Voice. Literally, sound produced in the larynx and expressed through the mouth. More abstractly, the way of expressing an idea in words
Either way, auditory or written, voice is unique per person.
Just imagine: your mom yells up the stairs, “Honey, come down for dinner!”
versus your romantic partner says, “Honey, dinner is ready.” These mean
essentially the same thing (i.e.: you’re about to stuff your face) but they have
two totally different connotations. The former likely precedes an unwanted inquisition
re: who you’re dating, what your grades are, how much money you’re making, etc.
Whereas the latter likely precedes getting happily wine drunk and some cuddling
on the couch.
Obviously, voice is easy to distinguish when you physically
hear the words from a person’s mouth. How can you distinguish written voice,
though? This is a bit harder, but any
good author will use a strategic pattern of word choice, phrasing, sentence
structure, and even punctuation to make us readers feel as if we can hear the
person talking to us.
For example, consider Jen Glantz, author of the blog titled,
“The Things I Learned From.”
Whenever I’m scrolling through different blogs, I can always tell when I’ve
come across something from her before I even look at the byline. How? A few
tip-offs:
(1) She adopts a familiar tone with the reader, as if you’ve
been pals for years. Sometimes she does this by asking rhetorical questions,
such as, “that sounds crazy, doesn’t it?” and “but what happened?” like in her
humorous post, “Why Dating
Exit Interviews Should Exist,” in which she narrates a failed first date. Other
times, such as in her tirade, “Dating is
Extinct,” she uses the second person pronoun:
“You had to get off the couch….”
“You actually had to turn off the TV….”
“[You had to] change out of your stained Scooby-Doo
Christmas fleece pajamas….”
By openly criticizing the reader for being lazy, she assumes
an air of familiarity.
(2) She makes frequent references to contemporary social
media.
When she’s trying to justify why a guy didn’t call her back
she says, “maybe he’s an alien and secretly lives on Mars….” which references
John Gray’s book.
Another way she tries to cope with her rejection is by
saying, “I’m not ready to kick my Tinder addiction….” in reference to a hookup app launched by USC last fall. She
mentions it again when she says, “now we just swipe left, left, left. Click
next, next, next…”
By incorporating well-known social media, she demonstrates
to her college-age readers that she’s just like them. She’s not some granny who
doesn’t “get” this generation.
(3) She uses repetition of the plural first person pronoun,
which not only makes her writing sound more like talking, but also promotes a
sense of inclusion. When she discusses rejection, she says:
“Well, then we tell ourselves it’s okay. We tell ourselves not to get too attached….We mourn just a little bit. We tell our roommate that we’re done with this whole dating thing….We don’t count our losses. We say ‘next time.’”
(4) She establishes a down-to-earth quality by making fun of
herself. Not only does she admit to brainstorming her blog in the shower, she says
failed dates make her dig a spoon into some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. This
is how she lets her audience know she’s not some pretentious, aloof dating
psychologist. She’s a single young woman struggling with the same game.
(5) Her quirky use of imagery. Very few people can get away
with saying things like, “When I went in for a kiss, she turned her head and
for two seconds, my tongue got real intimate with her cochlea.” But after
reading a lot of Jen’s blog, it’s the pictures like these which have made her
sense of humor distinct in my mind. Hence why I’ve chosen to include it as
characteristic of her writing style.
Voice ought to always complement the content, not contrast
with it. Otherwise, readers will move on. And, when the topic is something as
personal as dating, voice is especially important. With the five strategies
discussed, in conjunction with several unmentioned others, Jen establishes
herself as a trustworthy, approachable source of information.
I could go on and on, but I’m at the word limit. My point is
this: it is entirely possible to have a strong voice through written word. If
the author is skillful, he/she can write in a voice so distinct it becomes
immediately obvious to the reader whose name is in the byline without having to
check. It is these authors who have human “voices” in the heads of their
readers.
Now about that dinner….
