Heather Alexander's Intensive –
Voice Lessons: Making Your Manuscript Sing
Below is an excerpt from my notes on her lecture. What makes voice?
Diction – (vocal choices)
These could be cultural references. You can make cultural references up , but use them sparingly
and thoughtfully. It’s the personality of your story.
Perspective – It’s
about setting, too (where you’re from or
where you are). Text that has great
perspective can be found in
these books : AU REVOIR, CRAZY EUROPEAN CHICK, THE
EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE, THE
WEDNESDAY WARS.
Characterization
- The character determines your voice.
Write down all the reasons you like a character. (You should pity the villain. Feel sorry for him.) All likable characters are incredibly
independent. Also, all your characters
should be as fully realized as the main character.
Dialogue – It has
to feel real. Never start dialogue like
a real conversation. Real conversations
can drag the story down and make it boring.
Use economy of words to express what is actually being said. Cut the crap, but keep the voice.
Interior monologue
(im)– It is the best way to express character, to convey their feelings, to see
a character being truthful or dishonest.
It’s in im that readers get the “Aha!” moment. Without im we lose the emotional stake of the
dialogue. Text with great im can be
found in: SHINE, A BEAUTIFUL BOY, FREAK SHOW
Interior dialogue
(id) is needed to create empathy about the character. You can have id if it’s in third person, i.e.
what the character thinks. This is also
a great place to get backstory. Without
id the reader can lose dramatic irony (where the reader knows more than the
character). Id examples in text: SLAM,
THE HUNGER GAMESNotes:
You want suspense in all your scenes. You can have that by
using voice. Voice is how the character
reacts to the action or effect (no quirkiness in character).
Voice is the way your words sound on a page.
Voice is not constant. It will change. – Our voices change dependent on who we talk to and where we
are. Your voice will change as you talk
to different people, e.g., your boss, best friend, thief, baby, and your dad.Voice is the way your words sound on a page.
An authorial voice is the voice of the writer of the book or
voice of the creator.
A narrative voice is voice invented by the author. It’s the protagonist voice.
Exercises to help you define and improve voice.*:
Exercise 1: Heather Alexander had us do a voice exercise to help us see how voice changes are dependent on characters. We were given 3 – 5 minutes to write a paragraph from each of four different points of view.
1. She had us think of the most beautiful place we’d ever been
to. Then, we were to describe it.
2. Second, we were to describe the same scene from the perspective
of a high school girl.3. Then we were to describe it from the viewpoint of a Middle School rural boy.
4. Lastly, we were to describe the same scene from the point of
view of a six year old girl.
(If you would like to read my 4 examples, they are at the
bottom of the post.)
Exercise 2: Go to a public place and see what kids are not
saying: stomping, eyes rolling, fist
making, etc. Think of how you can use these
to help you with voice. In this way, readers can get a clearer picture of your story.
Exercise 3: Write 2 different scenes. One viewpoint from the kid being
bullied. The second, from the bullies
perspective. This exercise shows you
that both characters can be unreliable, because neither knows the full story.
Middle Grade and
Young Adult "Voice" – Characters
have a limited perspective of the world.
They have a limited life experience.
MG and YA readers like interesting characters. For a young person, everything feels like it’s the
end of the world. Every day they are
doing something new. Everything shifts
because of one new experience in their young lives.
When writing for this age, erase all your adult views for the mc. Text examples can be found in: THE TRUTH
ABOUT FOREVER, OKAY FOR NOW.
Helpful Hints:
In dialogue use “said” or show the emotion. Don’t use words such
as: retorted, responded, remarked, etc. in
dialogue.
Remember,“your first idea is never your best idea” when writing
stories.
My response to
Heather’s voice exercises:
Describe the most beautiful place you’ve been to.
The warmth engulfed
him. His soft skin feeling the coolness
of the water sent sensations like he had not know before. Inside surged laughter, wonder, and pleasure
until his inner world burst into the scene.
“Agua!” He laughed.
Describe the same scene from the perspective of a high
school girl.
A baby, nude! Oh, no.
And his parents smiling as if they had somehow thought their nude kid
on public property was such a clever idea.
Hideous! It’s ruined my summer
day at the beach. Thank God my parents
never put me through that.
Describe it from the viewpoint of a Middle School rural boy.
The ocean was
unbelievable. It went on and on, sort of like the spinach fields at
home. Water rippling in the wind just
like my pa’s crops. And the baby, pink
as a pig, having the time of his life in a salty water hole.
Describe the same scene from the point of view of a six year
old girl.
Wow, the sun is so
bright. Everything looks pink with my
new sunglasses. Momma looks pink and
Papa’s hair looks pink. I love my new
bathing suit. It feels soft and the wind
makes the ruffles dance. My baby cousin
is naked, and he likes it! He’s too
little to get in the real ocean. I’m
not.
*If you want to understand voice, do the
exercises. They will help.