I can tell within a paragraph whether I’m going to engage with the voice of the narrator in a book I’m reading, and I try to bear this in mind, when writing myself. Whether that be the narrator’s voice, or the characters’ voices (intertwined and possibly interchangeable, I shall get onto this later), I think voice is what gives energy, personality and memorability to a book it’s what elevates the reading experience (whether reading back words I’ve written or those of another author) from a flat one, to a kind of 3D visceral one, so that I’m not just seeing the words and story unfold, but hearing them, watching them, feeling them. If I had to choose one element of the writing craft that’s most important to me, that gives me, as a writer and a reader, the most returns, then it would have to be voice. Most writers I know (including myself) can’t get enough of hearing about other writers’ processes – it’s kind of a fetish we share (oooh, you use post it notes like that? Oooh, you write the ending first?) It makes us feel less alone in our daily word-wrangling, so if you only get that from this, then that’s something. So, in this vein, I invite you to think of anything I write about in this blog, on this website whether that be me writing about structuring a novel, creating characters or how I do stuff, as me sharing my experience (usually an incredibly messy and organic one) of finding what works for me. I’ve written five novels now – six if you count the one I had to ditch at about 60,000 words because it wasn’t working (couldn’t get the voice!) And at no point have I felt like, this is getting easier, I’ve so got the hang of this now! It’s more that you just get used to how it feels, you’re expecting The Fear when it comes to grab you around the throat at about 40,000 words in you’re not surprised by it anymore, by what an almighty slog it all is. Writing for me is always a struggle (a hugely fulfilling one, but still a struggle!) If I don’t feel like I’m struggling as I write, then I know I’m probably not doing the best writing I’m capable of.
I thought about why this was and decided it’s because I don’t see myself as a writing ‘expert’ and nor, I imagine, shall I ever do. I thought about ‘writing advice’ or ‘writing tips’ but those terms didn’t sit comfortably with me.
Wwe may getting it over so baby pull me closer series#
Sitting down today to start a series of blogs on elements of writing, I struggled to know what to label it.