《How to Write Stories People Will Love》31. Find Your Voice - Part 2
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Finding one's voice is not a requirement for good writing, but it helps. A good story can stand on its own, but a good voice will make it memorable. In my opinion, it's what pushes a reader from "like" to "love."
So how do you find your writing voice? Here are some suggestions I've found that might help you:
For example, I might say I'm clever, genuine, and sometimes snarky. Our personalities are complex and nuanced, but forcing ourselves to only select three words helps to boil it down to the bare basics. It's easier to get our writing to reflect three adjectives than an entire personality.
One of the easiest ways for "voicey" writing is to simply type the way you talk. My brain tends to spew thoughts in spurts, so you'll find lots of sentence fragments in my work. I find it very suitable for writing young adult stories, so I stick with it. (Tangent: I write how I talk in my head. For some reason, my mouth does a poor job of expressing my thoughts, so what actually comes out is never as great as how it sounds in my head.)
Think about the stories that you've enjoyed most, or the bloggers that you love to follow. We often admire the thing we want to be. What is it about the writings of these other people you like most? How do they convey their ideas? Do you see yourself writing that way?
If it feels like pulling teeth trying to write a certain way, then maybe you weren't meant to write that way. I'm not saying you can't, but if it doesn't feel natural to you, then that probably isn't your voice.
Note that when I say "your voice" here in this chapter, it can be interchangeable with "your character's voice". When trying to nail down your character's voice, try describing that character in three adjectives, and think about how this person speaks. Then try to capture those things in words as you write the story from that character's perspective.
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Additional note about voice: Many best-selling authors have kind of a bland voice. This probably helps their stories appeal to a broader audience. With this in mind, it's okay if your story isn't "voicey". But like I said in the first paragraph, many stories that I've liked have very little voice, but my all-time favorites--the stories that I love--drip with voice.
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Battle Frenzy
Amidst a disaster, an orphan contracts a sickness. In his waking hours, he is tormented by his ailment, but when he slumbers, there is infinite darkness. One day, when he was five years old, a strange Fate Trickster appeared in his dreams. Ten years later, he dreams of becoming a lord. To do so, he takes a chance to trade his fate! That day, Wang Zhong once again stood at the gates of the Tianjing Heroic Soul Academy. He was about to start a brand new life.
8 363The Fake Demon Lord
Lapis Lazuli Fardom, the current Demon Lord, is betrayed by her council when they establish a treaty with the Humans behind her back. Having framed many evil deeds against her, both the Humans and Demons set up an ambush to kill Lapis off. Moments before she is killed, a loyal vassal sacrifices her life to tear open a rift in space sending not only Lapis, but also the current Heroes summoned into the rift. When they are finally released, they realize they are suddenly in an entirely new world with races they'd never seen before at war. In this new world, what role will Lapis chose to take up and how will the release of an old Demon Lord into the new world affect the current balance of war?
8 256Just Some Guy
Available in Paperback and Kindle Look, I used to be just some guy… But then I made some changes… My job was like jail, now time and space cannot even contain me. When this whole thing started, well let’s skip ahead. The start of the story isn’t nearly as interesting as where I ended up. It all started with a dead body and an explosion… But what you really need to know is that, I used to be a loser, then I got jacked and went on my own adventure… After the explosion I took off west, expecting, well what does it matter what I was expecting? What I found was an epic adventure! Who would have thought that could happen to a former loser like me? I became a criminal, a musician, traveled through time, battled beings that shouldn’t exist and took part in a high stakes tournament. But that’s not the half of it! My editor says this blurb thing should be around 200 hundred words, but why don’t you just go ahead and buy the book to get the full story? “God does not play dice with the universe.” -Einstein (Sort of) “However, it’s entirely possible he’s using Me as his personal sitcom.” -Some Guy
8 205Adventures Of The Warriors And The Dead
With the new shocking secret revealed Emily struggles to regain herself and make peace with the new creature she is. Natalie finally remembers what happened the day she fled the Shire and just how she ended up in Greenwood. Legolas and Grace hunt down Bolg only to come face to face with a new threat. Allie is given only one more chance to accept who she is. With new challenges from every angle the company divides on he eve of a war.
8 123giving them what they want
katsuki bakugou has everything, a amazing quirk, loveing patients, loyal friends, what more could a guy want? even though he never showed it he loved his parents, friends, class mates, and even deku! he was happy even if he seemed angry at the world. but what happens when a video gets out? a video that shows everything he did with his yes men and fellow bullies before he went to U.A? before he changed his ways and stopped bullying deku and started to see others as people on the same level? what happens when he gets everyone and everything taken away? his loveing patients, friends, and class mates start to hate and shut him out. the world sees him as a the world's worst villain, and not the greatest hero he could be. what happens when katsuki bakugou has no one to go to?read to find out ;)...
8 134vent diary. ✓
❪ 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐄 ❫ ━┅ where akito has a vent diary© -AZURESILK, 2022
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