Variance in Voice
First off, a bit of news! I submitted Untouched Hero to my editor (or rather, The Scandalous Princess, which is the real working title). And I’m making a start on book two in the duet which is working titled The Honorable Heir.
It’s always fun to do books that are different from each other, and the second book in the duet is VERY different from the first. It’s a very refreshing feeling. It makes me feel ready to dive straight into the next one!
I like doing different things, and my books have ranged from being quite dark to being funny…and some have had a bit of both. My voice is my voice, it doesn’t turn into someone else’s voice when I decide to do humor, but it does change slightly. It’s a different tone. But it’s still very much a part of me. Of who I am as a writer.
I think brand building is important. For me, it was my heroines. Particularly for my first few books, I was reminded to keep my heroines strong. My editor saw that as one of my defining features, and they wanted to make sure that readers had a solid idea of what I would give them as a writer.
But even while building the brand, I’ve been able to play with darker books and lighter books, and that’s something that keeps me feeling really fresh. To go from something like The Inherited Bride that had forbidden love and a hero with a tragic past, into Marriage Made on Paper, which was much lighter, helped me get a breath.
I have a CP who writes some of the funniest MSs I’ve ever read, and now she’s working on some more dramatic stories and those work just as well. It’s interesting to see how I can still identify her in the writing, even without quite as many quick one-liners.
Ultimately though, I think I find the real variances in my voice come from characters. When I have characters with dark pasts, or characters who were raised in a palace, they bring something different than say…an American cupcake baker and her coffee magnate boss!
Do you find that your tone of voice varies with different stories and different characters?
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I may not know my voice entirely just yet but I am getting a feel for it but in reading your books I would like to believe that I am getting to know yours better. And I agree that your characters bring to light different aspects of your voice – like the facets of a jewel (eloquent ain’t I?). But I think that highlights how important it is to get the dialogue just right in a book.
I shall go back to building another tier on the Maisey Shrine before bowing down before it!
Ah… the elusive voice! I’ve been told I have a good one but like Elissa, I’m not 100% sure I can identify it. Maybe me knowing it doesn’t matter, as long as I keep it!
Elissa, you are a hoot. :p And eloquent! Dialogue is my favorite part! 🙂 I think when I can really ‘hear’ what my characters are saying everything flows better for me.
Rach, I think it’s hard to identify your own voice. Even harder sometimes to see WHY it’s special. It’s like how we don’t hear our own regional accents! Sometimes I’m conscious of my ‘voice’, and usually it’s a negative experience. (Like…I’m SO tired of listening to myself talk!!) But the good thing about voice is, it’s the bit of you that’s innate. Sure you can polish it, you can even go Eliza Doolittle and change things altogether. But you have to stay you.
I think that is the trickiest part of your voice. You can’t hear it properly from inside your own head, so you don’t know when it’s there, or how to make it stronger, at least at first.