tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post3536396838708028973..comments2024-03-29T08:20:50.011-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: Voice?Leigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-74593708925060428852013-07-29T16:29:08.401-04:002013-07-29T16:29:08.401-04:00Dale and Dixon, you've raised some concerns of...Dale and Dixon, you've raised some concerns of mine. When teaching I actually had a principal tell me to grade writing by strict grammatical rules even if it squelched students' creativity. Fran Rizerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08655783035179620991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-42099543315488744142013-07-29T15:20:46.742-04:002013-07-29T15:20:46.742-04:00I enjoyed your article, Fran. And, I think this i...I enjoyed your article, Fran. And, I think this is exactly the sort of forum where such discussion makes sense. We have, here, a collection of folks who have a good enough grasp of the language, and of writing, that we can (and probably all <i>do</i>) consider ways to “tint” or “flavor” our writing through voice.<br /><br />I completely agree with your first definition of voice, and largely agree with your “Simon Cowell” definition—though I worry that this second definition can be misleading, in the wrong hands.<br /><br />My own concern about voice pertains to how it is being taught in our public education system. I believe it’s being introduced to school children too soon, and – as you pointed out – is being taught by people who may not be able either to understand, or to articulate, such an esoteric concept.Dixon Hillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11220791609338404147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-74914393969103896822013-07-29T13:05:09.680-04:002013-07-29T13:05:09.680-04:00Nice article, Fran.
When I was in fifth grade t...Nice article, Fran. <br /><br />When I was in fifth grade the class had to write a short story. I wrote mine narrated by a quasi literate story teller. My teacher gave me an "F" and said it was a cardinal rule in writing that the narrator always had to be grammatically letter-perfect. I went to the school library, picked up a copy of Huckleberry Finn and put it on the teacher's desk with my story stuck in the middle. My grade got changed, but not to an "A". The teacher bore a grudge.Dale Andrewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10553503281187956955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-67687737015149650252013-07-29T11:56:39.332-04:002013-07-29T11:56:39.332-04:00I want to add a special invitation to all Sleuthsa...I want to add a special invitation to all Sleuthsayers to be sure to check out the blog two weeks from now on August 12th when I have a great guest blogger scheduled!Fran Rizerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08655783035179620991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-48677704176884787782013-07-29T11:55:14.757-04:002013-07-29T11:55:14.757-04:00Thanks for the comments. I agree with everything ...Thanks for the comments. I agree with everything each of you have said. My voice varies a lot, but I find that when working on something that has a previous definite voice, all I have to do is read a former work and the voice comes right back without effort. <br />Fran Rizerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08655783035179620991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-63689840509052310852013-07-29T11:01:57.718-04:002013-07-29T11:01:57.718-04:00As a reader, I’ve always and still have trouble te...As a reader, I’ve always and still have trouble telling the difference between voice, mood, and tone when analyzing a story. I like your the idea of voice as personal flavor.<br /><br />As for writing what you know, I agree with David that it’s a good place to start, but if the writer stays there, he or she is likely to run out of material.<br />Louis A. Willishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16563842429688123421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-42461497658485875602013-07-29T10:57:54.574-04:002013-07-29T10:57:54.574-04:00Good article, Fran. Re voice, well, some authors ...Good article, Fran. Re voice, well, some authors (Parker has been cited) have only one, for both book and protagonists; others - and may I recommend to you the amazing (non-mystery writing) Joyce Cary - can create a different narrative voice for every book, and a different voice for each character. <br /><br />Re writing what you know - one potential writer one time told me that it got boring just writing what they knew. I suggested that they bring their imagination to the table - every emotion, thought, and impulse we have is universal, it just needs amplification. Jealousy (of a pet or a parent or a lover) is jealousy. Fear is fear. Etc. The rest - location, occupation, avocation - is just research. Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-40443392185642818872013-07-29T09:39:50.431-04:002013-07-29T09:39:50.431-04:00Good article, Fran, and I agree with your conclusi...Good article, Fran, and I agree with your conclusions. I think really good writers do exactly what you said in terms of varying the voice depending upon the story. Some get stuck (not always unsuccessfully) in one groove and stay there. <br /><br />As for writing what you know--yes, that's a great place to start, but why stay there? As you pointed out, you can always go forth and research and learn. I think Hemmingway established the model of the writer-adventurer living his novels. But most of us can never do that...nor do we need to.David Deanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13005457506363262838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-36125072878775488302013-07-29T09:37:36.411-04:002013-07-29T09:37:36.411-04:00Great piece, Fran. I've always thought many au...Great piece, Fran. I've always thought many authors worry too much about voice. It's just there, a part of everything we write, and can sometimes identify a person as quickly as one's walk or facial features.<br /><br />Liz, I agree with the comment about Robert B. Parker. Jesse Stone was just Spenser with a badge instead of a PI license.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-14493180112963707322013-07-29T09:22:27.346-04:002013-07-29T09:22:27.346-04:00My narrative third-person voice for fiction doesn&...My narrative third-person voice for fiction doesn't change much from work to work. The first-person voice of my protagonists is very marked and different from one to the next (contemporary streetwise New York male in my series, fifteenth-century young man in my historicals, and in first-person standalone stories: an 11-year-old girl today, a 12-year-old boy in the 1950s, and a Jewish female shapeshifting country singer. Beyond my fiction, I have one voice for poetry, another for song lyrics, another for academic/professional writing, and yet another, what I'd call a journalistic voice, for blogs and pop articles. But even talking only about fiction, some authors can vary voice and others can't or don't. I read online somewhere recently (and I agree) that Robert B. Parker had only one voice, and that his other protagonists were Spenser in a skirt, Spenser with license to kill, etc.Elizabeth Zelvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13944424094949207841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-86686338517459374212013-07-29T01:52:52.976-04:002013-07-29T01:52:52.976-04:00Hi Fran: Brenda, who taught Lit for a number of ye...Hi Fran: Brenda, who taught Lit for a number of years, believes like you, that 'voice'involves the ability of the author to communicate what the characters say and do. She proposes 'The Grapes of Wrath' as an example of how an author demonstrates empathy with his characters. That's it! An author has to convince the audience that, whatever the tale, it is authentic. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17407149021673167001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-7218191293288930402013-07-29T00:12:08.991-04:002013-07-29T00:12:08.991-04:00Ever read Riddley Walker by Russell Hosn? SF nove...Ever read Riddley Walker by Russell Hosn? SF novel written in first person, supposedly thousands of years after nuclear war destroyed written civilization and left written english a shhadow of itself. One critic tried translating the first two pages into standard English, demostrating that so much of the plot and meaning disappeared as to lose the whole story. I think if you tried doing th same thing with Huck younwould have the same problem. is voice IS the book.Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15195591607010650461noreply@blogger.com