Cupcakes and Writing: Mint

For me, cupcakes are kind of like my writerly mascot.  Well, so begins the Cupcakes and Writing series.  Each Wednesday another cupcake flavor will be compared to an aspect of writing.  Well, until I run out of flavors, or inspiration, whichever comes first.  This is the 10th cupcake and writing post.  If you've missed any of the other cupcake and writing posts, check them out here.  Bon appetit!

Mint: Infusing Voice Into Your Story

I love anything with a minty taste.  It's such a bold and refreshing flavor.  I love adding a drop of peppermint flavor to my hot chocolate in the winter, love mint chocolate chip ice cream, oh heck, anything with chocolate and mint flavor I adore.  And so, it should come as no surprise, that when I tried a mint cupcake, I was in heaven.

When it comes to writing, voice is something that adds a unique flavor to any story.  It's like the story itself is the cupcake and the voice is a few drops of mint flavor that infuses the entire cupcake.  Yum!

I'm  not an expert on writing voice, but I sure can recognize a good voice when I read one.  One of my first manuscripts had alternating POVs, going back and forth between a guy and a girl's perspective as they tried to piece together a mystery.  I realized early on that they sounded waaaay too similar, (even if they were both teens).  So I began my work on trying to get the voices different.  And I realized that by doing that, when the characters were conversing with others I didn't have to use as many speech tags, because each character had not only their own unique voice, but also phrases they used often.  I think that's the way it should be.  Not only a unique narrating voice, but each character should have their own unique voice.  Their own flavor.

A cool tool you may want to try:  The website I Write Like, analyzes your writing and compares it to a famous author. According to I Write Like (to my relief!) my character voices were different. This is what I learned:

For my female character's voice

I write like
Chuck Palahniuk

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

For my male character's voice

I write like
Cory Doctorow

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

If the authors I write like are different than I must have been doing something right! Hmm, interesting though, that my female character's voice is similar to the author of Fight Club. ;)

So anyway, which famous author do you write like?  And any tips on infusing voice into your story?

Who Do You Write Like?

Which famous author do you write like? 

In my story, each chapter alternates between two characters' perspectives.  One critique I got from a reader was that she got confused about who was narrating when.  Which was a little devastating, because I worked hard to ensure they had different voices. But then I found the website I Write Like, which analyzes your writing and compares it to a famous author.  According to I Write Like (to my relief!) the character voices are different.  This is what I learned:

For my female character's voice

I write like
Chuck Palahniuk

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

For my male character's voice

I write like
Cory Doctorow

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

If the authors I write like are different than I must be doing something right!  Hmm, interesting though, that my female character's voice is similar to the author of Fight Club.  ;)

Even if you don't classify yourself as a writer, you can put in the text of an email you wrote or something of that nature and find out which famous author it sounds like.

So, once again, who do you write like?

The Voices in My Characters' Heads

In my work in progress (WIP), my story is told from alternating first point of view perspectives. Twin brother and sister take turns telling the story. I have the first 2/3 of the story, but am slowly realizing that I lack character voice. (Yes, I'll admit, sometimes Siren is right). My voice is shining through, but the chapter told by one character should sound different than that of the other simply because we all have different voices and perspectives and personalities. So my current project is to research voice and add it to my WIP. Here are some articles I found for anyone who may be interested...

Layering Powerful Voice to Create Memorable Characters
Character Voice Writing Exercises
How to Use Your Character's Voice
Giving Your Character Unique Voice

Basically, what it comes down to is you should be able to tell who is talking based on their accent, vocabularies, etc, without having to look at the speech tags and without being cliched. Easier said then done. To me, character voice is like the icing on the cake--the story is the substance but the voice makes the reading so much more enjoyable.

Anyone have any insight on creating character voice?

Back to writing I go...