Let’s Talk About Voice, Baby. Let’s Talk About How We Write

My teenaged children will most certainly disown me upon reading the title of this post — an homage to the 1990 hit release by Salt-n-Pepa. And now that I’ve written it, I can’t stop singing it, which is UNDENIABLY worse.

Book Stuff, Because the Singing Must Stop

Think of a few books that are really popular with kids today. Think specifically about books intended for upper elementary to middle school ages. I picked this range because books for these age groups it make it easy to illustrate voice.

We’ve all seen the book order forms that come home from school, right? There are usually 12 of them stapled together from different publishing companies. There’s always a 99¢ book that NONE of the kids want, and there’s always some gift set that contains stickers, growing sea monkeys, and a book for $12.95 that every kid begs for, guaranteed. Ring a bell? That’s the order form I’m talking about.

And that’s where I first saw the underwear guy.

A good number of characters in questionable clothing choices are showing up to save the world, and if you’re in middle school, NOTHING is funny if it doesn’t involve butts, farts, or armpits. You could be writing a middle-grade guide to sharpening pencils, and if you want 12- to 13-year-old kids to pay attention, you better sneak a fart joke in there.

Think like a kid for a minute or two. (This is tough because it’s been a hot minute for some of us.) Which books would we want to read?

You guessed it. Most kids pick the books with the underwear guy who saves the world and makes them laugh. Pretend your mom just handed you $12 for the Book Fair. With that money, you have to figure out how to buy:

1. The cool cat-in-outer-space poster

2. The funky glitter gel pen

3. A semi-educational book that will satisfy your mom’s “something to read” requirement

The stress is unreal! The cat poster is $2.95. The gel pen is 95¢, so that leaves you with $8.10 to buy an entertaining book your parents will think was worth the price of a couple venti frappa-whappa-do-das.

The underwear guy is an option. And then there’s the plane crash book where the survivors tried not to eat each other. Kid logic: The plane crash one could be very entertaining and potentially fulfill the parental need for some sort of educational or historical input. As it turns out, you end up learning a whole lot about what to avoid if you’re ever on a plane that crashes in a remote mountainous region. (Don’t trust the guy in the seat next to you and don’t keep candy in your pockets.)

Bad Segue

Now name an awesome young adult book series that caused an absolute international frenzy, with such huge demand for books that lines often wrapped around buildings. If you didn’t say Harry Potter, go directly to Jail and do not pass Go.

Fun Fact: Nearly 8.3 MILLION (yes, million) copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows flew off the shelves upon its release.

This is what every author dreams of. But what did J.K. do? (Aside from being a total badass, picking herself up by the bootstraps, and meticulously outlining every detail of her future best sellers.)

Common Denominators

That sounds very mathy and could potentially send writers like me into outbreaks of hives and uncontrollable fits of itching, but trust me, there’s no math involved. However, we all remember the TRAUMA of breaking down fractions (shivers), right? Similar to fractions, all of the sizzling-hot, fly-off-the-shelf stories that the entire globe falls in love with have something very important in common:

VOICE

We hear about it all the time. But what is it, and how the heck do we develop it?

When you think about voice, it’s important to break it into two different categories:

1. Character Voice

2. Author Voice

Character Voice

In this post, we’ll talk about character voice. This is the way you convey a character’s personality through tone, mannerisms, speech patterns, actions, and points of view. It’s a look at how your character expresses themselves, both internally and externally.

Example:

Dav Pilkey leverages the power of humor and word play to engage even the most reluctant of readers (middle-grade boys). His Captain Underpants books have skyrocketed in success because they are written in a way that just “gets” the kids they are intended for. There are slightly crude jokes, rule-breaking grammar, and questionable manners — all things held in high regard by the age group he’s targeting. In short, he talks like them, thinks like them, writes exactly how they think and feel. That’s voice!

Example:

Markus Zusak surprises the reader with Death as the narrator in The Book Thief — a compassionate, omniscient Death who narrates the story of Liesel, a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany during WWII. She is able to find a bit of comfort reading the books she steals as she tries to survive the war with her family and Max, a Jew her family is protecting. An entire book told from the perspective of Death, personified? That’s voice!

Example:

Is there anyone who doesn’t feel like a wizard in training when reading a Harry Potter book? Readers see the world through Harry’s eyes and experience everything he and his friends are going through via the unique narration choice — a third person limited point of view that gives near-complete insight into Harrry’s world. Simply stated, readers feel like they are part of the book. That’s voice!

Experiential Reading

The voice of any given character embodies their mannerisms, speech patterns, and thought patterns. All of this pulls the reader in and makes them feel like they are a part of the story, rather than experiencing it as an outsider. Books that leverage the power of voice truly pull the reader into an experience and convey the feelings of the characters as they move through the story.

Why Study Picture Books?

Picture books are probably the easiest way to identify voice. Why? Because they are written in simpler language, with exaggerated expressions. This makes it easier to identify unique voices.

(Pro Tip…Unrelated: Cartoons & picture books are also great ways to learn another language for the same reason! Simpler, more straightforward language provides a solid building block for more sophisticated language down the road.)

Likewise, middle-grade and young adult books display great examples of voice, as they are written for the maturing reader. The language nuances are not yet as subtle as those in adult novels, so they are often easier to pinpoint as well.

Half a Dozen Ways to Wrangle Your Way Through Voice

If the concept of voice is something you struggle with, there are a few things you can do:

1. Read books, specifically focusing on character voice. Read a LOT! Read kids’ books, nonfiction books, mysteries, dictionaries, biographies. Read it all.

2. Listen. If you have teenagers or kids in the house, that’s absolute gold for practicing voice. (Like, OMG, Mom, are you even serious right now-uh?!) Try creating a character that mimics their speech and language patterns. Work at it until it becomes natural.

3. Create character personas. When you really KNOW your characters, you’ll sense the nuances that need to happen in their speech and mannerisms when you’re writing.

4. Read aloud. Try reading what you’ve written out loud. If you’ve tried writing a unique voice for a character, you can tell whether or not it sounds natural by hearing how it sounds. If it’s stiff or stilted, head back to the drawing board and do a few exercises to practice speaking and interacting as your character would. Will you look crazy? Potentially. Will it work? Absolutely.

5. Eavesdrop. Go sit in a busy spot, like the mall or a fast-food restaurant, and jot down some of the crazy things you hear. “Timmy, stop licking the trash can!” is a favorite of mine, but there are many, many precious nuggets I’ve picked up from observing my fellow humans.

6. Trust your colleagues…and practice. You just gotta do it. Practice voice. Practice pulling your readers into WHO your characters are. It helps if you have a trusted circle of writer buddies who will flat-out tell you, “Dude, no, this sounds like you’re constipated.” I would rather hear it from my trusted inner circle than from an editor I’m trying to impress!

Challenge

Create a character with a unique world view this week. Ideas:

1. A hot air balloon designer who can’t get supplies

2. A superstitious bull rider competing on Friday the 13th

3. A dentist who likes to eat Skittles and taffy

4. A middle-school boy who reluctantly walks the dog and encounters a mythical creature

5. A cookie-making elf in tree in the middle of a paper-mill forest (YIKES!)

6. A high school nurse who can’t stand the sight of vomit

7. A talking dog with lazy owners

Got other ideas? Got for it! Create an absolutely off-the-wall character and work on voice. What would this character say, do, express as he or she goes through a portion of the day? Make if fun, funny, mysterious, whatever floats your boat. Work on pulling readers — whatever age you’re targeting — into the story. Make them feel like they are PART of the peculiar plot you’re crafting.

Final Note

Remember to choose a POV and stick to it. Nothing makes for a more schizophrenic voice than jumping around all over the place. You’ll end up with confused readers and a disconnected story.

Boom…now get out there and write. Bottom line, just be creative, practice, and fabulous character voices will emerge.