Voice: What It Is and How to Write It

Recently I did a critique for a new acquaintance, and after a bit of back and forth with her about the voice in her book, I wrote up the following. Here it is, for anyone else who struggles with voice, even after reading through all the standard advice.

On Voice

I went looking for some links to give you an idea of what voice is all about, but the ones I've found weren't as helpful as I hoped. They all say some version of "voice is what you sound like when you're talking," but if you're anything like me that's really hard to pinpoint. For one thing, it's harder than it seems to figure out what your own natural speaking voice sounds like, and for another, a lot of people change their speech patterns depending on the crowd they're with.

Beyond that, there's the fact that my own natural speaking voice is *not* the right voice for most of the characters I write. If I wrote the way I speak, most of my characters wouldn't fit their stories. This is particularly clear when writing historical novels--the slang and idioms that pepper our language are very out of place in books set centuries ago. I'd have to have some idea of how people spoke in the time period I was writing if I wanted to do them justice.

Voice is, in essence, what your words sound like on the page. That might seem nonsensical, because *of course* words on a page don't actually make any noise. And yet, as we read we can hear the words in our minds. The cool thing about writing is that, depending on the cues you give, the reader can hear different voices through the text.

Voice encompasses such things as accent, vocabulary, tone and rhythm. Consider these two opening lines:

1. I ain't a smart man, but I reckon I know a thing or two 'bout horses.

2. The thing about horses is that they're much taller than people generally seem to recall, and, if you must know, I'm rather afraid of heights.

Each of these is just one sentence, and yet it's easy to see that the speakers are two very different people. They have different accents, use different word choices (the first would use words like "reckon" and "recollect," whereas the second would say "suppose" and "recall"), approach their stories with different outlooks (which affect tone) and speak in very different rhythms (one straightforward, the other rambling). Their voices make them sound human instead of robotic.

Unfortunately, it can be hard to get comfortable writing with voice if you're used to academic or technical writing. Professional writing of that sort so often strips away everything that is unique about a voice. There is a very proper voice to use in academia, and it's challenging to break away from that.

But if you don't, your book will sound stilted and lifeless.

So how do you come up with a voice? Well, if your setting is very specific (as yours is), the best thing to do is to listen carefully to speakers native to that setting. If you can talk to those people, that's great! If not, can you watch videos? Can you read books written with those voices and imitate the style? Can you find other resources to give you clues? (I came across a Dictionary of Americanisms from 1848 that was vital to writing one of my books.)

Once you've done the research, try to get the voice into your head. Imagine the character talking to you. Imagine the accent and the words or phrases they overuse. Imagine their attitude toward life and toward their story, and let that inform the way they speak. Do they put everything out there? Do they hold back? Do they take forever to get to the point or pounce on it abruptly? When you start feeling comfortable with the voice, pull up a blank page and start typing in that voice--about anything at all. Break it in like you'd break in a new pair of shoes. Then, once you like the feel of it, start writing your book in that voice.

And let your characters' lives inform your story. This is something I've struggled with, but that I make an effort to improve. When a thunderstorm rolls in, don't just say that it's raining. Tell us whether the character likes the rain and why. Were they frightened of thunder as a child? Do they get a thrill watching the wildness of nature at work? Is the rain a nuisance or a blessing? If you give a unique perspective in a unique voice, your characters will truly come to life.

Research Book Recommendations: Poor Economics and The Bottom Billion

I don't know how I would write without having research materials right at my fingertips.

Actually, no, I take that back. I remember when I used to write without doing research. I remember how awful, how terrible, how truly dreadful those early manuscripts used to be. They were like playing pin the tail on the donkey--I had a vague idea that there was a donkey somewhere ahead, but I had no idea where or how to reach it. So I made things up and pretended that what I made up was a fair substitute for how reality actually worked.

Ha!

Well, I know better now, though it is still so very difficult to get all the details right.

How do you know when you've done enough research? Someone told me once that you know you're finished when the information you're discovering is all something you've seen before in another context.

Of course, if that's true, there are some topics that would take years to research properly. Sometimes we don't have that much time.

I think I've stumbled upon one of those topics myself lately. I've been interested in the idea of a story set in a very poor environment. But what does that level of poverty actually look like in the day-to-day? I honestly had no idea.

So I've started doing some research, and I began with two books that have each turned out to be quite a revelation.

The first:

Poor Economics

The intent of this book is to explore what sorts of aid (if any) are actually helpful to the poorest populations. What do they need? Food? Chlorinated water? Bed nets? Will they actually use these things? Should the items be free or subsidized or what?

Some great questions, and I learned a lot about what works and what doesn't. So as a side note, if you give regularly to charity, you might consider reading this book to get a better idea of where best to send your money. The book doesn't come right out and list particular charities it recommends, but it does give some insight that you might use to come to your own conclusions.

Where Poor Economics really excels is in detailing how the poor make decisions and why they do things that might seem (to us) to be illogical. After finishing this book I feel so much more aware of how daily life actually works for those who live in extreme poverty.

The second:

The Bottom Billion

This book takes much more of a top-down approach. The major questions asked are: 1) What traps are keeping poor nations poor? and 2) What can we do to help them?

So far I've read only the first part of the book, which attempts to answer question 1 (and which is certainly the more relevant to my research). Whereas Poor Economics gives a good look at the perspective of the individual, The Bottom Billion has a lot of great information on a larger scale. For example, why is it that having one major rich resource can be detrimental for a poor nation? I would have found that idea completely mind-boggling until seeing the data laid out in this book.

So this too is good information for me, because it helps me to think about the setting of the story. (It helps that a lot of the details also fit very well with ideas I already had!)

Together these two books have gone a long way to getting me started on this research path. I probably still have a ways to go, but now at least the framework is laid out for me and I can see more clearly the areas where I might need more information.

So, if any of you similarly find yourselves in a place where you need to do research on poverty, these are an excellent place to start!

The Strange Beast Called November

It's November, everyone! That lovely month of good food and festive feeling and not quite hating winter's guts yet.

Who is doing NaNoWriMo? Who is wishing they were doing NaNoWriMo? Who is lamenting that NaNoWriMo even exists? (I see you, Patrice.)

Personally I've just finished editing a final-ish draft of a new book, and I'm not quite ready to write the next one, in a month or otherwise. So no NaNo for me. Instead I find myself in the challenging but optimistic position of not knowing which of many tasks to take on first.

Exhibit A: Reading!

If I'm not writing a book this month, maybe I should take some time to read a few extra books. I started off strong with Maggie Stiefvater's The Dream Thieves (which was just as good as I was hoping), and now I've gone and picked up four more books at the library today. Three are by authors I already know and love (including Clariel by Garth Nix!!!). The other was an impulse grab. If I do nothing but read, maybe I can get through all of them before they're due in two weeks. But that's not likely because of...

Exhibit B: Research!

I absolutely have a new book in mind to get started on writing, but the trouble is, there are a lot of historical elements that need investigation. What do 17th century Holland and 1920s Appalachia have in common? Well I'm not spilling the beans on the answer yet, so I'll have to leave you in suspense. If you do have an answer of your own though, leave it in the comments. I'd love to hear it!

Exhibit C: *mumble mumble*

[Super secret project here.]

And if that weren't enough, there is, after all, a holiday at the end of the month. Happy November!

NYC 2012 Research Vacation!

Just got back from a research vacation to NYC and Mystic, CT! I don't really like to tweet/post while traveling, but if I had, this is what my posts would have looked like:

Monday

Pouring rain, no umbrella, heavy luggage, and now we can't find a taxi. Obviously we're doing something wrong. Welcome to NYC?

Nice hotel! Ok, maybe things will be looking up now that we've gotten through the initial ordeal. And the guy at the desk is kind enough to pretend I don't look like a drowned rat!

Oooh, so MoMA is pretty fab. Starry Night is so much more powerful in person. And the Monet! How do you create something so huge and actually manage to make it look like something?

Just shared a gigantic sandwich at Carnegie's Deli. Tasted great, but I don't think I've ever eaten that much turkey, even on Thanksgiving. Not sure I ever want to look at meat again.

Times Square. Was here in August. Enjoying M&M World a whole lot more this time, maybe because I'm not quite so dead on my feet.

Um... so why is it that the nicer the hotel, the more ridiculously massive the pillows? My neck will not be thanking me tomorrow.

Tuesday

So apparently we just shared an elevator ride with Kris Allen. I didn't even recognize him. Too busy admiring his jacket.

Why is it so impossible not to fall asleep on a train?

We're here in Mystic! Trying so hard not to freak out about the fact that I'm about to see my inspiration for The Never Silent. Obviously failing.

The Morgan is under major repair, so she's de-masted, on land and under tarp. But we can still walk all around on and 'tween deck.

I can see it all so much better now! This is perfect! It's the right size, and everything is in the right location. I can't express just how right this is.

Extremely knowledgeable volunteer just came on board to answer questions. So much great information, plus her email address if I need more. Thank you!!!

Ok, so the rest of Mystic Seaport is also cool, just not as cool as the Morgan. And it's still raining. And we still have no umbrella.

Oooh, figureheads! Still haven't decided on the one for TNS.

And chanteys! Another detail that fits so perfectly into the story!

Ugh, it's POURing now. Fine. We'll buy an umbrella.

Oh, of course, the rain is letting up now.

So many books in the gift shop, and none of them *quite* what I need. Oh well, it was superfluous info anyway.

Seeing an old friend for the first time in 7 years. So great to catch up!

Ok, maybe not going vegetarian quite yet. We're in prime seafood country. Trying the lemon butter cod from S&P Oyster Co.

Why is it so cold on this train???

Oh hey, the decorative pillow is a lot less bulky than the others. Maybe this'll save my neck. Why didn't I think of this last night?

Wednesday

So now that we've bought the umbrella, what are the odds that we see no more rain all trip? Probably around 99.99%.

Bouchon Bakery for breakfast.

Taking advantage of the sun to go walking through Central Park :)

Reeling just from the quantity of exquisite art in the Met. So. Much. Monet. And I love every one of them.

Oooh, special exhibit of the Stein collection. Some early Picasso sketches that serve as further evidence that you can't start breaking the rules successfully until you've mastered them.

Taxi driver just stopped to buy bananas for his lunch and gave us each one. Probably the only fruit we've eaten all trip. Definitely earned his tip!

On Fulton Street. Trembling very slightly. Everything looks completely different now of course, but I can imagine how it might have looked in 1847.

Lisa's Pizza. Tastes incredible, great location.

So the South Street Seaport Museum isn't quite as informative as I hoped, but I still learned some useful tidbits.

Taxi back north is taking a while, and the video in back keeps playing this ad with “Mambo Italiano” background music. I'm never going to get this song out of my head. Nooooooo.

Eating at Pearls. (Chinese food.) Good eating for a really decent price.

Wicked! Wicked Wicked Wicked Wicked Wicked! Wicked on Broadwaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!

O.O So so sooooo gooooooood. What an AMAZING show. Totally loved it. Defying Gravity was sensational.

Thursday

Final taxi to the train station. “Mambo Italiano” again. Cringing.

Me: We're on a public train. You shouldn't be making a commotion. Hubby: It's a locomotion commotion. Me: -_-

Back home. And now it's raining here too. At least the cat is happy we're home :)

Research Links

The research for my current project has spanned a lot of material and topics. Since some of my online resources took a little digging to find, I figured I'd share the best links here in case they might be useful to anyone else. Most of these have to do with mid-1800s New York.

Language: The 1848 Dictionary of Americanisms, by John Russell Bartlett

Names: Popular Names in the US from 1801 to 1999

News: Historic American Newspapers (New-York Daily Tribune from 1847)

Maps: Interactive Maps of Manhattan from the 1600s to today

Bonus: Lessons in Old Norse and the Icelandic Saga Database

Research Notes

Every book requires research of some kind... some more than others, though it's rare for me to go through an entire writing session without looking up one thing or another. Even an autobiography will probably need research, if only for various dates and locations.

Some research is huge (I read book after book on ancient Rome while preparing to write Olympus Gate), and some is easy (like checking urban dictionary to make sure that made-up name I've been thinking of using isn't actually slang for something dirty).

Here's some of the research I've been doing lately:

On First Aid

First Aid comes up a few times in the new book. I've learned some useful information from my research. This is one case where research could actually help save a life in reality.

So, do you know what to do if you are the first on the scene of an accident? Do you know what not to do?

Quick PSA for anyone who doesn't happen to know: Unless the victim of an accident is in immediate danger (e.g. a car fire), don't move the victim. The person could have a spinal cord injury, which could be made worse by movement.

Do check for breathing, and clear the victim's airway if breathing is obstructed. Do cover the victim with something warm to help prevent shock. Do keep the victim talking.

I hope that I never need to use this information, but if I do, it's good to have.

How much do you know about first aid, and have you ever needed to use it?

On Guitars

I love music and I know a lot about music, but my knowledge is really detailed in some areas and really blank in others. One of my new characters is a musician, and it just so happens that his areas of knowledge fit right into my areas of ignorance. So in order to make him believable I have to fill in the gaps.

Luckily I have a younger brother whose music interests overlap the character's pretty well, so I got a whole playlist of bands to listen to from him.

But I still needed to do a little research on guitars, so recently I've been going through the Fender and Gibson websites, looking for the right ones. The unintended consequence? Now I want a shiny new guitar. Fortunately the fact that I would have no idea what to do with it has been a convincing reason not to get one.

Do any of you play guitar (or another instrument)?