Dear O'Abby: What do they mean by "voice"

 Dear O'Abby,

I have been querying an MG novel and have had several requests for the full manuscript.  Unfortunately none of these have turned into offers.  I've been lucky enough to get some feedback from the rejecting agents and almost all of them say something about the "voice" in my book.

Can you shed some light on what "voice" means?  It's pretty hard to try and fix something when I'm not sure exactly what they mean.

Yours,

Challenged

Dear Challenged,

"Voice" is a tricky one because it can refer to several different things.  There's your own authorial voice which is to do with your style as a writer - your choice of words and the rhythm of your sentences etc.  Then there is the voice of your novel which is more to do with your characters and the way they express themselves.

The two are obviously linked, but I feel like in this context the agents are more likely to be commenting on the voice of your novel.  MG is especially tricky in this respect because the voice can't come across as too young, or as too old.  Kids in that MG age-group have a unique way of expressing themselves and of seeing the world around them.  They can also differ wildly in terms of their maturity, so it's often difficult to figure out exactly where to pitch your voice.

My suggestion would be to read widely in the MG sphere so you can get a good understanding of what MG voices sound like.  Spending time with kids in this age-group would also beneficial.  Kids often  won't speak freely in front of an adult if they know they are being listened to, so I like to do it on the bus or at the mall or library.  I put headphones on so they don't think I can hear them, then listen to the rhythm of their speech, the words they choose and the things they feel are worthy of conversation.

Once you have a good feel for what  MG sounds like, you can go back to your MS and see if what you have written would fit authentically within their syntax and world view.  Make sure conversations flow the way real kids talk to one another and that they way your characters react to situations is realistic.  Kids can be pretty worldly, but their understanding of things may not yet be complete.  Don't be afraid to let your characters get things wrong, to misunderstand things that would be obvious to an older person.

But also don't talk down to them.  Nothing will turn off a young reader more than being condescended to and making your character act or talk too young will turn off readers as much as making them act or talk too old.

Hopefully this will help.

Good luck with any revisions you make and your on-going search for an agent.

Best, 

O'Abby.

Dear O'Abby: What is 'voice' and how do I do it?

 Dear O'Abby,
I keep hearing about how important 'voice' is in novels, particularly YA, but I don't know what they mean by 'voice' or how to achieve it.  

Can you help?

X Voiceless

Dear Voiceless,

'Voice' is your own unique writing style.  It is something you develop as you write and when done well can make your writing immediately recognizable as being yours, and yours alone.

Voice is not just about the way you structure your sentences and the choice of words you use, although that is part of it.  Voice is also about your distinctive view of the world, and the way you choose to communicate it through language.

There is also such thing as 'character voice' which is similar, but not entirely the same.  Your characters should each have their own voice, derived from who they are - their background, their location, their socio-economic group, their own sense of self.  Obviously you are writing the characters, so their voices will be coming from you and your voice, but each should be recognizable as being someone different.

For example, if you are writing a dual POV narrative, a reader should be able to pick up the book, flip to any page and be able to recognise right away which of the two characters' POV we are in on that page.  Even people who have similar backgrounds speak differently is subtle ways.  Maybe one swears a lot while another tries hard not to.

Even people in the same family speak differently to each other.  Next time you are at a family event, listen while conversation flies across the table.  Take note of how people talk.  Is one person dominating the conversation?  Does one constantly speak over everyone else, trying to push their stories and opinions ahead of anyone else's?  Does someone apologise all the time?  Does someone act dismissive of anything anyone else says?  Does someone else have a favorite word or words they use in the wrong way all the time?

These are all things you can use to develop unique voices for your characters.  They will also inform your own authorial voice because of course, any character you write is being filtered through you and your own personality and experiences will naturally run through into your characters.

Voice is something that can't be learned because it comes from inside you, but it can be nurtured and developed.  Reading a lot will help you recognise the kind of voice you like and respond to.  To begin with, you may find you try to emulate the voices you find the most compelling to read - sarcastic, snarky, whimsical etc - but eventually you will find your own voice and as you write more, this will develop further and become stronger.  Ideally you want someone to be able to see a piece of your writing anywhere and be able to recognize that you are the author from just a few lines.

Hope that helps!

X O'Abby

On Contests and Community

Since I'm usually the one watching our OpAwesome6 Twitter account, I get to see a lot of excitement flitting through the Twittersphere about our Mystery Agent/Editor Contests. I love the support and sense of community that comes from cheering on, and commiserating with, our fellow authors in the query trenches. Some of the writers who I went through contests with remain friends to this day, even as much as five years later.

In particular, I was thinking back to when I was submitting Crow's Rest (by query and in contests) around this time in 2013. My manuscript had been out since February, after some early interest from the WriteOnCon forums, but hadn't found a home yet.

Each contest round was a learning experience--it can be a tremendous motivation to nail down your specific voice and style, once you've read a dozen entries for your genre. Seeing them all in one place really brings home what the agent experiences in their inbox, and how your work must be fresh and different to stand out.

One of the last pitch contests I entered was The Writer's Voice, run jointly in 2013 by Brenda Drake, Cupid of Cupid’s Literary Connection, Krista Van Dolzer of Mother. Write. (Repeat.) and Monica B.W. of Love YA . The format was meant to encourage writers to establish their characters and voice right away, and grab the attention of an agent in those first 250 words. I entered Crow's Rest and crossed my fingers.

But here's the thing--I never made it past the first round in this contest, and I still learned a ton (and made those connections that I started out talking about in this post). And yes, it stung that CR didn't make the cut, but I also knew there were other opportunities out there--and I just needed to find the right match.

That right match for Crow's Rest didn't end up coming through a contest--a few weeks after TWV, I submitted the winning bid on a 70-page critique with editor Vikki Ciaffone of Spencer Hill Press in an auction. That critique turned into an offer of publication, and Crow's Rest is coming out from SHP in only a month (okay, so I glossed over a TON of steps in between)!

I likely wouldn't have even heard about the auction without my writerly connections, nor would I have taken a chance on bidding for the critique if I hadn't earned some confidence from the contest feedback.

So in honor of those connections, I caught up with some of the Alumni of The Writer's Voice 2013:

Leslie S. Rose, who I actually got to meet in person recently! She's had several short stories included in anthologies

Me on the left, Leslie on the right!

Marieke Nijkamp, who blogged about the part contests played in landing her own agent, and whose debut THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS is coming from Sourcebooks in 2016

Lucas Hargis, whose TWV entry is here, and who got two agent offers (and accepted one) by the end of that year

Christie Murillo, who also feels the contest camaraderie so strongly that she thanked a bunch of us who had been in the trenches with her in her "I Have An Agent!" announcement

Molly Pinto Madigan, whose TWV entry also had a contemporary twist on a fairy tale/legend

Pete Catalano, alias Billy Payne, whose debut novel ARTIFACTS is coming from Month9 Books in Fall 2016

Heidi Lang and Kati Bartkowski, co-authors of Mystic Cooking, who signed with Jen Azantian in February

J Larkin, who signed with Carrie Pestritto of Prospect Agency, as a result of TWV 2013

And, if you'd like to read an excerpt from Crow's Rest, Brenda Drake is hosting a reveal on her blog today! Go check it out by clicking her banner below!