Finding Your Voice Part One

As a writer, you'll need to develop a few different "voices" in your writing. The first one you'll probably stumble upon is character voice--the one we're discussing today--and the second is your own unique writer's voice--we'll discuss that in part two.

So, what's this "character voice" you speak of and how do I pull it off?

Character voice is a character's tone, attitude, and word choice. This voice is determined by their background, their belief system, and their views of the world. Sounds simple, huh, lovelies?

Well, not quite. It's not the hardest part of writing by a long shot, but it's definitely not easy. Each and every character of importance should have his or her own distinctive voice. If they don't, the characters can bleed into one another and are easily forgotten once the book is over. If your characters (especially your MC) don't have strong voices, they probably won't leave a lasting impression on the reader.

That's no good, eh? I mean, you want your readers to remember your characters once the story is over, don't you? Of course you do. But, how do you develop your characters' voices?

For starters, know your character. Yeah, I know--I preach this rule religiously, but it's super important. Knowing your character, their history, beliefs, and views can have a huge effect on your character voice. You should know them almost as well as you know yourself. If you don't, it's highly doubtful much of a voice will emerge in your story. You characters will fall short, sound the same, and bore your readers.

Did your MC come from a happy family or a broken home? Did they have many friends growing up? How are they are expressing themselves? How do they view the world as a whole?

Answering questions like these can improve your characters' voices. For more tips on characters, check out part one and part two of Building 3-Dimensional Characters.

Humor is also a great tool. Adding on a bit of humor (dark humor if we're talking villains) can really help your character's voice. Everyone has a different sense of humor--my brother loves reference jokes, I enjoy sarcasm and irony, and with Travis, the more random a joke is, the better. This is another good thing to look at while building your characters--what do they find amusing? What makes them laugh until their sides hurt?

Think about the way real people talk. Your characters are supposed to be real people, so they need to talk and think like real people. Now, I'm not telling you to eavesdrop (yes I am), but if you have to, take a trip to the park or the mall or wherever people hang out in your town and listen in on a few conversations. Take notes if you have to.

Now, this doesn't apply strictly to dialogue. You've got to inject a little of that voice into your narrative as well. This can be a little more tricky. I believe, personally, the best place to try this out is in a description. Think about the way your character would express themselves and use those words to describe whatever you're describing (setting, another character, whatever...).

Keep it in character. Let's say your character is hanging out with their prude aunt, just chit-chatting, and then your MC brings up a pretty steamy subject. What's that prude aunt going to do? Well, there are plenty of ways you could take it, but there's one path that just won't work. The path where the aunt actually takes an interest in the topic. Based on what we know of her character (prude), she'd probably find a way to quickly dismiss it or, possibly, get a little upset with her niece from bringing it up in the first place. Contrived character actions kills the voice you could have been cultivating and ticks readers off.

Keep a diary for your character(s). Nooo, this isn't just my love of pretending taking over, lovelies. This is serious business. If you really want to get into character, a good way to do this is writing diary entries by your characters. In a diary, you share your uncensored thoughts and feelings--your voice bleeds through whether you're trying or not. So, if you know your character (told you it was important), you should be able to do this with little to no trouble. In fact, I might do a few blogs later on from my characters just to give you an example or two (and because it's a great excuse for some pretending. lol).

Choose your words carefully. Think about how your character would describe something--what words would they use? Would they say dinner was "delicious" or would they call it "yummy?" Do they think of sunsets as "a dazzling display of natural beauty" or "just another day coming to an end?" These things really define a character's voice. If every character uses the same words and describes things the same way, they'll all seem like the same person...and that's boring. You definitely don't want that.

Speak from experience. And not your experiences--I'm talking about your character's experiences. Does your character have a tragic past? Did they grow up with strict moral values? Or were they allowed to run free and do as they pleased? Was your character ever in a violent accident? Or have they never had so much as a scraped knee? Those things will help you shape your character's voice. For instance, if your character grew up under repressed parents, they might have a naive/innocent view of the world. On the flip, if they grew up with no moral guidance, they might find the line between right and wrong to be a little blurry.

Let that voice change. The voice you establish in the beginning of your story should be a bit different from the voice that ends the novel. Once your character starts learning and growing, their views will change and, therefore, their voice goes through a mild transformation. Now, I'm not saying you need a whole new voice by the end--just slightly tweaked.

For example, in LIGHTS OUT, Skye's voice in the beginning is a little angry, but by the end, she's evened out a bit.

In OPHELIA, the voice in the beginning is innocent--that of a young child--but, eventually, Ophelia's world turns itself upside down and horrible things happen to her, stripping away that innocence. By the end, her voice will be a little more pessimistic and jaded.

The change in voice doesn't always have to be a "happy" one. It should reflect on what your character has been through and where they're at by the ending.

All right, everyone, that's it for part one. Tune in next time when I talk about your writer's voice.

Hope this helps! If you've got a question or want to suggest a topic, just leave a comment and I'll get right on it. Happy writing, lovelies!

Working Through The Pain

Ugggh.

I've got this horrible pain in my left shoulder.

I think I slept on it wrong or whatever.

It's killing me. lol

But I'm trying my damnedest to work through it.

I've got way too much on my plate right now to be out of commission for even a day.

I was planning a big post on character voice today, but I'm just going to leave you with some WIP updates instead.

I've got 31,000 words in OPHELIA so far.

I know for a fact I've got way too much build-up in the beginning, but I'm silencing my inner editor until she's needed.

The story is flowing just like I need it to though, so that's great.

I've officially picked my favorite character. Hah.

I'm thinking about doing a special post to introduce everyone to the cast.

Anyone interested?

HOME BASE is on the back burner for now.

I'm still working on it every now and then, but I'm concentrating on OPHELIA.

Oh! And I'm finally getting to edit LIGHTS OUT.

Again, I'm thinking I've got too much build-up in the beginning.

I tend to over-write things though.

Meh.

But no worries.

I'll get it all worked out eventually.

Okay...I'm off to nurse my poor shoulder.

(P.S. I got a new kitten! She's adorable!)

Point of What?

Point of View (POV)

Before you start writing your novel, you have to sit down and ask yourself a question that could potentially change the book you had in mind.

You've got to ask yourself:

What point of view do I want to use?

Well, my little lovelies, you've got a few different choices here. You can go with third person--Limited or Omniscient--or first person--my personal favorite--or even second person.

Let me start off by explaining the differences...

-Third Person-

With third person, you type "he" and "she." It's probably the most common POV used by writers and is usually written in past tense (but there's no rule saying it has to be).

Limited~ The writer should usually focus on the thoughts and feelings of ONE character. If you want to head-hop, do it between chapters and try to make the transitions as smooth as possible.

Omniscient~ This is popular with epic fantasy writers--think Tolkien. This point of view lets you see what's going on with pretty much every character. Sometimes the story is told through the eyes of the hero, sometimes it's the sidekick, sometimes it's the villain.

-First Person-

With first person, you type "I" and "me." This POV is really growing in popularity--I know it's my favorite. This focuses solely on the thoughts/feelings/experiences of ONE character.

-Second Person-

Quite possibly the rarest POV, second person is when you type "you." You don't see this perspective too often--it's used mainly for Choose Your Own Adventure books (who doesn't love those? lol).

*Advantages*

-Third Person Limited-

*Possibly the easiest to master.

*You're allowed to show more than one character's POV.

*Doesn't sound quite as monotonous as first person.

*Readers are used to seeing it.

*You don't have to worry about character voice in your narrative.

(Let's say your MC is a bad boy. If you're writing in first person, you can't get all flowery when describing the sunset or whatever because your bad boy would never describe something that way.)

-Third Person Omniscient-

*Possibly the easiest to handle.

*You can drop information whenever you want.

*You're allowed to get into ALL your characters' heads if you want.

*Gives your reader a wide-spread view of the story and the world it takes place in.

-First Person-

*Sucks the reader in a bit more than the others.

*More intense.

*Helps the reader bond with the MC.

*Writing "I" seems to be more natural than writing "he" and "she."

-Second Person-

*Makes the reader feel like they're a part of the story--especially good if you're writing *ahem* erotica.

*Can be pretty fun to write.

(Is it totally obvious I don't know much about second person? Haha.)

*Disadvantages*

-Third Person Limited-

*The temptation to head-hop is insatiable.

*Doesn't hit as hard as fist person.

*If you're using more than one POV, the story can feel inconsistent.

*You can't give out information your POV character doesn't have.

-Third Person Omniscient-

*The story-telling can seem shallow.

*The reader can become detached from the characters/lack empathy for them.

*Your reader is very aware of the narrator.

*Every POV character has to be distinctive.

-First Person-

*Has been called the hardest POV to master.

*Your MC has to be in EVERY important scene.

*Your readers only get the thoughts/feelings of your MC.

*Writing "I" sometimes lets the writer put too much of themselves in their MC.

*If your MC isn't someone your readers will like, they probably won't read it.

-Second Person-

*Extremely difficult to pull off.

*Can be very jarring for a reader.

*No one likes to be bossed around and this POV sometimes feels that way.

Let's see how POV can affect a scene, shall we?

-Third Person Limited-

Shannon leaned against the door frame, watching the sun dip below the horizon. Brilliant reds and pinks and purples danced across the sky--bleeding together in the most perfect of ways--but she could hardly enjoy it. The floorboards behind her creaked, startling her out of her daze. Spinning around, Shannon sighed and covered her heart with her hand.

"Oh, Dave," she said, steadying her breathing, "it's just you."

-Third Person Omniscient-

Shannon leaned against the door frame, watching the sun dip below the horizon. The sky was alive with brilliant colors, but she could barely enjoy it. She was too deep in thought to pay attention. Behind her, Dave stepped into the room, watching his wife with heartache flashing in his eyes. The floor squealed under his feet and Shannon spun around.

Covering her heart with her hand, she sighed and said, "Oh, Dave...it's just you."

-First Person-

I leaned against the door frame, trying to enjoy one of the most amazing sunsets I'd ever seen, but my mind was too cluttered. After everything that happened with Sal, I was surprised Dave stuck around. My heart ached as I thought about Dave--he could walk out on me at any moment now and I'd deserve it.

The floor squeaked, sending my heart jumping into my throat. I spun around, half-expecting to see Sal, but it was only Dave. Sighing, I put my hand over my heart.

"Oh, Dave...it's just you."

-Second Person-

You lean against the door frame, half-watching as the sun dips below the horizon. The sky is alive with the most amazing colors you've ever seen, but you're finding it hard to enjoy. Your mind is on other things--one thing in particular. Dave.

Now that he's found out about your affair, he could leave you at any given time. Your heart aches at the very thought.

Behind you, the floorboards issue a tiny squeak, startling you. You spin around, but it's only Dave. Sighing, you put your hand over your heart and say, "Oh, Dave...it's just you."

You see what kind of effect the POV can have on your scene?

It's very important and shouldn't be taken lightly. Think for a while about what POV you want to use before diving into your story.

It'll save you hours of wasted time later if you decide you want to do something else.

I can't tell you which POV is best for your story, but my advice would be to take a potential scene--opening, middle, ending, whatever--and write it out in all the POVs. Go with whichever sounds the best and flows the smoothest.

Hope this helps!

If you've got any questions or have a suggestion for a future topic, just leave a comment and I'll get right on it!

Happy writing, lovelies.