I’m excited to begin a new year on the CRAFT OF WRITING blog by focusing on Aspects of the Novel. We’ll be looking at many different facets of novel writing such as Dialogue, Plotting, Characterization, and more. I’m doubly excited today because this month’s guest is an expert who will help us understand one of these puzzle pieces.

James Scott Bell has written many books on the craft of writing. He has also taught courses, and my inspiration for this year’s focus came when I was listening to his How to Write Best-selling Fiction course on Audible. When I asked Jim if he would be my guest, he agreed and chose to address the subject of Voice in writing.

So take out your notebooks and pens because we’re going to learn about that most elusive feature of novel writing, Voice, from one of the masters.

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Once again, we’re doing something fun for this interview. The name of each person who enters a comment will be put into the drawing for the unique “Wilbur and Orville 1903” Propeller pen, hand-crafted by my friend and colleague Steve Hooley. The pen is made from Ash, one of the woods the Wright brothers used to build their first aircraft. So join the conversation and earn a chance to win. I’ll post the name of the winner after 9 PM Central Time tomorrow night.

(We’re starting a brand new year, so former winners are eligible to enter.)

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Welcome back to the Craft of Writing blog, James Scott Bell, and thank you for joining us!

 Always a pleasure, Kay.

“Voice” is one of those terms that’s hard for authors to understand. How do you define “Voice?”

People always talk about an author’s voice, but never seem able to define it. Over the years I’ve heard it described as:

A combination of character, setting, page turning.

A distinctive style, like a Sergio Leone film.

It’s who you are.

Personality on the page.

It’s something written from your deepest truth.

And so on. I finally decided to sit down and do some thinking and studying, and see if I could figure it out. Eventually I came up with a three-pronged definition (using the letters CAP): CHARACTER background and language filtered through the AUTHOR’S heart, and rendered with craft on the PAGE = VOICE.

What I mean is that in fiction voice is not the author’s voice alone; it actually starts with character (if you’re being true to the story) and the author adds his or her own passionate interest in the tale and, using the tools of craft, makes it all happen for the reader on the page.

How does an author go about developing his/her own voice?

It’s really a matter of learning ways to let the voice run free. Let it come out naturally as you, the author, are concentrating on the emotion and action and internal lives of the characters. There are various exercises I give in my book on voice, such as the page-long sentence. When I come to a place of high emotion in a scene, I like to start a fresh document and write a single, run-on sentence of at least 200 words. It is free-form, wild text in the character’s voice, not thinking about grammar or structure. It’s just pouring out the emotion as fast and intensely as possible.

What happens inevitably, like panning for gold, is you get a few glistening nuggets. It may even be only one sentence, but that sentence will be choice.

There are other methods, but the great point is that doing this begins to develop a strong “voice muscle” in your writer’s brain, and you get better and better at it the more you exercise it.

What role does a character’s attitude play in voice?

I always stress that a character should have some sort of attitude, some unique way of looking at things, based on the backstory and needs of the plot. I always start out with a voice journal, where I do an interview with the character, letting the character talk back to me until I discern a voice that is not my own, but the character’s. I’ll prod with questions about the character’s philosophy of life, what things in their background happened to make them think this way, and so on.  What gets them worked up?

Should an author consider writing in first- or third-person when trying to develop their voice?

It doesn’t matter. If you’re writing in the way my definition suggests, you can do it in Third or First. We always think of First Person as more intimate, but you can achieve the same effect in Third. One way to show yourself how is to take any scene you’ve done in Third and rewrite it in First…then change it back again, keeping as much of the language as possible. Elmore Leonard was a master of Third Person sounding like First.

I love the character Mike Romeo in your series. How did you go about developing Mike’s voice? (And are you working on another Romeo book now?)

Mike’s voice developed using techniques I’ve described. A voice journal, a backstory, and my own heart commitment to the stories, the things I’m most interested in, like justice. I’ve always loved Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, who could say things with just the right snap, on the spot. The nice thing about writing is you can take your time to craft the perfect thing for your character to say…unlike yourself at a party, going home and thinking, “Ah! I should have said…”

What examples do you have of other authors who have developed great voice?

The aforementioned Chandler, Michael Connelly, Harlan Coben (wry humor). But take your pick from literature. Dickens, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe. The books that stay with us have voice.

Are there exercises authors can do to develop their voice?

Write poetry. (It doesn’t have to be good poetry, just expressive in a way that stretches your style.)

The page-long sentence.

Write like you’re in love. (Later, edit like you’re in charge.)

Improvise the character’s voice…out loud. (Best to do this at home.)

 

Thank you, Jim, for being with us today.

Write on.

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Meet James Scott Bell

 

James Scott Bell is a winner of the International Thriller Writers Award and the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, Plot & Structure (Writer’s Digest Books). His thrillers include Romeo’s Rules, Romeo’s Way and Romeo’s Hammer (the Mike Romeo thriller series); Try Dying, Try Darkness and Try Fear (the Ty Buchanan legal thriller series); and stand-alones including Your Son Is Alive and Final Witness (which won the first Christy Award for Suspense). He served as the fiction columnist for Writer’s Digest magazine and has written several popular writing books, including Just Write, Conflict & Suspense, and The Art of War for Writers (all from Writer’s Digest Books). He’s also published How to Write Dazzling Dialogue, Write Your Novel From the Middle, Super Structure, and How to Make a Living as a Writer.