In his or her own voice
Writers don't exist in a vacuum. It's not unusual for an aspiring author to adopt the voice of a favorite writer or character; read The Catcher in the Rye a couple of times and you'll find it easy to fall into the cadences of Holden Caulfield. (Hundreds of high school teachers will back me up on this.)
Such practices, although grating to a reader, are not entirely without merit. As an exercise, take a few authors with whom you're very familiar and write the same scene in the style of each. By "trying on" different styles, you'll learn how to write for different audiences, differentiate your characters from one another and, ultimately, discover and hone your own distinct style.
Such practices, although grating to a reader, are not entirely without merit. As an exercise, take a few authors with whom you're very familiar and write the same scene in the style of each. By "trying on" different styles, you'll learn how to write for different audiences, differentiate your characters from one another and, ultimately, discover and hone your own distinct style.
Labels: Free advice
posted by Editor Eve at
Friday, May 02, 2008
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