Voice

Develop your voice in writing by saying things as Clearly, precisely, and vividly as you can. Use a rich vocabulary. This is also important in developing a character's voice. This requires an imaginative leap into the mind of another person.Developing a character's voice is a good way to create more believable characters.

Some vocabulary words for voice development:

Persona- the version of yourself that you reveal when you write

Irony-saying one thing but meaning another

Point of View- 1St person telling a Story from your perspective. 2nd person involves directly addressing the reader as part of your Story. 3rd person is told from the narrator's perspective. 1St and 3rd are most Common.

Distance between the author and reader is determined by word choices, from the formal language involving full names and titles to the informal 2nd person address.

Try This:

3.1
Pick 3 of these words and write an image in words of a person who fits each of them. (Stuck-up, snobbish, arrogant, haughty imperious)
Pick one of the following words and list as many synonyms for it as you can, (awesome, shabby, weird, far, smart, red) Then pick 3 of those synonyms and produce a word image to express each. How do the images differ?

3.2
Imagine (remember?) that you have borrowed ( "borrowed") a car and been involved in a fender bender. write an explanation for the police report. write a monologue explaining the accident to the car's owner. write a letter telling about it to a friend who thinks you're Super Cool.

3.3
Pick a story from today's newspaper about an outrageous or terrible event. write a paragraph about it in the tone of an official who considers it politically necessary (3.3.1) a Sunday School teacher explaining it as God's will (3.3-2), or a social scientist analyzing it for current trends (3.3.3). write a paragraph about a trivial matter (ie- dividing a cootie, breaking a fingernail) in a tone of outrage.

3.4
write a Short character Sketch of someone in your family, Write a monologue in which that person tells you an anecdote from their childhood.

3.5
Go back to your character from 2.4. find a few more details to describe that Character. Then pick a trigger line from those below and use them to start a monologue in that character's voice.

1. I don't normally dress this way but...
2. I had a dream last night...
3. I'll tell you what doesn't make any Sense...
4. I'm sorry, I didn't see you...
5. what I need is some kind of work that...
6. I remember when you could...

3.6
write about a situation in which you were badly stressed.
1. write about it in the 1st person from the point of view of Someone else who was present,
2. write in 2nd person, trying to mate the reader identify and "become you."

3.7
Take any passage you have written in 1st person and rewrite it in 3rd person observer.

3.8
write a Speech in which a character strings cliches or jargon together. Let this characterize them. Mate sore you can still sympathize with them.

3.9
write a poem or a few paragraphs in 1st person about what you hate about your body. What tone will you choose? laughing at yourself, grieving, wry, angry, etc?

3.10
write a "Modest proposal" on an issue thatyou really care about and "solve" it with a solution drastically worse than the problem in the form of a letter to the editor.

3.11
Identify a"social problem" that you don't think is actually a problem, write 2 pages, or 600 words, arguing your point. Bonus points for comedy.

3.12
Pick a story from your life and retell it in the Voice of 1) a cowboy, 2) a cop, 3) a cultured bibliophile, 4) a preacher

3.13
write from the point of view of anything not human- an insect, an android, a potato, a belly button, whatever. Try to invent and develop a diction that represents the frame of reference. Example: if you are writing from the POV of a shoe, it's likely to have an extensive knowledge of and opinions about flooring but a limited concept of the Sky or human heads.

3.14
write a poem about a movie, cartoon, or pop song. In the persona of the poet make a different point that the original.

3.15
An ode is a serious An ode is a serious meditative lyric poem that treats a noble subject in a dignified manner. write an oduto something hip, pop, trivial, or trashy that you really love.

1.6.1 This Journal Is... R.D.

This Journal is a great idea.  It feels great to be writing again - and even better because I am not putting deadlines on myself.  This is truly a healthy exercise for me - as much as walking or lifting weights.  This Journal helps put my mind at ease, and I actually take pride in what I am accomplishing every time I open up the Journal to write.  I am also proud of myself for forging through, even when there were prompts I wanted to skip (also kudos to Anna for telling me I wasn't allowed to).  This Journal makes me happy - even if I am writing about things I wouldn't normally be writing about.  This Journal is better than a diary because I get to put my feelings out there and I don't have to be worried or ashamed if someone gets their hands on it.  This Journal is also flashy, which is good in the sense that it is a beacon to remind me about the blog and the challenge (so kudos to Victoria for choosing it).  This Journal is an important part of my break up, because it gives me something to do when I am alone in the apartment - which is pretty often.  This Journal is a God send.  When I'm in a bad mood, it gives me something else to focus on and put my energy into.  This Journal may be falling apart by the time I finish this challenge - but I think that just means it served its purpose and was well loved.  This Journal is an excellent alternative to watching a shit ton of TV on Netflix.  This Journal is also a procrastination took for slow days at work (and for keeping me from calling about the warranty on my TV because of it's wonky sound).  This Journal is wonderful.

Quotation 1.4.3

“Freewriting is about taking your writing to that loose, languid place where anything goes. It’s the nudist camp for words where your writing self goes to let it all hang out.” – Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, Pen on Fire

Freewrite 1.6.2

My mother used to have…

          this dress. This black lace dress. I remember she had it made for her when we lived in a country where the clothes didn’t fit and where she didn’t fit the cultural standards of beauty. But my mother was beautiful when she was younger. Is sometimes still beautiful now, if you catch her in the right mood, or the right light, or at the right angle. I digress.

The dress had capped sleeves and a high neck that came up as a collar of lace, leaving a keyhole below her throat, over her breast bone. It was fitted through the bodice, around her curves, and the skirt didn’t flare, but floated gracefully to the floor. It was her dress for the military ball that year, the first one she had ever attended, although my father had already served nearly four years by that time. I suppose that an evening of finery and dancing seems foreign to a young mother with two small children.

I still have a photograph of the two of them at the ball, in front of a massive Christmas tree. My father looking impressive in his crisp Class A’s, and my mother beaming on his arm in her one of a kind, romantic whisper of a black lace dress.