Skip to main content

Tuesday's Tinted Ink

It feels wonderful to be back to posting on my regular schedule! I had such a fabulous time during the A to Z Challenge. I met a ton of new blog friends and found some great blogs to stalk:)

But...

I love my regular posts and I'm glad I'll be getting back into the groove of things!

So for today, I'm getting back to tinted ink, those creative ideas and inspirations that add color to your writing!

I am planning a short series on VOICE. I'm inspired by the contest, The Writer's Voice

You remember my post from a few days ago? The one where I posted my query and first 250 words? Well, guess who picked me to coach me and help me make my entry perfectly lyrical and lovely? Yes!! Brenda Drake! I'm so honored to be on her team!! Wish me luck, beautiful guys and dolls because I feel a breath of fresh air headed my way!!

Anyway...back to Voice

How do you find your voice? How do you know when it's perfectly in tune? Here's a few tips:

Be true to yourself and to your unique style. Copying someone else style is a no go for finding YOUR voice. I have copied others before, while learning the craft. I think it's a great way to learn how to get into your own tenor notes, or bass notes, or right on key. But don't copy. What do I mean?

Don't mimic another author and try to pass it off as your own. I love listening to my favorite artists, bands and groups and belting out my favorite songs, a la famous style. But when I sing it myself, in front of an audience, it's all me. I practice, rehearse, try again, work out the sour notes, and do it all on my own.

But I learned it from a professional first. Then I took what I learned and made it me. All me. No copying.

Do it with your writing and watch you voice begin to shine through!

What about you? How did you discover your voice?

Comments

  1. RachelMay 7, 2013 at 11:36 AM

    I have to say when you talk about mimcing authors. I did that as a kid. I'd read so much of X's books and then try to write in their style. I obviously didn't push any of it (I was about 12 at the time - the internet still had dial-up and a phone was huge ;)) but I DID learn and eventually find my voice through doing that. :-) Great post and congrats on getting into The Writers Voice!!! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ink in the BookMay 7, 2013 at 11:52 AM

      Thank you Rachel. I did the same thing. I actually use this method in teaching my kids to write. I love to watch their writing blossom into their own after learning from the great men and women of old.

      Delete
  2. VikLitMay 7, 2013 at 12:41 PM

    Ooh good luck in the contest!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Summer RossMay 7, 2013 at 2:39 PM

    Voice- I'm still working on that. I have rewritten chapter one so many times- even though I have the entire novel written. I finally just threw my hands up and my leading lady came to me and started talking- I finally found hers...LOL
    ~Summer

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ink in the BookMay 7, 2013 at 2:46 PM

      I've done that numerous times. When I let the MC talk, tho, it comes easily and naturally!

      Delete
  4. UnknownMay 7, 2013 at 3:18 PM

    My favorite quote about voice is from "Good Prose" by Kidder and Todd: The term 'voice' appears constantly in criticism today. Sometimes people use it interchangeably with 'style', but usually it is supposed to mean more, often nothing less than the writer's presence on the page. The term indeed may soon buckle under the weight it is asked to bear. Certainly it has become discomforting to hear writers speak about their own voices. You cannot, must not, try to design and create a voice. The creation of voice is the providential result of the writer's constant self-defining and self-refining inner dialogue. When it happens, let someone else tell you, and be grateful.

    I love that quote and always try to keep it in mind when I'm striving too hard to find my "voice".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ink in the BookMay 7, 2013 at 9:08 PM

      I love that quote. Thank you for sharing it with me:)

      Delete
  5. JDMay 8, 2013 at 12:12 PM

    Hi:

    Good luck in the contest!

    I discovered my voice by writing and rewriting. Believe it or not, I used to try to smother my voice because I found it too different from other authors I admired. The more I did that, the less my writing felt like me, so I returned to writing in my voice. I'm insecure in my writing at times, but you're right in advising that your voice only gets stronger when it's your own, not a passed-off copy of someone else's.

    Great post. :-)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Operation Agent Ink

UPDATE: PLEASE FILL OUT THIS QUESTIONNAIRE AFTER YOU SIGN UP. Have you ever wondered what agents were dying to find in their inbox/slush pile? There have been many times I entered a contest and not even received a comment, not even from one of the agents. Or maybe the agent was kind enough to leave a comment that simply said, "Sorry, this just isn't what I'm looking for, but I love the premise and your voice." I always walk away feeling unsatisfied. If I had known exactly what the agent wanted beyond, "YA" or "Fantasy" I might not have even entered a contest I knew I wouldn't win! Even more, I wasted a very busy agents time! Well, your time of guessing is up! OPERATION AGENT INK to the rescue! That's right! This workshop will help aspiring authors get on the list of an agent's WISH LIST! When the workshop is over, your manuscript will be ready to view by a group of AMAZING agents who are dying to see what you've wri...
111 comments
Read more

Writer In Motion CP feedback

Hey beautiful guys and dolls! Here it is! My CP feedback edited story. Had a hard time with this, but I hope it makes sense. I've got a post I'm working on I plan to put up after Thanksgiving. Here ya go. Enjoy... Every morning I wake to carnival day.  Today, though, I have my key. If I don’t use it before midnight, my way of escape will gone. It’s a silver key with a twisted metal handle, a sapphire stone half moon and engraved stars. There’s a tiny inscription on the moon, but it’s so small, I’ve never been able to read it.I’ve always kept mine in my jewelry box, but today, I string it on a ribbon and tie it around my neck. My two best friends will be wearing theirs, too, and I wonder how they will escape this carnival of dreams. “What’s it for?” Cress asks as we stand in line for the swings. I run my fingertips over the entire silver surface. “I don’t know. It belonged to my grandmother,” I say. “Whatever.” She shrugs her shoulder in a dismissive way. “Have ...
3 comments
Read more

Workshop 10

Today, let's get readers hooked from the very first sentence. If you do, you are off to a great start and hopefully a great first chapter. We are going to focus on the first and second sentence and how you can draw readers in while introducing two major items about your book: 1. Your MC 2. The main conflict. How? Is it really possible to do this in only TWO sentences? YES! Example: My name is Snow, like the white powder that falls during winter, though I don't know what my mom was thinking because it was ninety degrees the day I was born. I turned twelve the year I married a man I hated and thirteen when my first baby was born. This sentence tells us a lot. It shows us a little about Snow's personality, it hints toward a shortened childhood and could possibly point to a different time era. I also can definitely see the conflict. Can you? You only have a few minutes to make a good, first impression. Make sure you wow your reader enough they'll actually t...
115 comments
Read more