Monday, June 4, 2012

The Voice

Thanks again to Dianne Salerni and Marcy Hatch for their feedback on my new MS. Also, thanks to those who commented. All of your feedback was very helpful. Check out Dianne and Marcy's blogs to see how you can get critiqued.

The voice. I'm not talking about that TV show with Christina Aguleria (I'm sure I just butchered her name). I'm talking about character voice. I know I've written a post about this before with links and such, but today I want to talk about my method. One thing I've been told is that my characters' have great voices. Now, I'm not trying to brag or anything, it's an observation, but I have been asked how I do it. How do I create voice for my characters?

The thing is--I have no method or formula. I don't sit and analyze how to create a certain voice. I listen. That's it. I know sounds a little like I'm off my rocker. But seriously, that's what I do. When my characters' come to me, I write what they say, exactly how they say it. There are no charts or research, it's the character talking. I also see them and write what their actions and reactions are. Of course at some point, there are revisions, but that voice is already there. Maybe it's the panster in me. I'm not a big one for self help books. I use them, but I also am a trial and error type person. I like to see what works and what doesn't by doing. So, voice, for me, just happens. Now, that's not to say I don't have issues with other areas of novel writing. That's a whole other post.

Do you have a method on creating voice?

Have a great day!