Hearing Voices
January 29th, 2010 by Anna Elliott
Last month, I blogged about getting to know your characters—which segways nicely into the WU theme for this month: voice. I’ve always felt that voice is the reflection of your POV characters’ personalities, the way they want their story to be told. And I’ve found that I can’t nail down the voice for my novels unless and until I know my POV characters really, really well, and they’re talking to me in voices I can hear—sometimes as clearly as I hear the voices of my husband and kids.
That can take time, for sure. Somc character’s voices come quite easily, others much less so. Louis Menand had an article on voice in the New Yorker awhile back and wrote:
A better basis than speaking for the metaphor of voice in writing is singing. You can’t tell if someone can sing or not from the way she talks, and although “natural phrasing” and “from the heart” are prized attributes of song, singing that way requires rehearsal, preparation, and getting in touch with whatever it is inside singers that, by a neural kink or the grace of God, enables them to turn themselves into vessels of musical sound.
So don’t be discouraged if you’re not hearing your characters’ voices right away, or if it takes revision after revision until their voices are ringing off the page as clearly as they possibly can. View hard-nut-to-crack characters as an opportunity to experiment with alternative storytelling techniques. You might try writing a day-in-the-life diary for your main character. The diary entry doesn’t necessarily have to make it into your book—but it can be a great tool towards feeling your way towards your main character’s personality, and thus his or her voice. I had a character who wouldn’t talk to me (or the reader), but she was willing to talk to her best (platonic) male friend. Only when she started dictating letters to the friend in the middle of scenes, telling him how she really felt about what was going on did I finally get a fix on who she truly was and how her voice needed to sound.
I’ve found it fascinating to read all the posts on voice this month. There have been so many great insights, so many fabulously helpful thoughts on storycraft. And yet I felt like we all struggled a bit to clearly pin down just what voice is and how writers go about developing their own. I think that’s because however much you try to dissect and analyze it, in essence voice is magic. You know Pinoccio? Voice is the touch of the Blue Fairy’s magic wand that turns characters from wooden puppets into real live people who jump off the page.
You wrote: “…however much you try to dissect and analyze it, in essence voice is magic.”
Amen!
When the fairy dust settles and the character’s voice comes through clear and strong, it’s enchantment for the writer, too.
Meredith´s last blog ..1000 Words Before Breakfast
Yeah, I created a separate file just called “(main character) voice” so I could go in there and type up her thoughts whenever they came. And also, so I could reread her words whenever her voice *wouldn’t* come. It was pretty helpful! (Until I scrapped the story, lol. But that was for other reasons.)
Kristan´s last blog ..I can has world?
That’s a great idea, Kristan! I’ll have to try that.
Thanks for the post, Anna. I think one of hardest things about writing is fighting the “discouragements.” It is always helpful to be reminded that it takes time but if we keep at it, it will come. On good days, I can hear that loud and clear. On bad days I just want to scream! ;)
Rebecca´s last blog ..Craft Cheese
That really is a great idea Kristan! And Rebecca, don’t we all have those “I want to scream” days! What keeps me going is knowing that I *am* going to eventually reach that point where my characters are talking to me and totally surprising me with what they have to say–there’s no other feeling like it.
Nicely done. The quote from Louis Menand hit the nail on the head, and gave me a new perspective in thinking about voice, and I, too, liked the idea that when it comes down to it, voice is magic.
Love this: ” I think that’s because however much you try to dissect and analyze it, in essence voice is magic.”
Sometimes it really seems that way. You’re slogging along and then poof, the character comes alive and can speak. How does that happen? What makes it happen? Talent, drive and yes, a little magic, I think.
Great post!
[...] over at Writer Unboxed today blogging about finding your characters’ [...]
It takes me the first fifty to one-hundred pages of novel-writing before I feel I’ve truly tuned into my characters’ voices. This is one of the reasons why the first chapter usually requires the most revision.
Lots of good thoughts here. :)
Lara´s last blog ..The Ever-Changing Book Cover
‘Voice’ . . . a difficult thing at the best of times, but when one’s male protagonist is mute, and with no sign language, even more difficult. Never have mannerisms, mood and thought taken on such meaning! I can’t ‘hear’ him, instead I must ’see’ him and ‘be’ him.
Lara, I’m absolutely with you–my first chapter gets re-written by far the most times and for that very reason. And Prue, that sounds like a fascinating story choice you’ve made! Best of luck with it–it sounds terrific!