Voice

By Rebecca Talley

When I attended the LDStorymakers' Conference last year we had quite a discussion on voice. Tristi Pinkston gave an excellent presentation that made me stop and think about it.

What is voice?

To me, voice is the particular way in which a writer strings together words, phrases, and communicates his or her ideas. It's the way in which we create our stories or our non-fiction works and it distinguishes us from one another. Some authors have such a distinct voice, it's easily recognizable.

If ten writers were asked to describe a sunset, ten different versions would emerge, each with it's own unique handling of language. None of the descriptions would be wrong, only different.

Voice is the inherent way we use words to communicate what's in our minds and in our hearts. It may be difficult to pinpoint our own individual voice simply because it is so inherent. Rather than worry about what our voice is or is not, we should concentrate on creating our stories or relating our knowledge and experiences in the way that seems the most natural to us. We will then find our voice.