Monday, October 3, 2011

On Voice, A Quote


"Writing without voice is wooden or dead because it lacks sound, rhythm, energy, and individuality...Writing with voice is writing into which someone has breathed. It
has fluency, rhythm, and liveliness that exist naturally in the speech of most people when they are enjoying a conversation." --Peter Elbow, Writing with Power

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I've found this definition on voice to be very helpful--hope it inspires you, too. And now that October is here, my goal for the month is to breathe more life into writing. How about you?


10 comments:

  1. Great quote. Thanks for sharing and have a great weekend!!! :O)

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  2. Great goal~ I'm with you! Thanks for sharing that quote :)

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  3. Absolutely true. Voice is important in writing.

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  4. For me, the difficulty is keeping a CONSISTENT voice for each character and somehow making each one unique. I struggle with it, but thanks for that great quote to remind me how important it is!

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  5. Love that quote, and love visiting you for some writing inspiration! BTW, I'm reading The Forest for the Trees (Betsy Lerner).... I recommend it for a great pep talk for writers. :)

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  6. Thank you, all, for dropping in :-)

    Peggy--voice can be such an enigma, can't it? That's why I love this quote so much. It spurs me on to try to find the "natural" flow, both in my narrator's voice, or that of the individual characters. Good luck in your writing!

    And Supriya, I have The Forest for the Trees, and started it some time back, but somehow let it get buried under the pile without finishing it. Gotta' get it back out! Thanks for the reminder. Have a great day!

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  7. Yes, October and that deep blue sky and those warm, saffron and persimmony bright leaves on maple trees, and, yes, I do breathe hopefully new life into my writing.

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  8. Clara--nice to hear from you. Love your description of the maple tree leaves! Wishing you the best in your writing :-)

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  9. That's a great summation of voice and its many aspects. it also made me think, and I'll have to ponder this more: what if you have a writer who doesn't talk much? I don't think that would necessarily limit his/her voice, but it might take longer to find it...

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  10. Hey, Kenda! Thanks for sharing!

    And BTW: I like the Fall photo in the top right corner of your blog! Fall makes me feel full of life!

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