I want to write a blog post in the next couple of days on, "The Writer's Voice - and How to find it."

Wiki defn - “Writer's voice is the literary term used to describe the individual writing style of an author.

YWO - Narrative Voice - "There is/are distinctive and original voices and tones. The style of expression perfectly captures the character of the narrator(s) and the tone of the novel itself."

I think there's more to it than style and tone, but would be interested in other people's thoughts and views if you have a couple of moments.

For instance I wonder how important people think it is nowadays to be distinctive and original in popular fiction as opposed to meeting market expectations - or if there is perhaps a trade-off?

Style and voice are very closely linked in my opinion. What style you employ, however, is slightly different to the distinctive rhythms and intonations of the author's voice.

Personally, I'm inclined toward a descriptive style which employs poetic images and sentiments threaded through a story which has to take precedence over all. My voice is the rhythm and intonations, the variations in pace, the sentence structures and selected vocabulary which give sound/accent to the page.

It's not as straight forward as that because I can and do vary the voice/sound according to the charcater in whose POV I'm in. This character can be a person with a particular race or social background within that race, but it also has to do with the era itself. The voice has to suit the period in which the story is told.

This means the constants across the entirety of a writer's work tend to be referred to as his or her style, which is why I think style and voice are interlinked and if they are not that then they are interchangable instead.

I think recognising your style/voice is very important in the development of a writer and it can only come from time spent at it. What are the recurring elements of your work, how do you tend to say things, what infuences the outcomes of the conflicts you stage and and how do you convey the sentiment behind them? But not only this, how do your thoughts appear to you, how rigid are you in deselecting them, how deliberate are you in using them to construct a platform for your speech? How do you want to be perceived?

What you choose to avoid is as important as what you choose to include.

Writing fiction is very different to writing letters or memos or e-mails to clients, but I would say that fiction is probably the best way to determine a writer's natural inclinations. Over the course of a novel there is usually enough to say something about a writer's qualities, distinctive for whatever reason.. Time And Time Again

Thanks ciaranl,

"recognising your style/voice is very important in the development of a writer and it can only come from time spent at it."

Totally agree - The emergence of the "voice" definitely depends on writing regularly and often. To some extent I think it's about experimenting and learning, developing technique and style, finding subject matter, plot and characters you are comfortable with.

Maybe I'm over-thinking it, but it was also a confidence thing for me - believing that I could write, could tell a story in my own different way and had something worth saying. It took a long time and even now is pretty uncertain at times.

I'm not sure if the writer's voice gets stronger just because your technique improves, or because you find a style and tone you're happy with - or because you begin to believe you have something worth saying?

This is a really interesting topic and I would say that 'finding a voice' is probably the most important and difficult task for anyone starting out as a writer.

In the beginning, we get tied up with style, themes, plot, characters, narrative voice (which is slightly different to writer's voice), etc, etc. But clearly, it's not until you find your own distinct writing voice that you become a writer.

So what is it and how is it different to narrative voice? Personally, I would describe the writer's voice as the consistent, authoritative presence on the page which the reader hears. The same writer can employ various narrative voices, ie, who is telling the story or whose POV, but the writer's voice remains his/her own and is distinct from all others. That might sound wishy-washy, so I've looked for some quotes from Al Alvarez's 2005 publication, The Writer's Voice. I don't agree with everything AA says, but I hope the quotes are of interest and help with your blog:

pg. 9 - 'For a writer, voice is a problem that never lets you go'
'a writer doesn't properly begin until he has a voice of his own. Young writers hoping to cut a figure on the scene often confuse voice with stylishness, but that is something quite different from a voice with the whole weight of a life, however young, behind it'

pg. 15'- 'The point is that the voice is unlike any other voice you have ever heard and it is speaking directly to you, communing with you in private, right in your ear, and in its own distinctive way. [...] - an undeniable presence in your head, and still very much alive, no matter how long ago the words were spoken.'

I still find the difference between writer's and narrative voice hard to pin down, but when you think of a writer like John Banville it becomes a little clearer. He writes in two different genres under two different names - Literary Fiction as JB and Crime Novels as Benjamin Black. Presumably he employs different narrative voices to suit each style, but controls the narrative with his own writerly presence on the page. Mmm ..... I'm not sure if I'm quite there with that, but no doubt others have views on it which might shed more light. Follow your bliss

Congrats - you've found your writer's voice. I'm guessing you'll be prolific (if you aren't already). Follow your bliss