Comments on: Finding Your Writer’s Voice

By: Petronella Breinburg

Petronella Breinburg — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 11:01:52 +0000

Women writers writing about women, or about men,or any topic is a good idea.
we should not be restricted to writing only about women

By: Rita M. Gardner

Rita M. Gardner — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 23:30:18 +0000

Rowan – what a thoughtful piece. I especially liked where you remind us that we are not only creating a character’s voice, but also have to stay grounded with our “own authorial voice.” That’s a mind-bender. I recently wrote a memoir and truly had no clue as to how or what my own voice would turn out to be. So I stumbled through and through the act of writing (and writing…and writing) discovered that I do have a voice. I just can’t name or describe it. You dig into that conversation and bring up a lot of ways to think about the process. Thanks!

By: Linda Sienkiewicz

Linda Sienkiewicz — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 16:16:42 +0000

Rowen- fascinating insights into the process of finding your character’s voice. I agree that it’s a little like method acting, and research is vitally important.

By: Elizabeth Lawson

Elizabeth Lawson — Tue, 24 Feb 2015 18:11:29 +0000

In reply to Rowan Coleman. Yes, thank you! Because I have been a nonfiction writer (and some of it pretty academic) until now, I am finding it hard to let go of analytical modes of thought. I am encouraged that you feel the same principles apply as in first-person narration, and I will read your 'Runaway Life' because observing the practice of a process is more immediate than analyzing the theory of that process. I think the crux of it is about letting go, and I shall try. You have helped. Thank you very much, best, Elizabeth

By: Rowan Coleman

Rowan Coleman — Tue, 24 Feb 2015 09:48:42 +0000

hello Elizabeth, up until The Memory Book, I wrote almost exclusively in the 3rd person, its my most comfortable state! I think the same principles apply in evoking emotion and heart for a character, perhaps you need to lets yourself feel the way a little more instinctively instead of trying to analyse what you are doing. You might want to have a look at ‘Runaway Wife’ my novel prior to The Memory Book which is about a woman running from domestic abuse, and told in the third person. For all character and voice, its about letting yourself inhabit the character and falling into their ways of thinking, moving, reacting. Sounds a bit pretentious, but I think of it a bit like method acting! If you are feeling what they are feeling and usually you are expressing the emotion in a convincing way. Does that help?

By: Elizabeth Lawson

Elizabeth Lawson — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 16:51:18 +0000

I applaud your decision to tell the story of Claire from the inside rather than the outside. It humanizes the afflicted person. (My mother had early onset Alzheimer’s that lasted over a decade.) Many of my favorite books are told in first person, for example, Esther Freud’s new book, Mr. Mac and Me. Often the “voice” can be so much more tender than in a third-person limited narration.
I am struggling with a project that I am writing using a third person limited point of view (I know that “voice” and “point of view” are different but intermingling terms), and I am baffled how to introduce “voice” into this more objective way of telling the story. It feels judgmental rather than tender. Do you have advice about adding voice to a story told in the third person limited point of view? Can you suggest any novels that have a tender voice, despite the more objective narration?
Thank you for your post!