Hello everyone! did you think I left you?! I didn't. I'm still here, lurking on the internet while I pretend to finish my book....that Pinterest man, it's evil! But we're not here to talk about Pinterest or Tmblr or how I'm a horrible person who hasn't finished a book. Today we're here to talk about changing your voice! Your Writer's Voice that is!
Last night I was inspired to write, and so write I did! A funny short piece that, when I was done, had me going, "holy crap did I just write that? That doesn't sound like me!"
And it didn't! In the writing world, when you're just starting out, you're going to hear people use this term a lot:
Find your voice! (or writer's voice)
And you'll give the computer screen a funny look and say, "what the hell does that even mean?". What it means, in layman's terms, is how your book 'sounds' as you read it. Your style. Its what separates you from other writers. It's why JK Rowling doesn't sound like JRR Tolkien, and Anne McCaffrey doesn't sound like Mercedes Lackey. They each have their own 'style' or 'voice'. That's really all they mean by that!
But here's the thing. Have you ever read an author who writes fantasy and then turns around and writes YA and you go to pick up their book and they don't write how you remember them writing for the Fantasy book? Yeah. They changed their voice. I do it all. The. TIME. In fact, I have a problem! Every book I write is so different from the one I previously came up with that I never just have a solid 'voice'. I change it because the characters and the world is different each time and so my word choices are always different.
Around this time is when I realized that being able to change your 'voice' is not always easy nor is it common. I don't mean that to brag, I say that because I recently spoke with some writing friends and they stared at me like I'd grown to heads when they compared two of my stories. Then they asked me how I did it, and could I give them tips on how to change your 'voice'.
I wish I could! Honestly the most I can tell you is that, for me, my characters and worlds are always different. They SOUND different and FEEL different in my head. So it always comes out differently whenever I write a book! It also doesn't help that I love writing different genres, and to me, every genre already has a type 'feel' that you kind of follow. I mean, c'mon, would you expect Sci-Fi books to sound like YA books? No. Because the formula and word choices are different. There's a pre-made 'feel' to each genre.
So here is a few reasons why you should change your voice (if you can, or if you want to switch genres)
1) You're going to write in a different genre: If you like writing fantasy you're kind of given a pass on being able to really go into a page or two of describing the scenery. It's kind of expected since your building a world. It's accepted. Not so much for YA. Teens this day and age need fast paced books, and they don't care all that much about the details of a forest or village. So if you decide to change genres, be aware you're going to need to change your 'voice' to follow the genre rules a little bit.
2) You want to write under a different name: Lets say you get tired of writing books as Malgus the Incredible and you want a whole new series in the Fantasy genre. You're going to need to change your 'voice' when you change your writers name too. Because you are signifying that you're not Malgus, your Siegfried. But that means you'll need to change your voice for your new name. Are you ready to change it?
3) You can't help it: The third reason is obviously for those of you who can't seem to help changing your voice. If being able to change how you sound is easy, congrats! Don't fight it! Its a lucky talent and it means you can write in more than one genre! Or write in one genre under many names and really confuse people as to why you 50 books and 50 names.
Next week I'll be writing an article on differences in genres! Aka: Why there are even genres to begin with and why books aren't just mass lumped together! Hope you'll enjoy it!
ANNOUNCEMENT: I have a new DRINK THAT BOOK REVIEW up! I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed drinking and reading it! If you've read the book, please leave a comment, I just want to geek out people about the book! To make it easier, you can watch down below and not get sucked into the black hole that is YouTube! ENJOY GUYS!
Last night I was inspired to write, and so write I did! A funny short piece that, when I was done, had me going, "holy crap did I just write that? That doesn't sound like me!"
And it didn't! In the writing world, when you're just starting out, you're going to hear people use this term a lot:
Find your voice! (or writer's voice)
And you'll give the computer screen a funny look and say, "what the hell does that even mean?". What it means, in layman's terms, is how your book 'sounds' as you read it. Your style. Its what separates you from other writers. It's why JK Rowling doesn't sound like JRR Tolkien, and Anne McCaffrey doesn't sound like Mercedes Lackey. They each have their own 'style' or 'voice'. That's really all they mean by that!
 |
| I just blew your mind, right? |
Around this time is when I realized that being able to change your 'voice' is not always easy nor is it common. I don't mean that to brag, I say that because I recently spoke with some writing friends and they stared at me like I'd grown to heads when they compared two of my stories. Then they asked me how I did it, and could I give them tips on how to change your 'voice'.
I wish I could! Honestly the most I can tell you is that, for me, my characters and worlds are always different. They SOUND different and FEEL different in my head. So it always comes out differently whenever I write a book! It also doesn't help that I love writing different genres, and to me, every genre already has a type 'feel' that you kind of follow. I mean, c'mon, would you expect Sci-Fi books to sound like YA books? No. Because the formula and word choices are different. There's a pre-made 'feel' to each genre.
 |
| Did you know that there are writing rules in genres!? BAM! That's why there's different genres! |
So here is a few reasons why you should change your voice (if you can, or if you want to switch genres)
1) You're going to write in a different genre: If you like writing fantasy you're kind of given a pass on being able to really go into a page or two of describing the scenery. It's kind of expected since your building a world. It's accepted. Not so much for YA. Teens this day and age need fast paced books, and they don't care all that much about the details of a forest or village. So if you decide to change genres, be aware you're going to need to change your 'voice' to follow the genre rules a little bit.
2) You want to write under a different name: Lets say you get tired of writing books as Malgus the Incredible and you want a whole new series in the Fantasy genre. You're going to need to change your 'voice' when you change your writers name too. Because you are signifying that you're not Malgus, your Siegfried. But that means you'll need to change your voice for your new name. Are you ready to change it?
3) You can't help it: The third reason is obviously for those of you who can't seem to help changing your voice. If being able to change how you sound is easy, congrats! Don't fight it! Its a lucky talent and it means you can write in more than one genre! Or write in one genre under many names and really confuse people as to why you 50 books and 50 names.
Next week I'll be writing an article on differences in genres! Aka: Why there are even genres to begin with and why books aren't just mass lumped together! Hope you'll enjoy it!
ANNOUNCEMENT: I have a new DRINK THAT BOOK REVIEW up! I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed drinking and reading it! If you've read the book, please leave a comment, I just want to geek out people about the book! To make it easier, you can watch down below and not get sucked into the black hole that is YouTube! ENJOY GUYS!
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