Sunday, August 26, 2012

Learning to Write in Different Voices

I just finished a post for my blog, My Big Redneck Husband.

So now that I'm writing a blog for Indie Writer, I am having a bit of a difficult time reverting back to my "normal" voice.

When I write for My Big Redneck Husband, I write in my "redneck" voice, the dialect of my childhood that I still tend to revert to in my everyday life when my emotions are raw.  Since my redneck voice comes almost naturally for me, it is the one I have a hard time shaking when I'm ready to write in a different voice. 

Living away from the mountains so many years changed my voice.  So now when I write for y'all... er... I mean, you all... I write in my normal voice, the one I learned to use while living in the city, away from the rednecks and the mountain folk.  It is now the way I speak every day.

I love dialect and accents and pick them up easily.  I find it is an advantage for me when I need to "flavor" my work with a certain voice.  In the course of my writing I have learned to use many voices.

I have a "professional" voice that I use when I write medical teaching materials for work.

I have a "medieval" voice that is so prevalent when I am writing historical fiction, it sometimes comes out in my everyday dialogue.  (People tend to look at you a little bit funny when you tell them "'tis a lovely day," or ask, "Prithee, might I borrow a cup of sugar?")

I have developed a number of voices to flavor other work... like a very ancient voice, along with some made up words loosely based on etymology, to go with my short story about Adam and Eve, and a different way of putting words together for a futuristic romance that I have in the works.

You do have to be careful not to use too much dialect.  Like too much salt, you can ruin the whole story if your flavoring becomes anything but subtle.  However, a few words sprinkled here and there, along with a unique voice for each of your characters, goes a long way toward giving your readers the experience they are searching for.

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