I realized, on looking back, that the stories of mine that have had the best response are stories where the voice came easily to me. I think of it as “clicking” into the voice. Some stories have that from the beginning, others don’t. Last night, the other members of Altered Fluid helped me identify why those stories are more successful, though. There’s a confidence to that kind of writing that is often lacking in other stories. My one published story (so far) was like that. I clicked into the voice and I think that helped carry the story further.
I also realized that of those stories, most of them are told in the first person. I like first person a lot. Some of my favorite novels are first person novels, and Zelazny was one of my heroes. I remember reading, though, some cautions against first person for beginning writers. Which I agree with. It’s a hard thing to do well, I think. I’m not claiming to do so now. But sometimes it’s easier for me to get into the character that way. You can definitely convey more through their narrative style.
Obviously voice is an important aspect to a story, and I know this, but I don’t know that I’ve spent a lot of time up until now focusing on it. In some of my stories, the voice is clear from the start. In the others, though, I wonder what I can do to capture it.
Just thinking out loud…