Wednesday's Writer's Tip - More on Voice #MFRWauthor

Decisions help hone an author's voice. The first one to look at is - Are you an Objective or a Subjective writer. Today, subjective seems to be the choice of many writers. Exploring the emotions and inner thoughts and reasons for actions seem to abound. The objective writr tells the story as it in and doesn't dig much into the whys of a charcters actions. They do have all the basic elements, character and plot but there's not much exploring the character's heads.

The voice is embroidered by the way a writer uses exposition, description, narration and action. Each writer uses these in different ways, ways that are natural to him, her or to the kind of story he writes.

Now we come to the problem of imitating. That means trying to duplicate another writer's way of story telling. We've all read stories that shout imitation. Using a writer's style and trying to make it the writer's own. Sometimes it troubles me when I hear someone say I write like John Smith. That's when I know I'm doing somethign wrong and pushing too hard for an effect. But often a writer admires a particular writer and makes a study of this writer's work. Certain bits will creep hinto his own writing. Think of the writers where you have read everything they wrote and you will find you use some of their elements but in your own way. What the writer does is use bits and pieces that speak to him and he adapts them in some way that makes that bit his own.