#4 - Is my own voice coming through, or is it contrived? Yes, this is the ever-elusive issue of voice. Everyone says it's the first thing editors or agents notice in a manuscript. I'll admit I was skeptical of this until I became a contest judge this year. The unique voices really did stand out above the floundering ones. But how do we know if our own voice is unique?While it can often be an intangible thing, a good test is this. Have a friend read your work and tell you if they can hear you saying it. I've noticed this phenomenon with my blogging buddies. Ever since I met them at the ACFW Conference last year, I can hear them speaking the things I read on their blogs. That means it's true to their voice.
For more ideas on developing your voice, check out Cindy's post from a couple weeks ago, as well as these posts on Katie Ganshert's blog. (Awesome stuff there!)
#5 - Analyze the viewpoint. Are the characters too perfect? Are you portraying them as real human beings with real-life struggles? For those who write Christian fiction, is there any Christian lingo or jargon that could be confusing?
This point could spark a whole debate of how much "Christian" a Christian novelist should put in their books, but that's a discussion for another day. The key to this point is knowing where you stand on the spectrum, knowing where your target publisher stands on the spectrum, and then staying within it.
Your homework for the next two weeks, should you choose to accept it: Work through some of the voice exercises in Cindy's post and on Katie's blog, then read your scene and listen for your authentic voice. Analyze the viewpoint in your scene and make sure it falls within your target publisher's viewpoint (and yours too!).
Have you discovered your voice? What are some tricks you've used to discover it? How closely do you pay attention to the viewpoint of your novel?
*Microphone photo by Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
**Glasses photo by dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
