I've really enjoyed reading the other Girlfriends' posts on how they learned their craft of writing.
Isn't it funny (annoying) when someone tells you, "Oh, you write novels? I always thought that was easy. I could do it in a weekend?" On the outside, I'm reasonably courteous and say things like, "You should give it a shot," instead of, "Well, once you grow a pair and decide you can write a plot that lasts 300 pages - something people actually want to read, and then have the dedication to spend several months working on it - let me know."
What was I talking about? Oh yeah, writing. I think the hardest part of learning to write for me was finding my voice. I tried the usual rookie move - writing to sound like other published writers - because hey, that's what sells, right? Okay, so you probably know the result - I failed big time. Turns out I can't write a historical like Johanna Lindsey or a Harlequin Intrigue like BJ Daniels.
I could string sentence together and spell like a demon. But until I found my true voice, I had no idea what I was doing. It wasn't until my fourth manuscript that I started writing like, well, like me.
I'm not sure why this is such a difficult lesson to learn. And maybe I'm the only one who had trouble with it. When they say "write what you know," I think they might be wrong. It should be, "write like you are." At least, that's how I see it.
How about you? Did you find your voice easily?
Leslie Langtry
Leslie
ReplyDeleteThis is so true. I still have challenges with my own voice--which seems so counterintuitive. I hear it fade in and out but usually with revision after revision I can find my way to this thing called voice. Great post!
Thanks Maggie! I enjoyed your post too. And the idea of "voice" is hard to explain, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteStill working on the whole voice thing. But I think it's natural to copy other voices in the beginning.
ReplyDeleteThis is so true Leslie!! Voice is the hardest thing of all. But I do agree with Karin--you can learn a lot by imitating writers who've been successful when you're starting out.
ReplyDeleteKarin and Lucy - a very valid point! I hadn't thought of that!
ReplyDeleteLeslie, great post! I've noticed that finding our voice is a bit of a balancing act between following the rules for good writing (i.e., not overusing adverbs, which I tend to do ;) vs. writing in a style most natural to us. I believe Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours to gain mastery when it comes to this...or writing about 1 million words. In any case, I think "voice" ends up being the perfect marriage between well-crafted writing and authentic expression of our worldview.
ReplyDeleteGreat twist on "write what you know" and much truer to fact!
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