tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post7438257357684002354..comments2024-03-25T10:22:04.995-07:00Comments on Ed Gorman's blog: Voice in fictionEd Gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06126267358266480356noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-53833198922867730742007-07-27T14:17:00.000-07:002007-07-27T14:17:00.000-07:00Now this is an interesting notion. Can you write s...Now this is an interesting notion. Can you write so factually or plainly that the book appears to have written itself or been written by the equivalent of a court recorder? Is style separate from voice? Maybe so. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for the book, Ed. It's on the top of the tbr.pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-58418210753018344902007-07-27T10:07:00.000-07:002007-07-27T10:07:00.000-07:00I try not to have any "voice" at all, but to be an...I try not to have any "voice" at all, but to be anonymous so that the reader's attention never wavers from the story. If I have any voice, it lies in areas I can't help, such as tastes. Jack London is a writer without voice; everything is written as lucidly and plainly as possible, which is why his stories are classics accessible to generation after generation. Authors who stress "voice" have a way of dating their stories, so that what seems trendy and hip at the time they are written creates puzzlement or annoyance a few decades later.<BR/><BR/>Richard WheelerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-55735268235096763982007-07-26T18:03:00.000-07:002007-07-26T18:03:00.000-07:00In the midst of the five writing workshops I took ...In the midst of the five writing workshops I took ten years ago, the professor told us that a consistent "voice" was only a problem for beginning writers. I disagree. I am especially influenced by strong first person narratives (i.e. Vicki Hendricks). Suddenly my protagonist will take on characteristics I couldn't quite invent. Better to stick to reading non-fiction, I suppose.pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-32588064732569792702007-07-26T13:38:00.000-07:002007-07-26T13:38:00.000-07:00Ed, Heaps of sense here, which is not what you alw...Ed, Heaps of sense here, which is not what you always get when writers write about writing. Count me as one who does agree with your final comment. The story's the thing, especially in a shorter genre novel -- or a short story, of course -- where every word must count. Today we do see some flabby blockbusters with writing editors wouldn't have tolerated in previous times.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com