the V word

you all knew it was coming. the V word.  i've talked about it before.  (and if you did, you knew before i did, because i sat going through the dictionary for v words until i saw it and had a "DUH" moment.) 

(if i didn't do this topic, i would have done "why vampires?"  we all love the "bad boy gone good" scenario and girls all love the idea of their man's man softening up when he realizes his undying love...but how did the vamps take center stage in all of this?  but, i already had my sparkly edward pic this week and there's a chance he'll be back tomorrow...a little less sparkly.  so, that idea was struck down.) 

that said. you're stuck with the following post.

VOICE (so hard to define.)

the style you choose to write in.  the tone of your story.  the manner in which you tell your story. 

finding your own unique voice may make ALL the difference in whether or not you get published. (and get published again and again and again....)

think about your voice when you develop your characters and create their dialogue.  (or rather, think about THEIR voices...not your authory one.)

make a choice which POV you will tell the story in. (and how many POVs you use. if more than one make sure each is distinct. don't confuse your readers!)

your writing (with or without you trying) will generate its own style and tone based on phrasing, syntax, diction, etc.  this is something that will become uniquely you.  something your readers will go back to the bookstore to buy book after book written by you.  even when the topics, age groups, genres vary...it will be there.

stick to the world view of the character telling the story.  be consistent througout the novel (tricky, tricky).  think about how your voice envelops the reader in the world of the story, how it fits the characters and the tone of the story.

be original.  own it.  be true to yourself.  you can't force voice.

erica made a great suggestion that i throw some examples in here.  and i would have, but i'm zonked.  so, we'll save that for a later post.  (i sat up too late at WOC (http://www.writeoncon.com/) where my query was critiqued and, um, compared to pizza.  yeah.  it was a super query crit sesson though. a great two hours!)

sorry, i haven't actually read these, but i had to post something vampirey.

should i add them to my tbr list?