I’ve written before about using different voices depending on genre. I don’t do it purposely; it just seems to happen. Maybe writing a romance puts me in one mood, softening the voice, while writing an action story puts me in another and changes the voice to harder, more direct. As an unapologetic pantser, I let it develop however it wants. But lately, I’ve also realized that my voice changes with the gender and/or personality of my protagonist. Continue reading “Writing with Congruent Voice”
Tag: writing style
What Makes Writing Stand Out
A discussion on Facebook page and the painful awareness that, for a number of reasons, I have not yet finished resurfacing the foundation of my house, sparked a train of thought on writing I’d like to share with you. I know that seems a stretch but hear me out. All will be revealed.
From my previous post discussing how home repair is like editing (and the other way around), you will recall that I learned the rudiments of a few skills, the results of which are in the picture here. Continue reading “What Makes Writing Stand Out”
Changing Voices
Guest post
by Melissa Bowersock
I’m a novelist by trade; the current count stands at nine. That count ranges over the various genres of action, romance, fantasy, western, spiritual and satire. As you can see, I like variety and I will tell any kind of story that grabs me by the throat, drags me to my chair and insists on being written down.
I’ve also learned that every story will demand a different voice. The romance novels will often have a more flowery style to them while the action stories are more clipped and direct. My spiritual novel, Goddess Rising, demanded an almost archaic voice, while my satire of romance novels, The Pits of Passion, bounced irreverently between gushing descriptions and off-the-cuff puns. The voices seem to arise naturally out of the story and require very little effort on my part.
So when I was inspired to write the true story of my aunt, an Army nurse and a prisoner-of-war during World War II, I thought, “No big deal.” I’m an author; I should be able to “auth” any kind of story there is, right? Continue reading “Changing Voices”