Image by Nick Craine
Above all, a well-imagined story is organized around extraordinary human behaviors and unexpected and startling events, which help illuminate the commonplace and the ordinary. – Tim O’Brien
Posted in Quotes, Voice on August 23, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Image by Nick Craine
Above all, a well-imagined story is organized around extraordinary human behaviors and unexpected and startling events, which help illuminate the commonplace and the ordinary. – Tim O’Brien
Posted in Lists, Reference, Terms and Definitions, Voice, tagged Chip MacGregor, Harlequin, Steeple Hill, Ted Dekker on November 18, 2009| 4 Comments »
Source: Terms that cannot be used in a Steeple Hill novel.
[Update: The link above no longer works. Harlequin has taken the page down as reported by Ted Dekker. Read comment #2 for the history behind this post.]
Terms that cannot be used in a Steeple Hill novel:
The following are allowed only in the context mentioned:
Situations to be avoided:
Posted in Voice, tagged Alexandre Dumas, Jules Verne on March 10, 2009| Leave a Comment »
It seems all the blogs I subscribe to have recent posts on voice, that most elusive trait of good writers.
I think voice arises first and foremost from culture and home life, then region, education, and job experience. All affect voice strongly. So a reasonable starting point for determining voice – to me – would be to start with character. Highlight these aspects of character and hopefully the rest of your talk will follow naturally.
I’d also like to ask my readers a question. Years age I noticed that once I get into reading a particularly good book, I tend to take on the voice of the book or the main character. I first noticed it when I was a young teenager reading some of the classic adventure stories like The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas or a good Jules Verne novel like The Mysterious Island. Those are two of my favorite authors and favorite books, by the way.
Has anyone else out there ever experienced the same thing? Also, is there a way to harness this in developing my own voice or finding the voice of my own characters?