2. Brilliant essay, Barb, thank you. Voice is as elusive as they get. I know that when I finished writing my first Country Store mystery, I could tell the voice was different. Flipped for Murder began my third series, and while I hadn’t put in my 10,000 hours (probably still haven’t), I was more confident and committed. Seductive and authentic? I hope so, although I still couldn’t tell you what I did to make it so. Regardless, that series zoomed to popularity.

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  3. Voice is much as you describe it. The writer also has much inside the thought process, but does it translate to the page well. Sometimes, yes, and sometimes, no. Does it sound like a manual or a story? Do the characters on the page seem alive or just props? Crafting sentences from words so that they mean something substantive and relates to the reader is tougher than just putting it down on paper. Great blog Barb!

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    1. “Crafting sentences from words so that they mean something substantive and relates to the reader is tougher than just putting it down on paper.” Great observation, Doris.

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  4. Trying again, it looks like I lost my first attempt at posting.

    BARB: This is a great explanation about voice in writing.
    There are some authors who I instantly recognize after reading just a few sentences.

    And in a series, many characters can be differentiated on the page by their unique personality speech patterns.

    A story can also be told in different POV (points of view) which can be told in different voices.

    None of these are easy to do(!), but if it all comes together, then I usually have a memorable read.

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    1. Absolutely, individual characters can and should have individual voices in addition to the authorial voice. That’s why this is so confusing. And hard.

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  5. Barb, this is so good! Thank you for sharing these thoughts, born out of experience. Your series will live on!

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  6. As a reader, to me the voice is when a story flows and makes sense to where you don’t have to have notes to keep up with the story. It’s when you can tell the author has put in the research to make the words authentic or true to facts – even if those things aren’t the main theme of the present chapter, but are essential to the bigger picture. It’s when you are so into the story that putting it down for the events of one’s own life is very hard to do. It’s when you finish the book completely understanding what the author’s minds eye was trying to convey and where you might sigh with contentment, but are also anxious for the author’s next book whether a part of the same series or just another story by an author whose books you enjoy reading.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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  7. Quite the thought provoking post, Barb. When I first started writing seriously, the group I joined would talk about the quest for a million words. The idea is that it takes a writer one million words to find your voice, to figure out who you are as a writer. There are no short cuts in this gig, are there?

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  10. Excellent post on voice!
    When I started querying agents and received feedback, one response was “I don’t connect with the voice”. I didn’t understand what the agent meant and went down the rabbit hole of research looking for the answer.
    Voice is elusive and different for every writer. It takes time to develop it.
    Practice, practice and more practice.

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  11. Barbara, this offered the clearest description (and even definition) of writer ‘voice’ I’ve encountered in my few years at this. Well Done. Magnificent. And Happy Retirement.

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  12. Great post! As a reader, voice always comes though. For want of a better way to describe it, it’s style, the way a writer puts words together for the narrative, each character, and the story itself. No denying it will bring readers back. As a writer–I can only hope!

    Congratulations on your retirement, although I am in mourning over the loss of one of my favorite series.

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  13. I think I finally understand why I connect with some authors and not others. I will certainly miss connecting with Maine and the clambakes. I hope you will come out of retirement and write more great books.

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  15. Thanks for this discussion, Barb. The definition of voice is slippery as an eel, isn’t it? I’ve started thinking of it as the personality of the story – a personality that comes through in all the choices the writer makes in the telling. I’m not sure that helps the new writer find their own voice, though. Happy retirement!

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  16. I don’t know that I’ve tried to consider what voice would be. This has given me a lot of think about.

    And I’m wondering if that is my issue with so many of the sitcoms I try to watch today. Instead of actually being funny and making me laugh, I feel like they are saying “Look at me. I’m funny! Laugh!!!.” And that aren’t nearly as funny as they think they are.

    And I’m not talking about laugh tracks. I love sitcoms. I love real audience laughter. But something in the tone of the show just isn’t nearly as funny as they want it to be.

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    1. Now I’m wondering that too. I am a fan of classic sitcoms but the only one we watch nowadays is Abbott Elementary. I’m not counting shows like The Bear or Shrinking which get nominated in comedy categories because they are a half an hour long but are in no way, shape, or form comedies.

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  17. Wonderful blog, Barb! thank you for your insight. As a reader, I have no trouble finding an author’s voice…I have pretty much alwars recognized an author even without mentioning character names or locations. What I have foud is that there is such a personal stamp in any writing, that you just know what the author is all about…even in different series written by the same person. For us readers, that voice has to come out loud and laouder as we read…and if it does not, then perhaps the interest in continuing to read may dwindle down and dissappear. This situation has happened to me while reading some new authors. I hate to discontinue reading any book, because the author has poured so much of her or himself into it, but I have had to vow not to read any new books that he/she may write in the future. This applies to only a few autjors i have read, and no Wicked author, or your guests.
    Your Maine Clambake Mysteries will forever be with me, and I will re-read all of them again and again. Your voice is definitely singing to me loud and clear! Luis at ole dot travel

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  18. Voice is incredibly difficult to explain, the pinnacle of “I know it when I hear it.” It’s what tells me the work was written by a certain author. All of Agatha Christie’s characters are different, but I know a Christie novel once I start to read.

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  19. Voice for an author is like when you hear the opening notes of a sonata and you know it’s Beethoven. I find the more books I write, the more my brain supplies me with situations and events for the storyline. And the voice delivers it in its own special way.

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  21. Great food for thought, Barbara. I think my Polizei Bern series has a coherent voice, but it’s not easy to be sure. I’m looking forward to hearing about more about what you learned along the way. Oh, and by the way, enjoy your retirement!

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  22. I’m not a writer but as a reader the voice is how the character thinks and what I know she will do. I want her to develop and not do supremely stupid things. I don’t want her to be annoying and if she has a pet she has a great voice!

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