Voice Lessons: Part 5, The Need for Voice

Today is the last day of my series on author voice. I’ve spent most of my time over the past few weeks talking about what voice IS– how to define it, how to recognize it, how to develop it– but today, I want to talk about probably the most important factor in developing a strong personal voice as a writer, and that is understanding the need for great voice. I started the series by talking about some of the frustration associated with chasing strong voice, and the nebulous, elusive way we often talk about “great author voice,” and the reality is that the ability to identify or harness a strong writing voice doesn’t come naturally to a lot of writers. Like whatever subject just never made sense to you in school (just the word “chemistry” still prompts a panic response), voice for a lot of people is a frustrating area. You might think you see a glimmer of light when reading a blog post or a how-to article or listening to a lecture on it, but five minutes into trying to critique/improve your own voice in a piece of writing and you’re frustrated, depressed, and ready to forget it. It’s true that voice isn’t as easy to work on as mechanics, or characters, or dialogue, both because it’s less concrete and because there are fewer resources available, but understanding why voice is so important can help keep you motivated to continue working on yours, even if it feels like an uphill battle.

Think about some of your favorite books. If you’re like me, they probably come from one or two of the same genres– maybe your favorite books tend to be romances, or historical fiction, or mysteries. Even if your top five books come from five different genres, each one (most likely) can be categorized with THOUSANDS of other titles in the same genre or sub-genre. Take an easy example: say a couple of your favorite books are mystery novels. Now, you’ve probably read dozens, if not hundreds, of other titles in that genre– when we find a book or an author we like, we tend to look for books or authors with a similar feel to them. That’s the section we browse first at the library or bookstore, and those are the kinds of titles that Amazon recommends when we’re searching one of our favorites.

But not EVERY mystery novel you read ends up on your favorites list– not even close! For every one mystery on your list of books you would re-read and recommend to others and snatch up if you saw it at a used-book sale, you’ve probably read or skimmed ten or twenty “similar” books that were completely forgettable. If pressed to give an explanation for why those books didn’t end up on your favorites list, you’d probably cite a variety of reasons– mediocre writing in some cases, failure to connect with the characters, a plot that didn’t interest you– but at the end of the day, the books that DO end up on our list of favorites aren’t there solely because of their superior plots or excellent dialogue or particularly interesting characters, they’re there because our overall experience with them was special, because the world created therein was one we loved spending time in, because the stories were told in a way that made us want to listen, and THAT experience as a reader is the result of great voice on the part of a writer.

That’s what you’re chasing when you choose to spend another painful hour focusing on your voice, or when you ask your critique partner to give you voice feedback, or when you re-write your opening chapter yet again after getting yet another piece of “your voice isn’t very strong” criticism. Ultimately, your goal and hope as a writer is not simply for an agent or editor to say yes, but to make readers feel the same excitement for your story and characters that you do, to put yourself and your story on the page with such authenticity that no other mystery novel or historical romance or humorous memoir will satisfy those readers in the same way yours does. Voice is the reason readers are going to sign up to receive updates on when your next book is coming out, and the reason they think of your book when a friend asks for a recommendation, and the reason they’ll track down your blog or your facebook page to hear more from you– voice keeps readers coming to YOU, and if you’re one of those weird authors who actually wants people to read his book, that’s a really good thing.

Now, if you have a fantastic voice, that doesn’t mean you should stop reading Thursdays with Amanda. Obviously, you can’t just write a great book, slap it up on Amazon, and then wait for your million dollars to show up in your bank account, but it IS true that your entire writing career is going to be more successful and gain momentum more quickly if you get an early handle on your voice. For published authors whose sales numbers haven’t been as strong as you might like, it might be worth working on your voice a bit before your next book– find out what readers loved about your last book, what they like about YOUR romances or mysteries or thrillers in particular, and see if you can offer that to them in even stronger ways in your next book.

Thanks for reading this series; I hope you found it helpful in understanding voice and that both the concept of “voice” and your understanding of your own strengths and weaknesses in that area are a lot less hazy. Not sure what’s next for these Tuesday blogs on craft, so if you have any suggestions or questions for future topics, I’d love to hear them!