Jacqueline·What are some ways to identify whether your writing has voice?
Does the voice you write with get influenced by genre? Is there a way for a writer to have many “voices” like Cloud Atlas does?
How do you figure out a voice when writing about an identity that isn’t your own but from a different group or ethnicity?
- Cynthia·
My novel is set in Ancient Greece. How I can give my characters distinct voices when they all need to sound like they come from that time period?
How do you judge the age of your a character’s voice? Has there ever been a situation where you had to age up or age down a character if they sounded too old or too young?
- michellemillet·
Do you fully plot out character outlines before writing? Or just allow those personality traits to come through organically?
What are your favourite “hallmarks” of a great voice?
- michellemillet·
Do you ever base your characters off people you know or real life individuals?
- Hannah·
Any thoughts or tips on having a distinct voice as a writing, but also giving your MC a distinct voice?
- R. Lille·
What are some of the elements that make something resonate as a YA voice versus an MG voice? How important is sub-genre (fantasy vs. contemporary for example)?
How do you insert emotion into the story without boring the reader? How much is too much?
- Dawn·
Is it more difficult to write voice in 3rd person than 1st person? How can you make 3rd person voice stronger and avoid falling into a narrator or omniscient voice?
Any tips for distinguishing voice between characters in a multi-pov book?
oh you answered it! Thanks! 🙂
- Janine·
Do you think characters that speak with incorrect grammar is a factor in writing voice, or should our grammar stay perfect no matter who we have as our main character?
- Laura Mahal·
Over time, I think I’ve figured out my “voice” as an author, as I’ve had some success placing short fiction and personal essays. Transferring those writing skills to a full-length manuscript is a logical leap. But how do you handle when your readers get really attached to a character, or characters, from a stand-alone novel? Have you had readers write to you and ask you to bring back a character whose voice they especially loved?
Have you ever experimented with voice when writing non-human characters? Does it require a certain clarity or logic for the reader to understand or can you get away with incomprehensibility?
Are there certain voice cliches or something overdone? What would you like to see more of for voice?
- Casie·
I’ve found that when I try to inject humor into my YA characters’ voices, some people view the voice as more MG than YA. I’m not sure how to fix this (or if I need to). Do any of you have any reading recommendations for humorous YA novels? Most of the YA I read tends to be on the more serious side.
I definitely get that we should be careful about writing from a place that’s not our own, but my MG stories reflect my neighborhood and school, and we weren’t all white boys. That means I do write some voices from groups that aren’t my own, even they are not the MC. Any advice for writing a diverse cast?
- Sally·
I just got in, so if this question has bee addressed earlier I apologize. In getting voice for YA is it better to write in first person for my MC? If so, why? I have mine in third. Any tips on how to ‘nail’ it?
- Sally·
Thank you all so much!
Such a great panel! Thank you, Pintip, Lindsay and Fonda for sharing your knowledge!
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