The Writer’s Voice
By Mark Pepper
Kermit the Frog has a very distinctive voice. So does Miss Piggy, Fozzy Bear, Gonzo and the rest of the Muppet crew. Personally, I wouldn’t want to sound like any of them. (I may have Gonzo’s nose, but that’s a different matter.) It’s possible to alter your speaking voice to a certain extent – you can alter your general tone, and certainly improve or remove an accent you may not like – but what most people are trying to do here is to make their voice less distinctive.
I’m shooting from the hip when I say this (what’s new?), but I suspect that many writers often try to do the opposite. They worry unduly that there is nothing that makes them stand out from the crowd, and they think that they can rectify that by creating a writer’s voice.
This is fine if you naturally fall into a certain rhythm or style of writing, but it can be a problem if you have to force it. That’s the equivalent of you adopting an accent you’re not very good at and hoping people will take you seriously.
Two writers who spring to mind who have distinctive voices are Stephen King and Elmore Leonard. Once you’ve read a bit of King it would be practically impossible not to recognise his work from a couple of random paragraphs. He writes as he might speak, seemingly letting his words fall from his brain in whatever order they manifest themselves, then he adds afterthoughts in parentheses where you or I might think we should rewrite to make it all flow better. Part of his voice derives from what he terms “Skull Cinema” – his ability to see everything he writes as though he’s watching a movie in his head. Personally, I think it works; when I finish a Stephen King novel I’ve already seen the movie, and, apart from Misery, Hollywood’s interpretations have always been a terrible disappointment by comparison.
Just remember that the man’s a genius and his name and reputation afford him the ultimate artistic licence.
As for Elmore Leonard, he writes in his Elmore Leonard’s Ten Rules of Writing: “My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.” Here then is a writer who is very consciously aware that he wants his own voice, and he would seem to be openly admitting that the end result is occasionally contrived with this aim in mind. Just occasionally, I think he tries too hard. Hey, who am I to criticise, right?
What I’m trying to say is that you and I cannot afford to try too hard. You could spend an hour on one sentence just to give it a “voice” that a lot of people may actually find pretty grating.
I was given a piece of advice by my first acting teacher – the guy who coached me for my successful RADA audition back in 1987. When I was desperately looking for an unusual audition piece to stand out from the crowd, he said, “Mark, you don’t have to be different to be good; being good is different enough”.
You don’t need a writer’s voice to succeed. You just need to have something interesting to say, and you need to say it well.
About the Author: I have two novels published hardback and paperback by Hodder & Stoughton - The Short Cut and Man On A Murder Cycle. I live on the Murcian coast of Spain with my beautiful wife and daughter. For the past five years I have been working in corporate intelligence for some of the largest companies in the world.
George Angus | Feb 8, 2010 | Reply
Mark,
Spot on advice about voice, me thinks. The voice that works best is the one that naturally flows into your writing. When I had my first article published in our company newsletter, I didn’t have any writing ambitions at all. I didn’t spend hours reviewing how to say what I wanted to say, I just wrote what came to me. The article was a big hit and I’ve never looked back in terms of voice.
Had no idea you were a King fan. One of my favs, absolutely. And for all of the reasons you point out here.
Cheers!
George
Christopher Anderson | Feb 9, 2010 | Reply
I actually picked up a lot of my writing style from Stephen King (big fan here as well). I like how how his writing just kind of flows out like someone would talk. I also used to write a lot of poetry in a similar fashion. Very free flowing, no rhyming or structure or anything like that. Good advice I think. Just let it come out right?
I’ve tried a little bit lately to kind of clean things up and smooth my writing out though. I tend to write in short, choppy sentences. Hmm… So I guess I’m trying a little bit, but not too hard
. Great post.
Mark | Feb 9, 2010 | Reply
Cheers George and Chris,
Yep, I’m not sure anyone could read Stephen King and not become a fan. Thanks for your comments, guys. It’s a difficult subject, really, and not as clear cut as I make it sound. I don’t think there’s any harm in honing some sort of personal style, but I don’t think you can just pluck it out of thin air. There must be something in your writing that naturally lends itself, or you can end up taking an age. Yes, Chris, I reckon just let it come out first of all. You can always take the Leonard approach if you’re not happy, and rewrite. In fact, if you’re not rewriting then you’re either a King-like genius or you’re not making much effort. The key is to get the words out first unhampered, then if you want you can think about applying a specific voice. The voice as a starting point, though, is in my opinion a very bad idea and likely to stifle any natural flow you might have had.
See you later!
Mark
Christopher Anderson | Feb 10, 2010 | Reply
That’s actually how Stephen King writes. He gets it all down then basically takes a knife and cuts out a lot of the unnecessary. Refines it to a point. Granted he is a genius at what he does, but he still has to do work to it even though it sounds so natural.
He talks a lot about this kind of thing in his book “On Writing”. Good read if you haven’t already.
Mark | Feb 11, 2010 | Reply
Hi Chris,
I do have On Writing but read it so many years ago I can’t really remember. You’re right, there won’t be a writer worth his salt who doesn’t rewrite to hone things. I think Mr King likely gets it right first time more than the rest of us mere mortals, though. I haven’t read any of his stuff for a while (no time), but he still seems as prolific as ever and he writes the fattest novels I’ve ever seen. Mine run to 291 and 404 pages – that would just about cover a King backstory before he really gets rolling. Good chatting, cheers. Mark